I'm with ya brother Andersen! I've dabbled in using ETD's but it makes me feel like a factory worker - a "pin turner" if you will. Pictures of Charlie Chaplin in "Modern Times" (one of my all-time favorites!) comes to mind. I can tell you that one of my most important clients would have never had me back if she had seen me use an ETD. Prejudice on her part? Perhaps - but it's her money and her prerogative. I remember Ulrich Gerhartz (head of Steinway C&A in London) who taught in Bellevue Washington back in March, said if you showed up at Steinway London to get a job and pulled out an ETD you would promptly be shown the door. Now I am sure there are other clients who would raise an eyebrow if the tech DIDN'T bring out an ETD. And there are some aural tuners doing inferior work to some ETD tuners. Different strokes for different folks. Obviously there is plenty of room in the world for both kinds. One thing for sure is that solid aural tuners are becoming more of a minority - and I believe those that cultivate this skill will be able to enjoy the benefits of being in an elite class of technicians. Lastly, I'm concerned that often fine tuners eventually invest in an ETD because they are having trouble with their hearing. Hearing loss is a reality, people. Please, wear your hearing protection while you work. It will improve your tunings, lower stress and fatigue, allow more focused attention, screen out background noise, and encourage clients to not engage with you while you are working. Get the picture? Tune safe! On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 9:02 AM, David Andersen < david at davidandersenpianos.com> wrote: > Hey all---wonderful to see those of you I saw in my quick trip to > Vegas....lotta amazing pianos there....lotta love. > > Here's my take: I *like* it better to tune aurally. It makes me feel > better. I prefer it. It empowers me and makes me proud of my skills. It's a > big challenge every time, and I'm intrinsically kind of wierdly lazy and > passive, and I need the challenge. I'm always curious about how good I can > make this piano sound solving the puzzle myself...BUT THAT'S JUST ME. > > Many of my most beloved and respected (by me) colleagues use ETDs because > the above is exactly true for them WHEN they use the ETD as a tool and > focusing device, as an adjunct to their skill. Beautiful. > > I don't care how you get there. I just want to hear a GREAT tuning at the > end. Very simple. Scoreboard, baby. How does it sound? > > DA > > > > Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100703/dac02dbb/attachment.htm>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC