Stability of pitch raises, etc.

[Ed Sutton]

Hi Ron-
This is where Cybertuner earns its pay.  In pitch raise mode it records the
cents deviation of each note you test. You can quickly measure F-A-C# all
the way across, and it takes about 4 minutes to measure all 88.

Recent example (mid-summer, high humidity) The bass was 4-5 cents sharp.  18
cents sharp across the break, and the first 2 tenor octaves tapered to about
8 cents sharp at A4, then quickly back to 4-5 cents sharp through most of
the treble.  I set the machine at 441Hz, did a quick pitch adjust in the
middle, then tuned all the way across.

I think a pitch adjustment with Cybertuner is something different than an
aural pitch adjustment; it's not just about adjusting tension, it's also
about getting the sections of each string more stable.  I'm more careful
about a Cybertuner pitch adjustment than an aural pitch adjustment.  After
the pitch adjustment, I whack each key 5 times with a pounder, then fine
tune by machine or ear, or some of both. The tuning often goes faster than
the pitch adjustment, because many of the notes are right on or just a nudge
away from right on.

I don't like having to cart around the computer (notebook), but I think the
tunings I do this way are the most stable I can produce.  I'll probably get
a pocket RTC pretty soon.  How much do those little pocket computers weigh?

Ed S.

>
> Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 15:29:20 -0500
> From: Ron Nossaman <RNossaman@KSCABLE.com>
> Subject: Re: stability of pitch raises

> Now the question, especially for those that prorate pitch raise prices with
> the amount of pitch change. How do you determine what the pitch of the
> piano is for these computations? This time of year (in pianos tuned a year
> ago), I often find A nearly dead on 440, while the low tenor is 16 cents
> sharp, and the killer octave slightly flat. According to the A measurement,
> it's on pitch and should be an easy tuning.
>
> Ron N
>
> ------------