Aural?

[John M. Formsma]

David,

There is a discernible difference, dependent on the piano. Matching partials
is something the machines are very good at. In fact, they are better at that
than the ear. However, the ear is capable of listening to all partials
sounding together, and it alone can discern how *all* the partials sound at
once. That is the limitation of the machine, and aural tuning can provide
that "certain something" in a way which machine tunings cannot do--again,
dependent on the piano. E.g., an aural tuner might not be able to make a
spinet sound as good as the machine which has no problem picking out the
partials. I'm not talking about that "certain something" in little spinets.
Their certain something is something else.

That "certain something" is not just a quaint idea, but it involves very
precise manipulation to attain unto. For me, it involves listening to the
tuning as a musician does. Virgil Smith is the one who opened my ears to
this difference. Thanks, Virgil!

The machine does have that tremendous consistency, though. :-)

John Formsma
Blue Mountain, MS


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of David Ilvedson
Sent: Monday, October 02, 2000 4:57 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: RE: Aural?


I think that "certain something" is a very quaint idea encouraged by folks
who tune with a tuning fork.

David I.