Tuneoff challenge

[Mike and Jane Spalding]

Jim and Ric,

I would love to hear you do this.

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jim Coleman, Sr. <pianotoo@imap2.asu.edu>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Cc: Paul Sanderson <inventrncs@AOL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 2:46 PM
Subject: Tuneoff challenge


> Hey Ric:
> 
> Would you be up to a Tuneoff in Chicago this summer with me? I 
> will be willing to wear earplugs and earmuffs and tune with the 
> SAT III While you tune strictly aurally. If you beat me by as much
> as 10% of the vote of the audience, I will pay your PTG dues for 
> one year. If I beat you, you owe me nothing. We'll still be 
> friends no matter what.
> 
> Based on what we learned from previous tuneoffs, we should limit 
> ourselves to 1 or 1.5 hrs each. The pianos should be the same model, 
> approx equal in voicing. This should be a double blind test in 
> which in the first heat, You tune piano No. 1 and I tune piano no..2.
> In the second heat, I tune piano no. 1 and you tune piano no.2. 
> This will eliminate any advantage of one piano having a better 
> tone than the other. The pianos chosen should be 6' or better in size.
> They should be detuned according to the PTG Tuning Exam procedure 
> before each heat in order that an advantage of the previous tuning 
> can not be utilized. The identity as to who tuned which piano should
> be kept a secret from the audience to avoid any favoritism of 
> either the method of tuning or the personality of the Tuner.
> 
> For the audience's benefit, we could have someone play about four
> identical selections on each piano twice, alternating as to which 
> piano is played first. Better yet, we could have Diskclavier or 
> PianoDisc recordings do the playing to make the playing more 
> identical. Perhaps Yamaha, Kawai or Mason & Hamlin would be willing 
> to sponsor such an event.
> 
> My prediction as in the first Tuneoff is that there will not be a 
> dime's worth of difference (10% differential in the voting of the 
> audience). I respect you as a good aural tuner from your 
> experience in the San Francisco bay area, now in the Dakotas, and 
> from our encounters in my home.
> 
> We could add another twist to this by having the tuning scored by 
> the PTG Tuning Examiners.
> 
> Since you have done a lot of original study of the Historical 
> Tunings recently, perhaps the following year we could do another 
> Tuneoff
> where you pick your favorite Historical temperament, Bill Bremmer does
> his EBVT and I do the Coleman XI. I would not want this to become 
> an ego trip, but an educational experience. Competitive, YES, but 
> for bragging rights, NO. I commend Bill and Virgil for their last 
> encounter, To this date I have not heard who WON, but I HAVE heard 
> that it was very educational.
> 
> Of course, if there is enough interest shown in another Tuneoff, 
> we should let the Institute Committee make their comments on it if 
> this is to happen at all. They are the ones who would make any 
> final decisions as to this happening at a Convention.
> 
> What do you the other readers say?
> 
> Jim Coleman, Sr.
> 
>