VTD's as Teaching Aids

[Z! Reinhardt]

If anything can *teach* stability, it is the VTD.  It will notice the
slightest drift in pitch and will alert you in its own special way.

I got my SAT II the day after I passed my CTE tuning exam.  The first thing
it did was to sit me down and teach me a thing or 2 about stability.  It
was enough to make me wonder how I passed that exam doing as well as I did
..

Now it's my best friend.  I've taken on and survived some of the worst
tuning challenges available in metro Detroit with its help (the annual
Ford-Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival, warehouse sales at a local dealer for
starters).  It also enables me to continue tuning when I'm at the mercy of
an oncoming migraine .....

It and I have a partnership where I can come awfully close to a good
tuning, but my ear (and what brainpower I might have that day) is still the
final judge.  I always find notes to tweak and improve upon.

Z! Reinhardt RPT
Ann Arbor  MI
diskladame@provide.net

----------
> From: Don <drose@dlcwest.com>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Re:VTD's
> Date: Wednesday, June 03, 1998 9:37 PM
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> What *hogwash*. A VTD or ETD used properly will only serve to create a
> quicker learning curve. As to stability, perhaps Mr. Mohr might not
> consider a pitch drift of .48 cents at A4 on a Yamaha C7 over a six month
> time frame good stability, but I most certainly think it is acceptable.
> 
> 
> At 11:34 PM 6/2/98 EDT, you wrote:
> >In a message dated 98-05-30 01:52:55 EDT, you write:
> >
> ><< 
> > I tend to agree with Franz Mohr's assessment of the use of ETD's, at
> least to
> > a point.  He always said that he had never met a piano technician that
used
> >an
> > ETD (and in his experience, that usually meant a Strobe Tuner) who
could
> > produce a stable tuning.  He stressed repeatedly in his lectures that a
> >visual
> > aid actually would distract the technician from developing a true
feeling
> and
> > sensitivity for what is really required to tune a piano according to a
high
> > professional standard.  
> > 
> > In my own experience as an Examiner, I have seen it happen far too
often for
> > my own comfort, not to mention the humiliation that the Examinee must
feel,
> > that a user of an ETD creates a very passable tuning, only to show
> afterwards
> > that he/she has little idea of what really sounds correct and what does
not.
> > The ability to perceive and create that which is correct entirely by
ear is
> > the only skill that merits the use of the title, RPT.
> > 
> > Bill Bremmer RPT
> > Madison, Wisconsin
> > 
> >
> > I always have said, and I stand by it to this day, that individuals
learning
> >how to tune, should not have an ETD to use until he or she can pass an
> exam at
> >the RPT level.  This will according for Franz Mohr allow the feel and
proper
> >hearing that is necessary to please the ear.  After RPT is achieved,
then an
> >ETD is very helpful, but the ear is the final authority.
> >
> >I service my church piano once a month because of heavy use.  One time
when
> >many of the brethren were working on the stage while I was tuning, one
> noticed
> >that I was using a SAT.  I heard him say, "boy I can learn to tune with
> that!"
> >One playfully yelled to everyone in the auditorium and said "Dave's
> cheating!"
> >All kidding aside, I explained that my aural tuning is computed in the
memory
> >of my machine.  My years of experience is in this memorized tuning.  
> >
> >Pay your dues first, then let the ETD become your best friend, but not
your
> >crutch.
> >
> >Food for thought.
> >
> >Dave Peake, RPT
> >Portland, OR
> >
> >
> Regards,
> Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T.
> "Tuner for the Centre of the Arts"
> drose@dlcwest.com
> Web Site: http://www.dlcwest.com/~drose/
> 3004 Grant Rd.
> REGINA, SK
> S4S 5G7
> 306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner