This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Hi everyone, Once again I am puzzled, confused and upset after reading Virgil Smith's = latest article in the PTJ. I always feel this way after reading his = works and have been meaning to critique his writing for a long time but = never got around to it for several reasons, not the least of which is = the fact that he is a respected professional who has contributed greatly = to our cause and it's difficult to accomplish this without being = hurtful. Well, here goes. For years Virgil has been talking about "natural beats" and "listening = to the whole sound". When he tries to describe these things, he uses = vague descriptions that are, in my opinion, incomprehensible. The fact = that *I* don't understand them is of course no reason for rejection as I = am far from an all knowing tech. That's why I have consulted many other = smart techs for an explanation and *no one*, not one single person that = I know, has any true understanding of what he is talking about. I then decided to ask Virgil's friend and colleague, a person who knows = Virgil's work very well. You all know Jim Coleman Sr. and his work with = the "tune-offs". At one of the conventions, I asked Jim point blank = "What does Virgil mean by natural beats and listening to the whole = note?" ( I got Jim's permission to quote him last year ) Jim said "I = don't know. Ask Virgil!" A few techs have said that they *think* Virgil = means this or that. And some say "He *probably* means ....blah, blah" = Is there any one out there who can definitively explain these things = without using vague expressions and careless verbiage? Here is a minor poorly worded quote that I cite as an example of = careless writing. " Beats produce a rise & fall in volume matching the = speed of the beats involved..." Strictly speaking that is not correct. = Beats do not produce anything (except pulsating ear drums). Beats are = the *result* of repetitive rises and falls in volume as it reaches our = ears. Helmholtz showed that there is a resulting arithmetic difference = between two different pitches. When they are slow enough to count, we = call them beats. When they are too fast to count then they are resultant = pitches. This can be shown graphically that the waves of 2 different = pitches amplify and cancel each other to produce beats or resultant = pitches depending on how slow or fast they occur each second. What is = the difference between beats and natural beats? I've asked Virgil in = person and he says repeatedly that natural beats occur when you listen = to the whole tone. What in the world does this mean? This is getting too long for me to continue picking on all the vagaries = in his recent article. I'll try to finalize. When a musician, who knows = nothing about tuning and beats, listens to a major 3rd, he listens to = the whole sound of both pitches. When you change the size of the = interval, the musician hears a change in color without focusing or = understanding that there are *countable* beats that are variable to = produce these different sized 3rds. Didn't all of us tuners have to = train our ears and brains to *focus* on those countable beats so we can = be scientific about our work? Just like a rose, a beat is a beat is a = beat. A beat, whether natural, un-natural or whatever, is only one = thing. ****It is the result of 2 different pitches producing countable = rises and fall in volume. **** I can only hope that Virgil will finally = tell us all, precisely how "natural beats" are produced. Where do they = come from? etc. Of which 2 pitches are they the result?=20 I sincerely hope that I have not shown any disrespect, because it is = universally known that Virgil Smith is truly an outstanding tuner/tech. = I just believe that he is beating a dead horse in trying to verbalize = how he tunes. I also hope that I have not been equally vague in *my* = writing. If there is something that I am missing in Virgil's writings, I = would welcome a more precise explanation of this concept of "natural = beats". =20 Sincerely, Howard S. Rosen, RPT 7262 Angel Falls Ct. Boynton Beach, Fl 33437 hsrosen@gate.net =20 =20 ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/c7/d5/37/3e/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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