SAT & RCT

[dpitsch]

Jim, a machine that "samples every note" would have to listen to all the
partials of two notes played simultaneously and then make a computation what
should sound the best in order to equal the human ear.  Obviously, there is
no such machine available, and I personally don't think aural tuners will
ever get put out of business.  It is no coincidence that machines such as
SAT & RCT are considered "electronic tuning aides".  We still do the tuning,
or at least, in my opinion, we are still suppose to do the tuning based upon
the feedback from our ears combined if we wish with the feedback from a
machine.  Every single piano we work on requires a customized tuning, and it
is our job as piano tuners to find the best customized tuning for each and
every piano out there.  (end of soap box)

mitchkiel@olywa.net wrote:

> >Friends,
> >
> >I have been thinking about getting the SAT lll, RCT or the TuneLab.
> >When one tunes aurally, we listen to every note on the piano, intervals
> >and so on.  What puzzels me is how a machine can measure only 3 or 6
> >notes and compute an optimum tuning for a piano.  It seems to me that
> >for any machine or computer to create a really good tuning, it would
> >have to sample many more notes than 3 or 6?  Wouldn't a machine that
> >sampled every note on the piano be a better tuning? Isn't this what
> >aural tuning does to a degree?
> >Thanks,
> >Jim Turner
> >
>
> Jim,
>    It may be true that sampling every note might be better in
> some situations (but not all. If the piano's scale is smooth and the
> sampled notes are truly representative, then there would be
> zero advantage in more samples, correct?) However,
> the real question is if more samples are worth the extra time.
> My experience is that RCT, which samples A1, A2, A3, A4,
> A5, and if necessary A6, takes an extremely good "snapshot"
> of the piano's scale and does an *amazingly* good job that
> more samples usually can't be improved. In my opinion, the extra time
> it might take to sample every note probably wouldn't be worth it because
> it takes
> me only a few minutes to aurally check RCT's tuning and make any
> necessary improvements. In other words, I always use my ears to
> double-check and fine-tune RCT's already fine tuning,
> a *very* important point that anyone who uses ETDs or contemplates
> their use should always keep in mind. In other words, using an
> ETD shold not mean you use use *only* the ETD.
>
>    To shed a little light on the question of sampling
> every note, let me ask you some turn-about questions:
>    As aural tuners, do we use every aural check on every
> note, or because of limited time use only those checks which are
> most important? And do we use every aural check during the first pass
> through the tuning or do we save some for our final pass?
>
> Mitch
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Mitch Kiel, RPT
> authorized Reyburn CyberTuner sales and support
> 1-888-I-LUV-RCT (1-888-458-8728)
>
> 11326 Patsy Drive SE
> Olympia, Washington 98501 USA
> email: mitchkiel@olywa.net
> Visit the RCT Web site at www.reyburn.com