In a message dated 8/31/00 7:08:54 PM Central Daylight Time, istuner@islandia.is writes: << I tuned a piano today that hadnīt been tuned for 10 years. It was practically at A 440! Many ligaments (I like that) were swollen and stiff. Well, I would be swollen and stiff if I was made of wood and felt and lived less than 3 meters from 15 large pot plants, duh! How much does the sound board have to swell in order for this to happen, and what is the highest pitch on a piano that you have encountered due to such adverse conditions? Note : I will be expecting scientifically researched answers only ;) >> Actually, it doesn't take much scientific research to answer this one. I tuned a Gulbransen spinet 10 years apart, and I asked the owner if she had cheated on me. Not only was the piano at A440, it took me only 10 minutes to straighten out a couple of unisons. I couldn't believe it. Once in a great while, purely by accident, a piano is constructed just right, and the atmospheric conditions remain stable enough, so that it stays in tune. The potted plants are probably constant companions to the piano, and thus, the humidity remains very stable. That is what keeps a piano in tune, a stable environment. Willem
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