Hi Folks Reading through many of these posts I am left very much in agreement with Andres comments about the present nature of discussions on this issue. Not more then a year or so back any attempt to breach this subject would cause emotions to fly wild amoungst several on the list, and any chance of constructive dialog would be quickly lost. It would appear that the majority of readers have gotten past the more trivial elements of this issue, and gotten to the core issues involved. There should be no doubt in anyones mind that an highly accomplished tuner, skilled and knowledgeable in all aspects of the trade can utilize an ETD to create a very high quality tuning and, depending on the particular user, sometimes faster and with greater ease. It should also be doubtless by now that ETD's can be a highly valuable educational tool in more then a few manners. Equally, I would hope anyways, it should be obvious that there are inherent pitfalls that are related to ETD usage that should be avoided. Some of these have been voiced in one way or another with a rather high degree of consensus. Few, if any at all, have advocated complete reliance on ETDs. Few, if any at all, take issue with the basic value of mastering the trade from an aural standpoint. I would also argue that tho some may find aural tuning to be akin to riding a bike, not every technician can maintain aural skills as easily without reasonably frequent practice. As there is essentially no real data on the matter we of course can not say one way or the other with any degree of certainty, but I would submit it is a valid concern until shown statistically to be ungrounded. I would also argue that concerns regarding those who have never learned aural tuning being susceptible to achieving substandard tuning results should be fairly obvious by now. My own experiences with administrating and aiding in RPT tuning exams were far too convincing. And indeed... it really goes without saying... those who do not have a formal definition in there mind as to what a tuning is,... is about, those who have not achieved the required level of aural skills in ascertaining if those criteria are being met,... have really no way of confirming whether or not the ETD tuning is acceptable or not for any given situation. The fact that in the vast majority of situations even a downright lousy tuning (however achieved) can suffice does not detract from that reality. Even if one grants that a very good natural musical ear, combined with an ETD can achieve as a general rule an acceptable tuning, it is just as possible this combination can become easily confused by any given instrument, resulting in a poor tuning. All this simply points to the simple truth that the advent of high quality ETD's in no way frees us from the responsibilities of learning our craft to the highest possible degree, and providing for a self maintenance of those skills. In all this discussion, I seem to be reading a basic agreement on that point, albeit worded differently from the various debatants. Grin... and if anyone reads into this that I am somehow and ETD opponent.... well what can I say... I am most definantly not. Cheers RicB
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