Visual Tuning Device as Lifesaver

[Charly Tuner]

I  use my sat to calculate pitch raises, and to tune the middle 
strings..after all, this device can distinguish 100 deviations of pitch in 
just a 1/2 step! that's FAR more sensitive than the human ear, isn't it"? 
But then, after the middle strings are set, I turn the SAT off, and bring in 
the unisons and fine tune by ear. When I am finished, I use the SAT to 
confirm that all's stable..just like they use it to check Aural tuners who 
take the RPT test!

Terry

>From: Kent Swafford <kswafford@earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
>To: "pianotech list" <pianotech@ptg.org>
>Subject: Visual Tuning Device as Lifesaver
>Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 12:15:39 -0600
>
>Chris Gregg wrote:
>
> >	Unfortunately I have to disagree on this point.  An aural tuner does not
> >realize what a crutch the ETD is to a newcomer.  It may get them tuning,
> >but it does not teach them how to tune aurally.
> >
> >Chris
> >
> >>They said that an ETD could be one of the most helpful learning tools
> >>available to one just starting out in this profession.
>
>Since one of my Journal articles that is reprinted in the Tuning Exam
>source book is written on the subject of using visual tuning devices to
>learn aural tuning, I guess it should go without saying that I believe
>that VTD's are can be valuable tools for learning aural tuning. But that
>is not why I am writing.
>
>If I may be allowed a slightly irreverent comment, I have always gotten a
>good laugh when people call an VTD a "crutch".
>
>I don't think the crutch analogy is very apropos. To an injured person, a
>crutch can be invaluable for the simple reason that it can help him get
>where he needs to go, whereas without a crutch he wouldn't get anywhere
>by himself.
>
>As the injury heals the crutch could become an impediment, and perhaps
>that is where the VTD as crutch comment comes in. But I for one wouldn't
>be too fast to throw away the "crutch" and here's why:
>
>In December I was in a car wreck that injured my left hand. The injury
>left me completely unable to play an octave with my left hand, and mostly
>unable to play even a fifth. The wreck was at the end of the working day,
>and the next morning, before going to the doctor to get the treatment my
>hand needed, I tuned two pianos. This was no problem, because I am
>accustomed to using a visual tuning device. I was able to bang out test
>blows with my left hand and play intervals with two hands, and use the
>VTD to discover what needed to be fixed in the intervals that did not
>sound right as I checked the tuning.
>
>I spent the next month in a cast while the broken bone in my thumb healed
>and never missed a tuning. I was very proud, but I sent Dean Reyburn a
>thank you note because it was RCT (could about as well have been an SAT)
>that let me continue to work.
>
>Anyway, my point here is that it is not an entirely bad thing that
>electronic tuning devices can be used as crutches.
>
>I do worry about what would have happened had the injury been to my right
>hand. My right hand is capable of concert level tuning hammer technique,
>but I am afraid my left hand is only capable of student level hammer
>technique. My best recommendation to all piano techs, other than to know
>how to use an VTD in case of emergency, is to also learn to tune both
>right handed and left handed. You never know...
>
>Kent Swafford

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