stability of pitch raises

Kevin E. Ramsey ramsey@extremezone.com
Mon, 3 Sep 2001 09:15:39 -0700


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    Terry wrote:
   =20
    "Now this is where my original question came from. What I am trying =
to do
here is understand how slow I may be. I assume here that you have been =
at
this profession for a goodly number of years. I read so many posts from
techs that I am doing something wrong if I spent more than 20 minutes on =
a
pitch raise. Some claim to do 6 to 8 minute pitch raises. OK, 61 cents =
is a
large one pass pitch raise (I realize in this particular case you did =
two
more octaves), so lets give this pitch raise 15 to 20 minutes. Throw in
another 5 or 10 for the extra two octaves. We are still below a half =
hour.
Now the tuning claims - never more than an hour - 40 minutes - 30 =
minutes.
So how about 45 minutes for tuning? Then we have 45 + 25 =3D 70 minutes. =
One
hour and ten minutes. What you did usually takes me right about 2 hours, =
and
I would not have done any voicing.

I'm not trying to pick on you Kevin - I don't know that you have ever
claimed to be one of these 20 minute tuners - but is anyone willing to =
give
an opinion - Are these claims of 8 minute pitch raises and 30 minute =
tunings
just testosterone running wild? Or are many/most tuners that quick after =
10
years in the field? (Again, I am trying to flush out the truth, not pick =
on
anyone!)"

    No, I'm not one of those lightning fast pitch raisers. I like to get =
the pitch as close as possible the first time. Therefore, I don't as a =
rule just start yanking things up as quickly as possible, and I do set =
the strings while I pitch raise, so that, once again, I know it's going =
to stay pretty much there.   =20
    I've been fully immersed in this work for about ten years. The =
learning curve shows no sign of flattening out yet, I just keep getting =
new things to look at. Like key weighting, my next area of inquiry.
   =20
    I understand your previous posting concerning first pass, just =
raising to pitch technique. I've done the same thing on really old, =
really flat pianos in order to avoid popping strings. A little more =
work, but much kinder on the piano. I've also heard too many stories =
about busted plates, and I (Knock on Wood) have never experienced one.
    I remember asking Bill Spurlock one time about doing pitch raises =
unisons as you go, if that wouldn't stress the piano too much by having =
one side of it up to pitch and the other completely flat. He said that =
he had done plenty of them as much as 80 cents flat that way and never =
had a problem. That was good enough for me. But on an older piano, which =
may not be structurally as sound, sometimes I try to spread the tension =
out a little first. Just to be safe.
    Hope this helps. Others will do it differently, of course.





Kevin Ramsey
ramsey@extremezone.com

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