Partial Hearing

[Bill Kidd]

Ken Jankura wrote:
> 
> List,
> I think I may have hit on something to help us all do our work better and
> more efficiently. Recently I was tuning and having a little trouble hearing
> the partials I wanted to hear. Though I use an Accu-tuner now, I learned to
> tune aurally and I always check as I tune to try to improve on the machine.
> Well, I was tuning the high treble and noticed that I could hear the 2nd
> partial, the 2:1 octave, better when I opened my mouth. Try it, you'll
> definitely notice a difference. If you open your mouth just a little it
> seems like the second partial just gets isolated a little more than normal.
> There must be something of a synergistic effect in using your eustachian
> tube as a resonator chamber. So I then went the next step, and opened my
> mouth as wide as I could and I noticed that the 6th partial just rang out
> as clear as a bell. It was really simple to hear and tune the bass this
> way, except that my jaw got tired. So what I've come up with is a series of
> "Partial Props" that I carry in my toolcase, four of them, to help me hear
> what I want to hear. They range in size from 3/4 inch to 2-1/4 inches,
> pieces of dowel rod, turned from beautiful tropical hardwoods, with teeth
> protecting rubber caps, for different ranges of the piano. Thank goodness I
> don't have to use that 2-1/4 inch one very often, that's for an 8:4 octave,
> but the 1-7/8 inch works great for a 6:3, the 1-5/32 inch for a 4:2, and
> the 3/4 inch for the 2:1. Customers do look at me a little funny, but I
> just take the prop out of my mouth and explain that it's for the good of
> the piano. I was hoping to go into business manufacturing these, until I
> realized that each person is going to have to find their own best
> dimensions, their own 'sweet spot', if you will, to get the best effect. So
> don't let your eustachian tube just sit there, make it work for you! My
> tunings have never gone so smoothly or so quickly.
> Ken Jankura
> 
> Happy April Fools to you 2.
Bill