pitch floating

[Ron Koval]

I've been back and forth on pitch floating over the years.  Float to what, 
that's the question.... Yes, the  longest plainwires are now at +35 cents, 
but the bass strings are mostly at pitch.  So, pull the wound strings up, or 
the plainwire down, or go for somewhere in between?  Which strings take the 
moving better?  Where will each section be in 6 months?

It may come down to speed of the technician.  I know from past listings, 
that Wim is pretty quick, so pitch raising may not present much additional 
work for him.  I've settled on two passes for everything, moving quickly, so 
it will take me the same amount of time to do a practice room at pitch, as 
to float it.  That pretty much takes cost out of the equation.  So it comes 
down to the physical strain of larger string movements both on the 
instrument, and on my body.

Just finished 8 the other night in a high school.  Yes, they'll pay me again 
to get 'em back when the humidity drops.  The humidity reading is on the 
invoice, and they've gotten the Dampp-Chaser talk,(with reminder chats every 
year) so I figure it's their choice to have me there more often.

I don't think that floating helps the octaves match any better through the 
big shifts, and Don has documented the unison mismatch that happens without 
humidity control.

The only other thing I've tried for limited tuning budgets for the practice 
rooms is to stagger the tuning schedule throughout the seasons, with the 
hopes that there is always some pianos to be found tuned, and at pitch.  It 
also relieves the tuning marathon madness of this time of year. Otherwise, 
with them all on the same schedule, they sound good for a while, all drift 
to yuck, then sound good, drift to yuck, etc..(rinse and repeat)

Ron Koval
Concordia U.

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