[pianotech] Aural Tuning, a third flat

Conrad Hoffsommer hoffsoco at luther.edu
Fri Jan 2 03:51:34 PST 2009


David Ilvedson wrote:
> 
> That's where a ETD really shines...2 passes and your at pitch, rough 
> tuned.   When you come back in a few months it will be close to pitch...
>  
> I've never come across a piano that flat unless I was was restringing 
> it...'-]  

Count yourself lucky.  Many years ago, I was called on to tune and "make 
work" an absolutely gorgeous birdcage from about 1850. It looked like it 
should be in a museum behind a velvet rope. It also probably hadn't been 
tuned in a half century or so.

The pinblock had issues. The customer just wanted it to play, so tuning 
it to itself at the highest pitch the pins would allow was agreed to be 
the best option. After doing what regulation was possible, I wound up 
setting C# to my A fork and proceeded to do a "normal" tuning, trying to 
separate the pitch in my ears from what my hands told me.  Fortunately, 
I'd already played games with my set of chromatic forks and could set a 
temperament starting on any note. (this was >20 years before I got my ETD).

Tuning from the "A" fork meant that the beat speeds were in the 
accustomed range.


-- 
Conrad Hoffsommer, RPT - Keyboard Technician
Luther College, 700 College Dr., Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045
1-(563)-387-1204 // Fax 1-(563)-387-1076



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