Pitch Raise

[ed miller]

Thanks for your help, Ron. That makes sense, though I wish there was a more 
definite answer. I guess pitch raising aurally is a tricky skill to learn.


>From: Ron Nossaman <rnossaman@cox.net>
>Reply-To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
>To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
>Subject: Re: Pitch Raise
>Date: Sat, 07 Jan 2006 11:45:00 -0600
>
>
>
>>I am a novice tuner learning to tune aurally. I am confused as to how to 
>>do an effective aural pitch raise.
>
>It'll probably take you longer to learn to do an effective aural pitch 
>raise dependably than to learn to tune acceptably.
>
>
>>How can you accurately judge whether a piano needs a pitch raise (without 
>>an electronic guage)?
>
>I don't think you can, accurately, with any method. So much depends on the 
>situation, and every tuner has a different threshold. Just figuring out 
>where the piano is in pitch is guesswork. If you live in a part of the 
>world that has seasons, you'll find often tuned pianos that are very close 
>in the A-4 area, five beats flat or sharp in the low tenor, and the same in 
>octave 6. The bass will be pretty close, and the high treble could be 
>anywhere. Most of your clientele won't be too interested in paying for 
>pitch corrections twice a year, so you do the best you can in one pass.
>
>At A-4, each beat per second is four cents. I tune school systems where the 
>pianos are off 4+ beats (16+ cents) sharp or flat at A-4. They get one 
>pass. While this won't produce concert level tuning, it's surprising how 
>nice sounding a tuning you can produce like this with practice, which is 
>good, because that's all they will get under these circumstances.
>
>In other venues, a 4 cent or smaller change will require a pitch adjustment 
>pass.
>
>Bottom line is, there isn't a rule. Your judgment is made on the likelihood 
>of your meeting the requirements of the tuning in this instance, on this 
>piano, in one pass.
>
>
>>Once you determine a pitch raise is necessary, is there a particular 
>>sequence to use when pitch raising? I am aware of the general guideline of 
>>overshooting a string by half the amount that it is flat. Do you do this 
>>on every note, or is there a certain graduation as you go to the bass and 
>>the treble?
>
>I start with the overshoot at the fork, and set a decent, but not overly 
>fussy temperament. I then chase the overshoot beat rate by octaves up to 
>the treble break, and down to the low tenor. The overshoot in the bass will 
>be less, or none. Overshoot through octave 6 will be more than in the 
>center, tapering to none at the top.
>
>Again, everyone slays their pitch correction dragon in their own fashion. 
>You'll just have to keep paying attention and adjusting your approach until 
>you find a set of processes that work for you.
>
>Ron N
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