newbie question: TuneLab

[Mike and Jane Spalding]

Charles,

As a beginner tuning student, I used RCT to evaluate my aural tuning
practice.  I found, like you state, that in most cases I could make a better
unison aurally than with RCT.  Where I found it useful, however, was with
the occasional unison that doesn't come in as easily as its neighbors.
Whenever you get one of these, you'll need to quickly decide " is there
anything I can do to make this sound cleaner?", or "is this as good as it
can be?"  or "how good is good enough?"   The ETD can give you some clues.
Measure and score the unison as it would be scored on the PTG tuning exam (1
point off per cent deviation between any two strings).  Would it pass?
(passing doesn't necessarily sound good, but not passing definitely sounds
bad)  Note whether any of the strings gave an irregular reading (false beat,
treat as described in numerous posts).  Tune each note alone using the ETD.
Sound better?  Retune each string again, using a different partial.  Sound
better?  Use the ETD to chart and compare the inharmonicity of each of the
three strings.  If they are not the same, you'll have trouble achieving a
clean unison sound.

Bottom line, Tunelab and other ETD's are not infallible authorities, but
they can give useful information which, in combination with ears,
experience, and common sense, let you improve your tuning.

good luck,

mike





----- Original Message -----
From: Charles Neuman <piano@charlesneuman.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 10:01 AM
Subject: newbie question: TuneLab


> I just got TuneLab going on a computer right next to my piano. I think it
> will be very useful for when I practice setting the temperament aurally. I
> wonder if it's useful for tuning unisons. So far I find that it's easier
for
> me to just listen to the beats of the unison rather than to try to
decipher
> the movement of the squares on the screen. Any ideas?
>
> Charles Neuman
> PTG Assoc., Nassau County, NY
>
>
>