pitch floating

[David Ilvedson]

If anyone is bringing the bass up to match the sharp, out of tune tenor they need to turn in their tuning hammer...
Floating pitch for me is plugging in the SAT numbers and then going through the A's to see where the problem is.  Maybe the bass is right on.  Tenor is sharp and the treble flat...Tune to A440, go through the tenor and treble and then once through the whole thing.  Maybe the bass is -4 cents and the tenor is +8 and the treble is -4...really flat top octave.  I tune -4 cents...that is I offset the SAT -4 cents and bring up the stored tuning page which will bring the tenor down 4 cents and the high treble up to -4 overall, if you get my drift...;-]  

David I.

>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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