Pitch Floating in Universities

[Richard Wolff]

Is this applicable to home tunings for the general public?  Only if they are
scheduling 2 or more tunings per year?
----- Original Message -----
From: <Bdshull@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 1:03 PM
Subject: Re: Pitch Floating in Universities


> Michael, Roger:
>
> At the University of Redlands, if the pianos are at A-440 in May, they
could
> be at A443 or A444 in late August.  If I tune them at A440 in
> August/September, they will drop to A437/8 when we have our first dry
weather
> system, and keep dropping over the winter.  Since the contract severely
> limits the frequency of tuning rounds, I target a two cycle range,
A440-442,
> and except for the performing instruments I only drop the pianos to A442.
I
> never know when the first dry weather system is going to strike - it could
> happen anytime between September and January.   Several times I have
> completed the tuning rounds and immediately the humidity dropped 40% or
more,
> destroying my work.  If I only drop pitch to A442, the pianos will only
drop
> to A439/440 after the weather shift - they might be ugly, but not too
flat.
>
> In a contract tech situation where there are strong weather influences on
> pitch, I think a two cycle range gives the most pitch control.  I would
> rather be able to tune more often and keep the pitch within Roger's one
cycle
> range of A440/1.
>
> Bill Shull, RPT
> University of Redlands, La Sierra University
>
> In a message dated 3/28/01 9:13:46 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> Michael.Jorgensen@cmich.edu writes:
>
> << Roger,
>        I'm Amazed!,  Any advocacy or discussion of non 440 always opened a
>  massive can of worms on this list.   I can't believe that nobody chewed
on
>  it to death before it went into digest form.   I guess your point makes
too
>  much sense to be debatable.
>  -Mike
>
>  jolly roger wrote:
>
>  > > After I wrote,
>  > >   "always tune to A440".
>  > >
>  >
>  > Hi Mike,
>  >           Above is the only point that I
>  > disgree on. Sept tuning 441 where possible, time Nov 1st arrives most
>  > pianos dive 20 cents due to local humidity conditions.
>  > Steam heated building that goes to 10% in the dead of winter.   A
little
>  > less stress chasing the pitch.
>  > Faculty knows that it is being done. Wind instrument studios a
different
>  > story.
>  >
>  > regards roger
>   >>
>