<snip> I really like your point Ed. When doing concert work (touch up at intermission sometimes) the machine is really useless. I agree 100% with you. Marcel Carey, RPT Sherbrooke, QC > On the other side of machina, I got this soap right here.............., > (IMHO), a tuning machine is of little value when the piano has "sagged" > unevenly throughout its scale during a hard first half under the lights and > inspiration of, say, Liszt and Brahms and the tuner has perhaps 10 minutes to > deal with it. > It is at these times that the judgement and ear of the tuner must make > the maximum repair to the harmony in a triage sort of way. Sometimes unisons > absorb all available time and the octaves are left alone, perhaps in some > "angelic", choral stretch. I have heard beautiful music out of a piano > that "expanded" between tuning and performance. (think an extra 20 cents over > three octaves!) > When there is time to do more than unisons, the piano's worst octaves > will have to be thrown together, but there are some very harsh thirds waiting > for the tuner that haphardly makes octaves out of things. ( don't ask me how > I know) > > This is a point that the beginning tuner should grasp; that the machine > will get you up and tuning very quickly, but if you neglect learning how to > tune aurally, there will be a place you can't go, i.e. the performance > platform. If you do find yourself in this situation, and have only a machine > to give you information, the odds are very good that you will do damage to > your reputation. > There is no substitute for being able to aurally judge all the normal > interval widths, and being able to arrange them in one or more consistant, > acceptable temperaments. > Regards > Ed Foote RPT > >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC