a tuning question

[FRANCES HELMS]

And doesn't that happen all too often...
Went recently to tune two church pianos in a very remote area following
an ice storm-regular customers.  Spoke to the church musician about the
temperature factor as the church is normally kept at just warm enough to
keep from having frozen pipes.  

She made a trip in the morning prior to my arrival and set the
thermostat at 70 degrees and left a note on it to please leave it there
so that the pianos would sound decent for church next day.

Since I had other stops along the route, I arrived apx. 4:30 p.m.
expecting to have a comfortable tuning environment.  Instead the temp.
was 50 degrees.  The custodian was there, but did not have a key to the
thermostat.  I tuned with my coat on -cold anyway and notified the
pianist that the temp. had been reset after she left.  Frustrating all
around.

Now if I tuned in 70 degrees and they reduce the heat throughout the
week to 50 degrees- raising it to 70 on Sunday,  how stable can one
expect the tuning to be.
Sorry -preaching to the choir.
Fran Helms,
Topeka,KS

>>> J Patrick Draine <draine@comcast.net> 2/16/2005 6:06:50 PM >>>
I can't speak for Reading PA but January 2004 was extremely dry, and if

I had set a stable piano to A440 back then it would be sharp at the 
current RH level (it's raining buckets right now, and was warm for a 
couple days).
And don't forget the impact that room temperature has on pitch. Perhaps

the heat was set lower for your recent visit, but you tuned it on a day

when the heat had been set at a comfortable level.
It's not uncommon for me to arrive at a church to find the temperature

in the mid 50s -- if I tune it to A440 it will be flat Sunday morning 
when the church has been warmed up for the congregation's comfort.
patrick draine


On Feb 16, 2005, at 4:27 PM, Alpha88x@aol.com wrote:

> Greetings,
>
>                 In Feb '04 I tuned two church pianos that were below

> pitch. They were  down at about A430 or less. After I was done they 
> were A440. I did pitch raises. This year, I went back and found that

> both pianos were about 10 cycles sharp...and this is February...the 
> heat has been on for 4+ months the things should be flat, if
anything, 
> right? But nooo.... they're sharp.
>
>                On the first piano, (a Kawaii studio upright) I 
> thought: "Ok this is in a basement (choir rehearsal room) and it
could 
> be that moisture absorbed into the thing and so it's sharp". However,

> when I got upstairs to the sanctuary ( a Steinway console)  piano,
its 
> even sharper(!) (about 3 cycles sharper than the one in the basement)

> and a little business card of another tuner is in there; a date on it

> reads:
>  8-9-04  A440...along with a list of other dates that indicated that

> they were tuned twice a year by this tuner. (That card with dates was

> in there last February too).
>
>                I am a stickler for A440 so today I took each of the 
> pianos and made them A4440 again. My question is: WHY? Why were these

> pianos so ***@#$*#$%^% sharp!!!??
>  Could it be that the other tuner turned them up in August 04 after I

> was there in Feb '04?  The story was when I was called in that were 
> tuned regularly by this other tuner, (the card indicated such)  Yet,

> the pianos were so flat when I was called in, in Feb '04 that I had
to 
> pull them both up....what gives????
>
>
>  Julia Gottchall.
>  Reading, PA
>