working with etd's and the customers' la-di-da

[David Love]

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I agree with you about ETD=92s reducing stress and increasing efficiency
(and income).  That=92s why I use one.  I just find that with a slight =
bit
of tweaking as you go, the tunings can often be improved.  Not a huge
amount, but enough to make a difference to some people. =20
=20
David Love
davidlovepianos@comcast.net=20
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of antares
Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 2:28 PM
To: Pianotech
Subject: Re: working with etd's and the customers' la-di-da
=20

On 5-feb-05, at 23:02, David Love wrote:
There is a fair amount of discussion on the VT forum about tweaking
styles in order to achieve the right tuning for particular pianos.  The
default style settings have built into them a certain amount of stretch
in each octave of the piano based on subjective research about what
sounds best.  None of the settings show a pure octave on any particular
octave of the piano but are expanded or contracted using a particular
octave type as a basis.  Are you generally tuning on the =93average=94,=20
=93expanded=94 or =93clean=94 setting, or a custom style of your own or =
perhaps
one of Ron Koval=92s (or mine) who contributed much to the discussion?  =
A
one style fits all (stretch) was something I was working on quite a bit
and was not able to find one that worked for everything.  Even when I
did find a good style fit, sometimes there would be a note or two or
three that needed to be modified to keep a smooth sequence of thirds or
octaves throughout the piano.  I found that the =93average style=94 =
tended
to stretch the bass more than I liked. =20




I found (after experimenting with the stretch possibilities in that
machine) that the 'average' tuning suits me best.
"Average" tuning meaning already stretched, just like a 'regular' tuning
made by human ears.
Of course a discussion about styles is out of the question, just not
possible.


I think the VT has a lot of nice options that allow you to custom set
everything to your liking.  But I was never able to trust it (or any
other machine for that matter) enough to tune without listening and
checking at least somewhat.  In fact, the only complaints I have really
gotten about tunings, ironically, were when I did an A0 =96 C88 tuning
without any interval checking. =20



Let me 'try' to put it this way :
The best tuning I ever made in two hours time, was my final exam tuning
at the Yamaha Academy. It took me a full month of intense training to
reach that level. There was btw no choice, one was obliged to get the
highest mark, or no certificate.
After I got home, it took me some time to 'come down' and realize that I
had undergone an incredible learning experience, but at the same I
realized that I would probably never tune like that again for very
simple and economical reasons : Nobody is going to pay me for that very
same effort.

The machine I use, may have its flaws, or not.... by using it, I learned
one thing very quickly :
This thing gave me instantly the tuning I had trained for so hard.
In Holland we have a saying : "I chose eggs for my money", and decided
to stop fooling around and try to be a hero, which I am not.
I am now 56. My ears are still ok, but pretty soon they will go down,
just like my eyesight. Furthermore, there are pianos one can simply not
tune because they are so rotten they make you ill by the time you're
finished.
My ETD takes care of all of that and do my work humming happily, because
I can concentrate on doing much more important work : making very nice
unisons.
In my opinion, nobody gives a damn whether a'''' is slightly high or
that B contra is an eyebrow hair too low.
If the overall tuning is on a level of say 95 %, it is a concert tuning
of the highest level and I really have not met any tuner yet who can be
that accurate, and- again -in 45 minutes!!!


I agree that unisons must be tuned by ear.  I am a firm believer in the
use of machines as a second pair of ears.  But I would have to emphasize
as a second pair, one=92s own being the first.  A combination
aural/electronic tuning doesn=92t take me any longer than 45 min =96 1 =
hour
and I do find them especially useful for setting a perfect and
effortless temperament.=20



It was and is never my intention to force any ETD down anyone's throat.
What do I care?
All I would like to make clear, is that there are machines these days
which are VERY hard nuts to crack.

If one insists that an aural tuning is better, so be it, I prefer to say
that some aural tuners, probably like David Andersen, are really
fantastic tuners, but that it takes a whole lot of energy and stress to
produce 5 of those tunings a day.
Working with a near perfect ETD is far less stressful and costs far less
energy.
Again, the unisons are, in my opinion, more important, and so is the
voicing.


See, I choose for an economical use of my time with a maximum result.

friendly greetings
from
ANDR=C9 OOREBEEK

Where 'music' is no harm can be

www.concertpianoservice.nl







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