[CAUT] electronic tuning device preference?

[Susan Kline]

I think I can agree with a lot of what Ron is saying,
with a few differences of opinion.

He's right that the computer enables graphic artists
to produce a big load of work in a short time, and to
make some effects they couldn't make any other way.

However, I made up my business card from scratch, with
a pen and ink drawing, and with press-on letters, twice
the desired size. Then the printer shot it down.

The result was a card which looks unlike anyone else's.
It stands out from a batch of others whacked together on
a computer, without recourse to fancy color or raised
printing.

You say,
<<yet the aural skills most needed to help the ETD are
the musical listening skills of the unison, octave and
wider octaves.>>

And I agree. So, take away those skills from a decent
tuning, and what do we have left? The ability to set
an equal temperament. Is that such a hard task? And is
TOTAL equality so necessary, if the musically important
intervals are even? That is, if all the fourths and fifths
are equally good/not good, according to their kind (fourths
faster than fifths) with none of them sticking out, and
the octave stretch is musically and tonally pleasing,
tiny differences in the thirds and sixths wouldn't
matter musically, IMO.

Is this really so hard to achieve, if one does it each day?

Okay, I can see the machines are very useful in pitch raises,
and in putting two pianos at exactly the same pitch, when they
can't be moved so one can play both keyboards at once, and in
"studying", whatever that really means. Or, if one is losing
hearing in the top register, a machine could help out up there,
enabling one to work for a few more years.

For the rest, I don't really see the desirability of using
an ETD while carefully checking and correcting for minor
problems in its stretches and unisons, versus just setting
them oneself unaided.

And no batteries, software upgrades, whatever. No staring
at little lights and spinning wheels (which would drive me
batty in short order.) Visual fatigue is an issue with me.
I try to turn off fluorescent lights and overly bright
lights when I can, because they are very tiring, and I
don't like looking at flashing blinking fiddly little things.

"Breaking away from the crutch of aural tuning" ...?
By substituting the crutch of a machine?

To each his own. As I said, I'm not trying to change
anyone's way of doing their work, just sharing my own.

Susan








At 07:13 AM 3/17/2008, Ron wrote:
>This has been an interesting discussion for me to catch up on this morning.
>
>Decades ago, I turned my back on Braid-White 
>when I realized that the precision
>hoped for in his beat-counting method was already available in the technology
>I had.  Both aural checks and machines have made great strides to increase
>the precision available to tuners - often not 
>emphasizing the accuracy of octaves
>and larger intervals.
>
>Learning aural tuning is an honorable, 
>satisfying skill - yet the aural skills most
>needed to help the ETD are the musical listening 
>skills of the unison, octave and
>wider octaves.  Calligraphy skills were once 
>necessary for the graphics professional , an
>honorable, satisfying skill, yet todays working 
>graphic artists use the computer as a
>powerful assistant for layout design.  The time 
>used to learn traditional aural skills
>can be better used to focus on tone, stability 
>and stretch.  ETD tunings are breaking
>away from the crutch of aural technique - by 
>focusing on what wetware can easily
>add to the process in the partnering with the 
>machine.  No longer must a student be
>expected to tune hundreds, or thousands of 
>pianos before reaching a qualitative
>level of tuning.
>
>While there is a long tradition of teaching aural temperament techniques, they
>aren't needed for professional service.  I also 
>realize that very few of you have reached
>that same conclusion. . .   :-)
>
>I suppose there will always be those that
>value the process, and the personal satisfaction they get from aural tuning.
>
>Ron Koval
>Concordia U.
>
>
>----------
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