[pianotech] Tunic software

Richard Brekne ricb at pianostemmer.no
Wed Mar 18 15:28:57 PDT 2009


Hi all

    A side by side comparison of the Tunic to your SATIII?   Whatever it
    is... i.e. tune with the Tunic then take readings with your other
    ETD.   Like Jeff and others I would be interested in what
    differences you find, if any...

    David Ilvedson, RPT
    Pacifica, CA  94044


Given the discussion so far, and the comparisons to Virgils style of 
tuning... and for that matter the background of discussions / debates 
surrounding Virgil Smith and ETD's in general... with Jim Coleman on the 
ETD side of the debate... I would think the far more interesting 
comparison would be to see how the P-12ths idea lines up with Virgils 
tunings.

Easily done really.. Get Virgil or one of his disciples to do an aural 
tuning, and then see what Stoppers software would <<correct>>.  Measure 
the cents offset difference.

Personally, I would not be at all surprised to see the two line up quite 
favorably....which would  beg several interesting questions as to tuning 
styles in general, and the effect of the Octave Types approach as put 
forward by the onset of the original single partials calculated 
inharmonicity curve approach.

It might be a good idea in all this to remember what an ETD (including 
Stoppers) can and can not do.  An ETD can listen for a given 
frequency... or at best several frequencies at once with an advanced 
weighting algorithm to decide the fudge factor.  I'm not sure even 
Vertituner does things this second way when it comes down to it.... tho 
that information has not been published. More likely it has decided a 
given notes frequency ahead of time based on previous sampling. At best, 
Stoppers softeware could perhaps manage that... tho given the 
capabilities of the hardware its written for that is doubtful.  So one 
is left with what has been said about his P-12ths approach and the main 
contours should be fairly clear. 

That they should compare (if that is the case) favorably with Virgils 
style raises a very interesting question and clue as to the nature of 
the so called Natural Beat. That this all should in turn compare 
favorably again with other P-12ths approaches through time should then 
also be no suprise... but again be very interesting in terms of the 
whole octaves priority vs 12ths priority approach.  And... it could 
possibly tell us some very nice to know pieces of info about why we 
choose stretch degrees the way we do.

A comparison between SAT, Cybertuner, and any 12ths approach should be 
rather predictable to begin with... and fairly uninteresting I should 
think. Compare Bernards software to Virgil.

Cheers
RicB



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