Sweet Sound Tuning

[Ron Nossaman]

>
>Hi, John
>
>I confess that I do something like this. I only use the 3rd-10th test for
>setting the first A, or if beats and inharmonicity muddy the waters enough
>to confuse me. (Sometimes I use the minor third - major 6th test to help
>even things up across the bass-treble break.) Most of the time I tune
>octaves to get the timbre I want, within a fairly beatless range. They
>should match in quality, of course. When I do this the double and triple
>octaves seem to more or less fall into place on a piano of decent string
>length. If you check fourths and fifths (below the pitch you have tuned)
>all the way to the top, your "compass" will be fairly well preserved. 
>
>It seems to me that if octaves, fourths and fifths are all sweet and even,
>any very minor alterations in the temperament in the high treble will be
>unimportant; in fact, totally indistinguishable without a machine.
>
>Regards,
>
>Susan
>
>P.S. If you visit a Foucault's Pendulum and watch it for a few hours, your
>head should start spinning in the right direction for the southern
>hemisphere again ... (not sure if I spelled Foucault right, too lazy to
>look it up ... people can gloat if I'm out to lunch ...)
>

Hi Susan,

That's a pretty good description of what I do. Add double octave checks to
the bottom, and the top, and smile when you present the bill. Very little
razzle-dazzle.  

Re Foucault: Sounds right, but you should be careful about using the 'L'
word around this crowd, what with a national convention coming up, and all.
There are those who are only too willing to misinterpret a comment like that
as an invitation.

(Pssst, Susan's buying)

 Ron