SATS

[Frank Cahill]

Jim Coleman, Sr. wrote:
> 
> This is a little chronological presentation of ETDs......
> 
> 

Hi, Jim!

I haven't read all the posts so maybe I missed one.  But..I use my SAT
mostly in the manual mode. I set the temperment using the old stretch
calculator program (not the FAC program) and then check it by ear. I
often change the stretch number so that my fifths are appropriate for
the size of piano I am tuning.  Then, I switch to manual mode.

To tune above the tempermant I set scope to measure 4:2 octaves. Then I
tune F4#  to F#3 so that the octave is the same as F3-F4. The SAT
usually produces octaves about 1 cent wide. I continue in this fashion
until I hit C5.

At C5, I set the scope to measure 2:1 ocataves.  I tune C5 to C4, 1 cent
wide.  Then I 
play F3 ( 12th) and the interval should be pure or maybe slightly wide. 
I continue on up.  Somewhere between C5 - C6 the 12th test no longer
works, so I just tune the octaves 1 cent wide.

In the bass direction, I tune octves as 4:2, 1 cent wide. The tenths
will progress nicely (get slower). At some point, the tenths will slow
waaay down. Time to switch to 6:3 octaves.  I adjust scope to measure
6:3 octaves. Then I continue down with all octaves as pure 6:3, maybe
expanding to 1 cent wide if the tenths slow down.

This is basically the procedure Micheal Travis talks about in the tuning
exam source book.  Now obviously, if I was working on a large grand I'd
need to tune some 10:5 octaves, but I've never seen anything larger than
a 6 footer.  With the competition around here (Washington DC), a lot of
guys will need to move or die before I set foot into the White House to
tune one of those big grands.

This is a very conservative tuning, but my immediate goal is to pass the
tuning exam, so I practice this way.  While this methods produces a very
consistant tuning, it is quite slow. 

I've never mastered changing FAC numbers to the piano.  Seems like it
takes too much time to adjust the number, check the paino, and adjust
again.  I found that my manual tunings produced a better tuning than
the  SAT did, at least on the junk I usually tune.  Of course, this
attitude may just be making me work alot harder.

On a good piano, the SAT does a fine job, but a little narrower than I
would like (5th pure for example). 

I wish to thank you for your constant input on tuning matters on this
site.
-- 

Frank Cahill
Associate Member
Northern Va