self tuning piano????

[Bill Ballard]

At 5:57 PM -0500 7/2/02, Ron Nossaman wrote:
>>    If after it tunes itself does in maintain the temperature during playing?
>
>It is my understanding that it not only maintains it during playing, 
>but round the clock until the next tuning.

The PTJ article says that unless the unit is plugged into the wall, 
the tuning is what ever strings may  happen to fall into at ambient 
room/string temperatures. Plug the thing in and the baseline current 
is immediately delivered, bringing the piano closer in tune than it 
was at ambient room/string temperature. Press the tuning button and 
the set of amperages readjusts to accomplish a tuning.

>>How does board movement fit into this...seasonal changes etc.
>
>Theoretically, you just hit the tuning button to touch it up between 
>regular periodic tunings.

There's no such thing as regular periodic tunings, if what you speak 
of is the old fashioned mechanical kind. The article specifically 
says that "string locks are included to effectively clamp strings in 
place after the initial factory tuning."

Pride goeth before the Fall. Ruling out the possibility of a 
mechanical tuning is a fatal flaw. With a fatal flaw like this one, 
we don't need to trash it, it'll walk itself to the dumpster all by 
itself.

I am actually tickled by the idea, tuning speaking length by running 
electrical current through them. I think it's ingenious.

At 12:38 PM -0700 7/2/02, Delwin D Fandrich wrote:
>And, yes, it will help to get a few piano technicians and/or 
>rebuilders involved in the thing before too long. I'm reminded of 
>another promising development that fell by the wayside because 
>knowledgeable piano people weren't involved in its development early 
>enough: the Currier composite panel plate piano. The thing presented 
>to the public as a finished product was untunable! But it could have 
>been. And had it's development been accompanied by some solid input 
>from the piano technical community working with Kaman's aerospace 
> engineers I've no doubt it would today be in common use. There were 
>no major technological hurdles that could not have been overcome. 
>The instruments presented to the public were so poorly developed and 
>executed, however, the entire concept -- rather than its rather 
>pathetic implementation -- was condemned beyond salvage.

Del, I think you should send them your resume. As I mentioned in my 
first post, this early version doesn't show much input form anyone 
who's every worked on a piano.

At 10:43 AM -0700 7/2/02, Mark Wisner wrote:
>John Omnitek, the PianoMation guy, described the "self-tuning" 
>aspect of this piano as something the owner would do to keep the 
>piano in tune between tunings, NOT as a way to eliminate the need 
>for conventional tunings done by (un?)conventional tuners.

Again the PTJ article describes tis piano as one which will never 
need a manual tuning.

Oh Mark, was it OK for me to spill the beans about Yamaha Corp's 
being a silent partner, ready to piggy-back its Disklavier technology 
on this scheme once QRS comes up with a working prototype?

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

"You'll make more money selling my advice than following it"
     ...........Steve Forbes, quoting his father, Malcom
+++++++++++++++++++++