[CAUT] Sacrifice (was tuners- technology)

[A440A@aol.com]

David  writes:

<<  The
problem, I believe, lies in the fact that they are programmed to select
a certain partial (or in the case of the VT a certain balance of
partials).  But frequently, those need to be fudged a little.  This is
most obvious at the tenor break where inharmonicity spikes up and in
order to keep a good thirds progression, the notes often need to be
tuned a little flatter.  >>

Greetings, 
   Hmmm,  This suggests that the pianist will be more sensitive to the 
evenness of the thirds than other intervals, and I have not always found that to be 
the case.  On smaller pianos, I often need to let the thirds lose that perfect 
progression of decreasing beat rate speeds in order to maintain the same 
sound to my octaves as they pass over the bass break.  I have never had a pianist 
complain about this inconsistancy, but when I was  getting a smooth decrease 
in the thirds (which the SAT will usually do), at the expense of the octave, I 
did get complaints,(sometimes).  The problem tends to show up an octave below 
this break when that "fudging" requires even more flatness to keep the single 
octave acceptable and then the double octave has a noticeable roll to it.   
   Within tolerances, I think the eveness of the thirds is more for the aural 
tuners benefit than the pianist's. It seems to be most useful in checking the 
accuracy of ET, but beyond that, it makes little musical difference,(again, 
within tolerances).  I don't know of a pianist alive that could tell that, say, 
F#-A# is beating the same speed as the adjacent G-B or F-A, especially at the 
slow speeds found in the 3rd octave.  It is simply below the threshold of 
perception unless one is specifically trained AND looking for it. 
   All of the above applies to ET.  Since I have found so many customers that 
greatly prefer a more "Victorian" ET than an absolute clinical one, I don't 
worry about sacrificing the thirds progression in ET before I compromise any of 
the others. There isn't anything particularly musically magical about 13.7 
cents wide. 
Regards,  
  
Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html