Tuning

[Alan Barnard]

It makes absolutely no difference which octave you set for your initial temperament octave EXCEPT for these two little-bitty issues:

1. The only way to absolutely guarantee an A440 tuning is to start with A4 at 440 Hz. Using a C fork will get it close enough, most of the time. So unless you are going to accompany an oboist, the C octave is fine.

2. Your proposed temperament is kinda high. It will be very hard to hear/judge the faster-beating intervals (3rds and 6ths) going up that high.

3. Whatever you choose, your first tuned note must be the exact note of your fork or other pitch source. Do not, for example, use a C3 fork to tune C4 directly, else you'll be tuning to a second partial and your C4 will be slightly sharp and your C3 will end up slightly flat, etc.

4. To get a really nice temperament that will spread well over the whole piano, it's a good idea to consider what happens at and just below the tenor break, inharmonicitywise. Your C4-C5 idea is a long way from the break and you might not like the way octaves end up in that area--which is, by the way, the part of the piano where most of the left-hand stuff occurs in playing church hymns, for example.

Alan Barnard
Salem, MO




Original message
From: "A E" 
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Received: 5/5/2008 4:14:47 PM
Subject: Tuning


Hi,
 
I've got  a question concerning tuning, my piano is a strange one it was made in Ukraine about 15-20 years ago, and has recieved alot of abuse, including being moved over the atlantic, and being dropped... Strangely enough, soundboard remained in tact, but I'm having issues tuning it, it's a 42inch console upright. I was thinking of trying out tuning in the C4-C5 for temperament instead of F3-F4. Does anyone have any experience trying this out?
 
Sincerely,
Alicia




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