Tuning

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 10/16/98 2:39:28 AM Central Daylight Time,
YouthPage8@aol.com writes:

<< I have only been tuning for a short time, and during this time have always
 used a temperament based on 4th's and 5th's that is primarily checked with
 3rd's and 6th's.  I have been told that the quality of my tuning will be
 greatly improved when I get a better sense of how fast the 3rd's and 6th's
are
 beating and start concentrating on setting the "pivotal tones".  Is there a
 trick to comparing the fast beating thirds (or sixth's for that matter)?
 
 Jonathan Hoover >>

You need to learn the very valuable 4:5 ratio of contiguous 3rds test.  This
does not mean "beats per second" but a proportionate amount.  Contiguous 3rds
are any two 3rds which share a common note in the middle such as FA and AC#.
To have the relationship be correct, for every 4 beats you hear from the lower
3rd, you should hear 5 from the upper.

For a beginner, this may seem to be an extremely fine amount to distinguish
and that it is.  You can use your 4ths and 5ths temperament and once you get
to a place where you can use the 4:5 ratio test, try it to hear the results.
You may look at it this way:  it is easier to hear when the ratio is *not*
correct than when it is.  If the two intervals are the *same*, there is
something wrong, if the lower one is faster than the upper one, there is
something wrong.

That is the value of this test:  it tells you when there is something out of
order.  When the test reveals an incorrect ratio, go back to the 4ths and 5ths
you have tuned and try to find the error.  Is one of them too pure?  Is one of
them too fast?  Usually you will find both.  Ask yourself, "Which note can I
move up or down which will correct the situation?"

This relationship was discovered by PTG's own members, Bill Garlick RPT who
worked with Dr. Al Sanderson RPT (Golden Hammer Award winner and inventor of
the very popular Sanderson Accu-Tuner).  Garlick had the idea and Sanderson
proved it out mathematically.

It has been for me the most valuable diagnostic interval ever for
constructing, correcting and proving an Equal Temperament (ET).  I use it when
I serve as a Certified Tuning Examiner when I prove or disprove an error on
the RPT Tuning Exam.

The danger in relying solely on 4ths and 5ths is that your 3rds can easily be
chaotically uneven.  I have seen over the years that many tuners end up tuning
what they believe to be an ET but because of no good way to listen to, check
and correct the 3rds, they end up creating an inverted version of a Well
Tempered (WT) tuning (WT and ET are *not* synonymous).  This will make all
music from the piano sound a bit sour and unfocused, yet it is a very common
occurrence.  You can do better by learning to use this very valuable tool.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin