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<DIV>I can second Wim's comments - 70% of my work is pitch raising up to
100 cents and leaving the piano in decent tune when finished. The test
doesn't cover that. An ETD can set a better temperament than most 1st year
tuners can aurally. Many techs use an ETD to suppliment an aural tuning,
and many more use an ETD to tune the entire piano. I know many techs who
do a great job with an ETD. I spose there is an argument "what if
the ETD breaks?" Well, if I relied on an ETD to tune (which I don't), I'd
carry a back up ETD with me, as I carry a back up tuning fork (ever lose a
tuning fork?).... Further, the tuning test takes an incredible amount of
time to set the piano up, if a master tuning is done ....and common sense tells
me that a master tuning done years ago (as was the case when I tested) would
have been done when the voicing was different, harmonics were different, and was
therefor no longer accurate. Just have an applicant tune the
piano..... either it sounds good, or it doesn't. Takes a few minutes to
evaluate it, and the CTE's job would be a hell of a lot easier ......nothing
against all the techs who worked hard to develop the current test, but you have
to admit, it's very time consuming for a CTE to administer. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Bob Maret,
RPT<BR>Piano Technician<BR></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>