[pianotech] shorter final tuning time with pitch raises; forearm smash

[reggaepass at aol.com]

David,


 But when I got an SAT 10 years ago, I started tuning from 
bottom to top (since that's the only sequence you can do without 
having to press "buttons" in between each note).

I still have a first generation SAT ("I?").  The switch function can be made to go down instead of up, by pressing and holding the switch while pushing the Note Down button.  I would imagine that this is true for later models that still use a switch.  If the ones with automatic chromatic note switching are like Cybertuner, then they follow you one semi-tone at a time, whether up or down, without touching a thing.


Alan Eder






-----Original Message-----
From: David Nereson <da88ve at gmail.com>
To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wed, Nov 3, 2010 1:06 am
Subject: Re: [pianotech] shorter final tuning time with pitch raises; forearm smash



David

You don't necessarily need to "sock" it to the piano to make it 
stay in tune. Yes, a couple of test blows on each note is 
important, but you don't need to use a forearm smack, either.  I 
wonder if perhaps the reason you're taking so much time on a 
piano is because while you're trying hard to listen, you don't 
know what to do with what you hear.  Hearing a note out of tune 
is one thing. But knowing what to do with that note is another.

Can you explain how you tune a piano. I mean, what are the steps 
you take to tune, from temperament, to bass and treble tuning. 
Perhaps we can offer you some advice to help you cut down your 
time.

Wim


    Well, to open myself to a possible barrage of criticism, 
I've been tuning for 30 years and have never been able to tune 
faster than 1 1/4 hrs., unless it's a piano that's already very 
close to being in tune and needs only touch-up, then that takes 
45 min., as on pianos that get tuned twice a year or more, or 
just happen to hold a tuning exceptionally well.  Most tunings 
take me 1 1/2 hrs., more finicky tunings for clients with 
critical ears or on nicer grands, usually 2 hours.  If the 
former need a pitch raise, 2 1/2 hrs.  Decades ago, I would 
spend 3 hrs. on a concert tuning.
    For 20 years I tuned by ear, setting A4 from the fork, then 
the temperament, then octaves up to C8 and down to A0, then pull 
the felt strips and tune unisons.
    But when I got an SAT 10 years ago, I started tuning from 
bottom to top (since that's the only sequence you can do without 
having to press "buttons" in between each note).  I do unisons 
as I go, and arriving at C8, when it should be "done," it never 
is, because I have no assurance that all those pins really 
stayed put, despite my repeated listenings and test blows, so I 
go back and do a final check and touch-up of anything that 
slipped, which takes another 1/2 hr. to an hour, depending how 
stubborn the piano is.
    Wim, I've noticed at classes of yours I've attended at 
conventions, that you and some other tuners (anybody know what 
percentage?) have the ability, upon hearing a beating unison, to 
put the offending string in its final beatless resting position, 
pin set and everything, in one quick movement, without hardly 
thinking about it, whereas tuners like myself have much more of 
a battle in getting it close with the first movement, but almost 
always too far or not far enough, then having to make a second 
movement, and even a third, fourth, up to 8 or 10 tries or more 
before it's finally "dead on."  Yes, I know about the concept of 
mental "bookkeeping" of how far off it was when first playing 
the out-of-tune unison, but translating that mental concept into 
a physical movement is always waylaid by the flex of the pin, 
the flex of the hammer, the mushiness or jumpiness of the pin in 
the block, the ease or difficulty with with the strings render 
over the bridges and through the agraffes or pressure bar, and 
other factors.
    It seems the "nach'l-bawn" tuners are able to "go right to 
it" (the beatless spot), while I have to futz around, wiggling 
back and forth, 15 blows per note before it's finally set, and 
then I (anybody else, or is it just me?) come back for the final 
check, and STILL find many notes that have drifted out or 
weren't properly "locked in" (that's all I meant by "socking it 
in" -- I didn't mean extremely heavy test blows, which cause it 
to drift sharp), and many of those that have drifted are ones 
that I thought I "fixed"!  In other words, after all these 
years, a good portion of my tunings are still a "battle" or 
major "wrestling match."  Maybe I'm not very good in moving the 
hammer in small enough increments, yet I do end up with an 
in-tune piano.  I passed the exam.  Many professionals, piano 
teachers, churches, schools, and other tuners are pleased with 
my work, and they call me back, so I'm doing something right --  
just not as fast as others.  How you guys are "in and out" in 45 
minutes or an hour is beyond me.
    Welp, now everybody knows.
    --David Nereson, RPT
 




 
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