Hi Wim and list:
On Tue, 29 Sep 1998 Wimblees@AOL.COM wrote:
>
> LET'S HAVE A TUNE OFF. Jim Sr. and Virgil went head to head, or was it ear to
> ear, least year, with the end result nearly a tie. I think I speak for all of
> us that we would like to see a TUNE OFF between the two VTD's. I don't know if
> Jim Sr. is up to another challenge, but I would like to see him with the new
> SAT III go up against Mitch or Dean, using the RCT. What do you say, guys?
> Pick a date and time, and lets see what happens.
>
> Wim
>
After the last Tuneoff with Virgil, I decided that we had both learned some
lessons in humility and that we should pass the baton on to other younger
tuners (who may need to learn similar lessons).
However, unbeknownst to most people, we have already had tuneoffs between
the SAT and the RCT.
The first occurred at Olympia, WA about a year ago. I was the houseguest
of Mitch Kiel for the conference. Out of deference to my most kind host, I
did not at that time point out before his local group that the tuning of the
piano (most favored by the group) was the one tuned by the SAT and the other
one was tuned by the RCT. Mitch knew and I knew.
The second occurrence was at the California State conference last February.
Although the scoring in my class favored the SAT tuned piano, in the
following class which Randy Potter taught, there seemed to be an
overwhelming preference for the RCT tuned piano. Furthermore, our guest
pianist from the previous evening's banquet, Leonid Hambro really fell in
love with that piano tuned by the RCT. There were, no doubt, some additional
factors involved in these preferences. Incidentally, for a little plug, the
pianos used for this Tuneoff were matched Kawai pianos (thanks to Don
Mannino).
Therefore, it might be good, for any who in the future wish to promote
Tuneoffs, to know some of the things we have learned about Tuneoffs.
1. There is always some slight difference between the pianos used. So, to
avoid having that factor be the deciding issue, time must be allowed
to have each contestant tune the other's first piano in a second round.
This just about requires an all day situation as we had in Chicago.
2. We discovered that the position of the pianos in the listening room can
make a tremendous difference to the audience of judges. During the
listening phase, the pianos need to be traded in position for half ov
the playing demonstration.
3. We discovered that the variation of playing the pianos can have a large
effect on how the pianos sound. Perhaps Yamaha could provide two
identical Disklaviers with pre-recorded short selections to be used
during the listening portion.
4. I think it might also be good to have each piano detuned according to
the PTG Tuning Test De-tuning procedure so that both contestants would
be starting out from ground zero. Can we RPTs do what we require new
members to do?
5. I believe that the machines should be turned on from a cold start and
that the analysis of the scales be gone through on location before the
audience, even though they may prefer to use a pre-recorded tuning.
6. I believe that a time limit for tuning should be 1 hour. Each
contestant would have the option of doing a quick pitch raise and then
the fine tuning both within the total time limit, or tuning as a one
shot approach, his/her choice.
7. I believe that it would be further educational to have the tuning scored
by the regular PTG Tuning Exam procedure by 3 CTEs. This would help
promote our PTG Tests and would show that RPTs are willing to be exposed
just as we require Associates to be exposed when they take their first
test. We may even learn some things about improving our tests. By
keeping the time constraint in place this will show that it can be done.
8. I believe that the above proposal could become a special feature at each
major convention, and that the competition could be quite keen. Various
manufacturers could support their drivers just like in the auto races.
(no betting allowed)
9. Perhaps the Tuneoffs should be expanded to a 4-way race among the users
of SAT, RCT, PT100-II, and TuneLab. We might all be surprized to find
the Yamaha Tuner taking first place especially if Yamaha pianos are
used. If pre-charted tunings are allowed, perhaps the TuneLab would win.
Who knows? Is it worth the effort? We've seen and heard all kinds of
claims for superiority. Could such a GRAND TUNEOFF nullify or
substantiate these claims?
10 Perhaps we should include another instrument in the mix, the ear used
by Aural tuners only?
11 Should we allow historical tunings as was done last year at Orlando?
You can see how complicated this can become. Should be regional hear races
and then finals at the Convention? Should we have separate divisions such
as Aural tuning, Historical tuning, Machine tuning?
Well, let's hear some feedback about all this.
Are there other considerations to be had in order to keep such a Tuneoff
fair and educational?
Jim Coleman, Sr.
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