stability of pitch raises

[Bill Ballard]

At 8:24 PM -0700 8/29/01, Stephen Airy wrote:
>Didn't I say that using a SAT would be encouraged?  if
>not, I say it now....  Do you think it could be done
>though, without muting the strings?
>
>>  >From: Stephen Airy <stephen_airy@yahoo.com>
>>
>>  >I'd like to see the day when:
>>  >
>>  >A tuner can pitch raise and fine tune any piano
>>  that's
>>  >say, 250 cents flat, in one pass and under 2 hours,
>>  >without muting the piano.  Use of a SAT or similar
>>  >device is permitted, but can it be done (in the
>>  >future) without one?

At 11:39 AM -0700 4/17/01, Stephen Airy wrote:
>I was wondering -- what is the smallest it is possible
>to build a piano and still have 88 keys?  I wouldn't
>mind if it has to be a spinet.  I'm wondering if it's
>possible to build one (not that I would undertake the
>project anytime soon) light enough for one person (a
>non-weightlifter) to be able to lift and carry the
>piano a short distance.  I'm thinking -- is it
>possible to have a piano weigh under 100 pounds? .....<snap>.....
>The piano I'm thinking of would only have 2 pedals -- a soft
>pedal and sustain pedal.  What do you RPTs think is
>the smallest it is possible to build such a piano?

Do I hear more meandering curiosity than practical import in these 
two questions? As far as 250¢ pitch raises, the only time I see them 
is chipping a fresh stringing. As far as "pitch raise and fine tune 
any piano that's say, 250 cents flat, in one pass and under 2 hours", 
you can check in the Guinness book of World Records although the 
listed feat is a 100¢ pitch raise. And your suggestion that no muting 
be involved seems not to have bumped into the fact that fine tuning 
without mutes is pointlessly inefficient. Even in the situation of a 
pre-concert touch-up following an afternoon rehearsal, if you used no 
strips or wedges, you'd still be muting with your fingernail.

I don't know who would be interested in such a performance. Except 
possibly, the producer of Extreme Weird Sports videos for MTV.

If you're seriously interested in the challenges involved, you might 
try it on your Ricca upright, running it through successive cycles of 
250¢ down, 250¢ up until you hit the two-hour limit (like the 
two-minute mile), or until you had something to report back to us on. 
You might even approach Steve Fairchild for coaching.

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"Garth, Take me!"
"Where? I'm low on gas and you need a jacket"
     ...........Kim Bassinger and Dana Carvey in "Wayne's World 2"
+++++++++++++++++++++