[CAUT] electronic tuning device preference?

[David Ilvedson]

an Aural tuner has the ability
>to colour a tuning in a fashion not attainable by an ETD tuning. I
>would go so far as to say that unless the final pass is tweaked
>strictly by ear... an ETD tuning has no chance of such coloring."

I submit the aural tuner will add colour everytime with inconsistency...;-]

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: ricb at pianostemmer.no
To: caut at ptg.org
Received: 3/15/2008 12:44:23 AM
Subject: [CAUT]  electronic tuning device preference?


>Hi

>I see we are on another one of these ETD vs Aural tuning debates
>again and have the following seemingly obvious but for some reason
>nearly always overlooked basic truths.

>First, an ETD tuning and a aural tuning are executed with different
>tuning priorites as their basis. No mater what the marketing hype
>says, the ETD (except verituner) does not compare intervals note for
>note during the tuning and has therefor no direct way whatsoever of
>insuring any particular relationship between various coincidents for
>all the various intervals used by any particular aural tuner. Even
>the verituner has its own tuning algorithm and will result in a
>tuning all its own.  The ETD is by definition of its own tuning
>algorithm bound to yeild a different end tuning then an aural tuner
>just as one aural tuner will vary from another.

>Secondly... as to comments that go along the lines of whether an ETD
>tuning is good enough. The simple fact that they are accepted if not
>in many many cases welcomed by artists should answer this question
>adequately enough I think. There seems to be some hint of an
>argumentation which sees the ETD's consistancy as a negative to some
>degree... if so this is a pretty odd tact to take since consistancy
>is something all aural tuners strive for.

>All this said again... An ETD tuning is not a creative endeavour in
>any sense of the word.   If you are simply following the dials.. ie
>the ETD's <<programed tuning>> then at very best your imput is so
>minimal as so essentially constitute a negligible effect on the end
>tuning. For what ever it is  worth... an Aural tuner has the ability
>to colour a tuning in a fashion not attainable by an ETD tuning. I
>would go so far as to say that unless the final pass is tweaked
>strictly by ear... an ETD tuning has no chance of such coloring.

>As to whether or not any aural tweaking constitutes an inherently
>better tuning or not... if the public rejects ETD tunings.. then they
>do and if they dont they dont... thats about as objective a measure
>as is possible. The rest of it falls into the purely subjective and
>is about as valid as saying that Franz Mohrs tunings are inherently
>better then Georges Ammanns tunings... or the oposite.  At some point
>one gets past comparitives that deal in objective concepts like
><<better>> or <<worse>> and are forced to set these aside and deal
>with pure and simple differences one either chooses to like or
>dislike onself... personally. 

>Cheers
>RicB