Mock tuning test ??

[David Carpenter]

Brian,

An ETD was major resource for me in preparation for the tuning exam which I
took aurally. I used a SAT to repeatedly "score" myself on two different
pianos until my scoring was where I wanted it to be.

In a PTG tuning exam, your tuning is compared to a master tuning. The FAC
tuning  generated by SAT, or the tunings generated by the other ETDs, is a
close enough substitute for self evaluation purposes. The tolerances on the
test are, from my experience, in most cases large enough to make any
differences between an ETD generated tuning and a master tuning negligible.

Here is the procedure I used:

1. Create FAC tuning for piano.
2. Only work on one section at a time. That is: A4, temperament, midrange,
treble, high treble and bass, as defined by the PTG test. Repeat each
section until some improvement is made before switching to another.
3. If you are not working on the midrange section, strip the adjacent
section and tune it to the ETD. If you are working on the bass or treble,
tune the midrange. If the high treble, then tune the treble.
3. Strip mute the section you are working on, and then alternately detune
notes up and down. Do this quickly by just judging the speed of rotation on
the SAT.
4. Put the ETD away and tune the section you are working on within a time
limit that makes sense given the total time limit of the test.
5. Quickly run through your temperament octave with the ETD, noticing for
each note whether your lights rotates left or right. If most rotate right,
"reset" the ETD up a few notches and run through the notes again. Repeatedly
adjust your ETD offset like this until about half of the notes are moving
left and half arte moving right. This simulates the PCN Pitch Correction
Number calculation on the test. After you have done this step a few times,
it will only take you about 1 minute.
6. Now run through each note of your section, watching the lights. See how
many notes are rotating TOO FAST. This count can then be translated into
your score for that section. If the rotation speed is border line, click
your ETD up or down 1 cent (or whatever the tolerance is for that section
according to the PTG test) and see if the lights are still rotating the same
way. If so, you lost the note. If not, you passed the note. If the lights
are moving really fast, it is possible you may have lost multiple points on
that note. To test this, click the ETD up or down twice the tolerance, and
see if the lights are still moving in the same direction.
7. When you are satisfied with each section, start running the entire piano.
This is an important step because it is only time that cumulative errors
will come into play.

The main tricks to all of this are: 1) Work on one section at a time
repeatedly, and 2) Do not spend a lot of time measuring your tuning. On the
real test, your exact tuning is recorded to the nearest .1 cent. This is
completely unnecessary for self evaluation purposes. All you want to do is
for each note determine if you are within the tolerance or not. Using this
method, you can self-score a section in about 3 minutes.

First you will have to become somewhat familiar with your ETD and the
rotational speeds. The speeds on the SAT, for example, read in beats rather
cents, so you will have to realize that a slow rotation in the bass reads
more of an error in your tuning than the same speed in the midrange. You
will learn to judge this quickly by clicking your ETD up and down and
watching the change of speed in the lights.

To evaluate the results, you must be familiar with the cent tolerances for
each section, and be familiar with the point multipliers. All this
information can be found in the PTG Tuning Resource guide. Be sure you have
the updated time limit information: 5 minutes for A4, 40 minutes for the
midrange, and 60 minutes for treble, high treble and bass.


Dave Carpenter, RPT
Chicago



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf Of
Brian Trout
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 1999 12:38 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Mock tuning test ??


Hi List,

Since the subject of the big "tuning test" seems to be a hot topic at the
moment, perhaps you'll let me ask a question?

I have in my possession a copy of TuneLab, a computer, a tuning fork and
related tuning tools, and access to a number of good quality pianos to
experiment on tuning wise.

I have not taken the "test" yet, but have been wondering if there would be a
way for me to set up a mock tuning test for myself, just to see how it goes,
using this wonderful little computer and an otherwise unproductive
afternoon??

I've had a number of people tell me I should just take the test, but I'm a
little shy. :-)  I'd like to get an unbiased idea of just where I am right
now before I inconvenience the tuning examiners.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net