"My Piano Does not Play in Tune"

[JIMRPT@aol.com]

Sandra;
 First let me say that no one can address your specific problems without
hearing the piano. That being said I will try to address, in general fashion,
some of your questions.
 "I wonder if it is impossible to get as tight of a tuning job via tuning
fork compared to digital tuner?."....."I can tell when a piano is in tune
when I don't perceive a bend in the pitch wave-I hear the sound go straight
to pitch."
Yes Sandra it is possible. There are all levels of ability in piano
technicians as there are different levels of ability in auto mechanics  or
medicine. By "tight" I am assuming that you mean good solid, stable, unisons
and this is accomplished mainly  through hammer technique and not tuning
forks vs. electronic tuning devices.

"He told me that my piano was sharp"
  Sandra one of the more difficult things to do in tuning is to tune (drop in
pitch) to a lower pitch and leave a stable piano. Because of this most
tunings of this nature need to be done at least twice and, depending on the
circumstances, by spaced visits/appointments.

" that it would also need voicing. It was voiced thoroughly,......"
Pianos reguarly need voicing and after a change in location such as you have
had I would expect it to need voicing. Voicing is part of normal maintenance
and should be done as needed.

"It was voiced thoroughly, rebushed, and restrung perfectly by J. Eldridge
Travis of Spanish Fork, Utah, 2 years ago."
  That was two years ago and before your move, I would be suprised if your
piano did not need some voicing.

" Do I need to voice the piano again before it will sound solidly tuned? I am
shocked that my tuning job does not sound tuned."
Sandra we are in in semantics warp here and it is not unusual for this to
happen.  'Voicing' changes the character or color of a note. 'Voicing' does
not change the pitch of a note. If a note is well tuned and the unision is
solid (let's use A 440 as an example) voicing may make the A sound warmer, or
brighter; fuller, or shallower but it still will be at A440. In other words
Sandra it is possible to have an well tuned piano that is horribly voiced, or
a well voiced piano that is horribly tuned. Voicing and tuning are seperate,
but highly complementary, entities.
  If you were satisfied (comfortable) with the tech who worked on your piano,
then I would call him back and try to work out any difficulties with him.  If
you are not satisfied (comfortable) with this tech then by all means seek
other sources of service in your area.
  Sandra I hope my opinions/explanations are helpful.
Jim Bryant (FL)