AUDIO RECORDING OF ACTUAL TUNING

[Wilsons]

Tom:

I have 2 thoughts.  First, Al Sanderson sells a beat producing thingee that
some folks swear by.  Second, spinets deserve whatever they're capable of
giving.  There are spinets and there are spinets.  Some are quite tunable
while many have such inharmonicity due to string age and poor design that
you can't really hear the bass well.

Wally Wilson, RPT
Ravenswood, WV
Columbus, OH Chapter.

Tom Robinson wrote:

> As a matter of pride and self satisfaction I have a strong desire to be
> able to tune a piano competently using only aural techniques.  However,
> after two years, I am still struggling with aural temperament setting,
> so I continue to be dependent on Tunelab to set a really good (for me)
> temperament.  I recently had a hearing test, and as I suspected, I've
> lost substantial acuity in certain frequencies.  In spite of this, I
> have very little trouble accurately tuning octaves and unisons aurally
> in a quiet setting, but counting beats gives me extreme trouble.  I
> have tried and retried all the suggestions that the list has offered in
> the past, but I am still frustrated at my shortcoming in this area.  I
> have begun to think that there is something beyond my control which has
> kept me from reaching the goal I have set.
>
> Recently I endured the annual appointment with my neurologist.  After 10
> years, it has become a social visit, so during our conversation I told
> him of my current interest in pianos and tuning.  When I described some
> of the basic tuning procedures,  I told him of having trouble counting
> beats using a metronome as a reference.  He was not surprised that I had
> this trouble.    He said that people with my condition have trouble
> focusing collectively on dissimilar stimuli........(OK, hold the
> jokes.......) and in this case, my brain focuses in on the metronome
> (the louder of the two stimuli), rather than on the beats (OK, so I have
> a one track mind.....).  I also have the same trouble using a pendulum
> reference.
>
> In between the two-dollar words he used to describe this condition, he
> stated that I might be able to compare a good quality recording with the
> actual sound coming from the interaction of two strings.  He suggested
> listening to the recording for a couple of seconds, then switching it
> off and comparing the interval beat to what my brain remembers.
> Question is, do recordings like this exist?  Any suggestions?
>
> Tom Robinson
> East Tennessee - do spinets deserve a fine tuning?