Muting behaviour

Wimblees@AOL.COM Wimblees@AOL.COM
Wed, 24 Jan 2001 22:19:01 EST


In a message dated 1/24/01 7:49:17 PM Central Standard Time, 
istuner@islandia.is writes:

<< Thatīs why I raised an eyebrow when a colleague of mine told me he tuned 
 only using two mutes.  No temperament strip, so when he does the 
 temperament he has to tune all the strings of a given unison, and then 
 tunes the next note.
 Now, if he has to change a note, (which is quite normal when tuning 
 temperament as you know) he has to tune all the unisons again!  He says it 
 doesnīt take more time, that the time of putting the strip in weighs 
 against the time it takes to tune all the strings all the time.
 
 This is as rheumatic as two dry toasts, I feel.  (plagiarized from 
 Shakespeare)
 
 What do you think?  Do any of you do this?
 
 
 Kristinn
  >>

If you try to do this when you are not used to it, I am sure it is going to 
take a lot longer. I personally wouldn't do it that way, although I had to do 
it once, when I forgot my temperament strips at home. It took me a LOT 
longer, but again, I wasn't used to doing it that way. 

But it isn't the time element that would keep me from doing it. It is hard 
enough to hear beats with one string, and especially when there is a false 
beat. But if one of the stings of the unisons is off by as little as 
one-tenth of a cent, it can give a different beat rate of the interval you 
are trying to tune. Of course one advantage of doing it the other way is that 
you learn very quickly to knock in those unisons really tight in a hurry.

Willem 


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