SAT & RCT & TuneLab97

[Don Mannino]

Rob Kiddell wrote:

>>I find that 'maverick' notes need to be micro-tuned (ie: by the human) to 
fit into the overall tuning scheme.<<

This is a big drawback of using TuneLab to calculate a tuning. The notes in between the sample notes are not tuned to the octaves above using stretch information, but are calculated as a "temperament" between the sampled notes. This creates errors in both the treble and bass. Using the graphical tuning editor allows you to guestimate a better curve between the reference notes, but it is still a trial and error process.

>>I've tuned what I consider a fairly wide stretch, only to have TuneLab97 tell me that I'm 
considerably flatter than what I thought!<<

This is pretty common, I think. When I tune octaves aurally I am bothered by excessively beating octaves (mainly the 4:2 and 2:1 beats), so my high treble doesn't "appear" very sharp at the very top.  But if I use Tunelab to push my octaves sharper they must beat more than I like to hear. Using the computer software makes tuning these wide octaves accurately and consistently very easy, but it seems to me that this is sort of an artificially derived tuning. As long as the pianists like it, that's fine, but I prefer the smoother sounding octaves that are not stretched as much in the mid-treble. My note 88 stretch on relatively low inharmonicity Kawai pianos is usually in the neighborhood of +28c to +36c

>>Big problem: laptops have miserable battery life, learn to tune quickly 8-) <<

The new Pentium 233 and 266 laptops use a low power processor that saves a lot of battery life. I can tune constantly for 6 to 8 hours with my 2 Lithium-Ion batteries as long as power management is enabled and I don't have the screen brightness all the way up. Choose the laptop carefully according to needs, and you can find them with longer battery life.

Don Mannino