Jim, I wouldn't worry about the exact bps values as the aim is never to tune a particular interval to 1.26 bps. It will vary from piano to piano. Also, did you mention what type of piano you are tuning? Are we talking a little spinet or a much larger piano. It is possible that some smaller pianos are going to have large enough scaling problems where getting a smooth progression of thirds and nice quiet 5ths is just not possible and compromises will need to be made. I don't see anything wrong with your checks as I glance through them but one thing that might be helpful is to tune with your ETD using your normal temperament sequence and then stopping after each note to perform your aural test. This will help train your ear to hear how the test is supposed to sound. For example, it may sound to you like one interval is beating slightly faster than another interval but, as a new tuner, your ears can trick you sometimes. Using the ETD in this way and going through your normal temperament sequence and using your aural checks will be good training, almost like having a technician sitting next to you helping you along. Another thing I would suggest is that this temperament you are following is heavy on tuning intervals with very slow beats. Some ears are better at hearing the slower moving beats but others respond better to faster beats. Although there is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with this temperament, you might also want to experiment with a temperament that tunes using faster beating intervals (3rds and 6ths) as opposed to tuning using 4ths and 5ths. Just my own personal suggestions. Corte Swearingen Chicago "Jim Morrison" <jimmor@telus.net To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > cc: Sent by: Subject: Temperamental temperament octave pianotech-bounces @ptg.org 11/12/2003 10:10 PM Please respond to Pianotech Jim, If you are able to balance the pivotal thirds properly in step 5, then your mistake is happening in steps 6-9. What aural checks are you using in each of these steps? Corte Swearingen Chicago Jim,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Corte; Here is the progression with the tests I am using That’s right Mike, I had step 11 reversed. It is straightened out below. I am using tunelab pocket in a dell axim to check my aural temperament. Something I have added are the beats per minute (bpm). I use bpm with my meteronome as an aid to help compare the slower beating 4ths and 5ths. One of my faults may be expecting to master aural tuning in a short time. I noticed today that it was not always the E that was problematic sometimes it was C# or G and G#. Someone told me once that if piano tuning was easy, everyone could do it.Thanks to everyone who replied. Have to go make some money tomorrow (not tuning pianos) but hope to get back to my practicing on Friday. 1) A49 to fork F33-fork = F33-A49 2) A37 from A49 F33-A37< F33-A49 3rd is about .5bps slower than 10 th 3)F33 from A37 7bps F33-A37<F33-A49 4)F45 from F33 C#29-F33< C#29-F45 5)C#41 from F45 ... balancing pivotal thirds 6)D42 from A37 (4th)1bps wide (60 bpm) F33-D42 6th is 1bps faster than F33-A37 3rd 7)A#38 from F45 (5th).6bps narrow (36bpm) A#38-D42 is slightly faster than A37-C#41 8)F#46 from C#41 (4th) 1.26 bps wide (80bpm)A37-F#46(6th) is 1.26 beats faster than A37-C#41(3rd) D42-F#46 is faster than C#41-F46 9)C40 from F45 (4th) approx 1-1/3 bps wide (80bpm) C40-A49 (6th) is slower than F45-A49, its upper major 3rd C40-A49 is about the same asD42-F#46(M3) 10)E44 from A49 (4th) 1.6bps wide(96bpm) C40-E44 is slower than C#41-F45 and faster than A#38-D42 A37-E44(5th) .6bps narrow C40-E44 is slower than C40-A49 (6th) this is where I encounter my problem? 11)G#48 from C#41(5th)less than 1bps narrow compare E44-G#48 / F45-A49(3rds) compare C#41-G#48 / D42-A49 (parallel 5ths) 12)B39 from F#46 (5th) .83bps narrow (50bpm) B39-D42(minor 3rd)is faster than D42-F#46(major 3rd) B39-E44(4th) is approx 1.1bps 13)D#43 from A#38 (4th) A37-F#46=B39-D#43 14)G47 fromD42
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC