On Apr 15, 2009, at 12:30 PM, Ed Sutton wrote: > Kent's [OnlyPure] tuning on the 7' Hailun sounded very compelling, > but there was little time to test and no real chance to compare with > anything else. Kent laboriously tuned all unisons with the > [OnlyPure] program. They were the cleanest unisons I've ever heard. I have to admit that I was taken aback by this statement. It wasn't what I was expecting. However, having thought about it for a few weeks, I guess the statement makes sense. What we have here in OnlyPure may very well be a "game-changing" electronic tuning device. As I have continued to work with 'PureTuner for several months since writing my Journal article on it last fall, the truth is that my estimation of 'PureTuner has grown considerably since I wrote the article. I haven't tuned only a few pianos with 'PureTuner. I have worked very, very hard with this device over a period of many months while tuning many, many pianos to work out how to take full advantage of the capabilities of Bernhard Stopper's software. Early on, I realized that the characteristic OnlyPure sound depended upon, among other things, very clean unisons. I also realized that the unique accuracy of the OnlyPure display lent itself very, very well to fine unison tuning. In the last several months I have worked very hard to improve my hammer technique to improve my ability to tune unisons very accurately. I believe it is clear that my efforts, which are still ongoing, are beginning to pay off. In addition to working on my hammer technique, I have continued my efforts to improve my ability to tune unisons in the bass, and have developed some procedural techniques that help me tune very cleanly in the bass while serving the temperament at hand. I call it "coherent unison tuning", which tunes mismatched bass strings (which are found on most every piano) in a uniform way that enhances the smoothness (equality) of the temperament through the scale instead of degrading it. (Maybe I should put together another journal article.) I have had to come to terms with the reality that my OnlyPure article in the Journal has brought more response in emails and phone calls than any other article I've ever had published in the Journal. I think it was the recordings that did the trick. Some heard something in those recordings that they haven't heard before. Of course, a few missed the point of the spinet recording. A spinet tuned with 'PureTuner will still sound like a spinet, no question. HOWEVER, a spinet tuned with 'PureTuner may very well sound like a finely-tuned spinet! What is THAT worth? Some have assumed that the 'PureTuner "effect" is most applicable to the finer, larger pianos. I do not find this to be true at all. In truth, the 'PureTuner effect may actually be most dramatic on small pianos, because the sound is so unexpected. (I can see I need to put together some more recordings of the 'PureTuner effect and of the aural checks used while tuning with 'PureTuner.) There is going to be a time when many are singing the praises of this software. Those brave souls who try 'PureTuner now have their work cut out for them, simply because so few other tuners have experience with this software. They will need to put forth the effort to fully learn the capabilities of the software, and as trailblazers they may need to help develop the specific procedures that will allow the best-possible tunings to be had using the software. The endeavor will be worth the effort, in my opinion. Maybe I'm hallucinating about how good these tunings are, but I don't think so. There has been not one bad reaction to these tunings, at least, none that have gotten back to me, anywhere I have done them, not at the university, large churches, recording studios, nor anywhere else. The benefits of the OnlyPure software are many. No measurements or calculations needed before tuning; no stored tunings needed; clean, accurate display; unisons can be tuned with the ETD; a distinctively pure tuning on most any piano that seems to satisfy the aesthetics of Virgil Smith's whole sound tuning; and the list goes on. Anyone who thinks this software is simply an implementation of a pure twelfths equal temperament that can be exactly duplicated with other devices (or easily duplicated aurally, for that matter) is simply uninformed. OnlyPure is more than that. Don't be fooled, people. Kent Swafford Proud to be an RPT PS to Ed Sutton -- Show me any fine unisons anywhere and I'll show you unisons that were tuned "laboriously"; it's the only way they happen. 8^) KES
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