Aural Octave Tuning & Cutting Technology

John M. Formsma jformsma@dixie-net.com
Thu, 27 Sep 2001 13:44:39 -0500


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Wim,

You wrote:
   <<The concept is good, but the result might not be what I want. In order
for the treble to sound more in tune, we generally have to stretch the top
note a tad. So in a sense, although you can visualize a straight standing
triangle, you actually want to have that triable leaning to the right.

  When I used to tune strictly by ear, I tuned, what I thought, were
"perfect" octaves, the kind you are visualizing. My wife, Jan, also tunes,
but relies more on the Accutuner. We both tuned for the same customer, a
friend from church, who told me that she liked Jan's tuning better. I
listened to the tuning, and to my ears, found the top octaves too high.

  When I started using my Accutuner almost exclusively, (except for
unisons), I had to get used to what the machine was telling me. At first I
kept trying to bring down the octaves. But now that I am used to it, the
octaves do sound much better.  >>
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree that the top note must be stretched. I try
to stretch the octaves by hearing the total sound, probably much in the same
way that Virgil teaches. When learning aural tuning, I used the Accutuner,
accepted, and liked the stretch that it gives. I tuned one piano with the
SAT a few weeks ago, and my ear agreed with it about octaves 6 and 7. To
check myself, I closed my eyes and tuned the top note. Generally, it was
either right with the SAT or just a little sharper.

Perhaps the way I tune out of the temp octave has something to do with it as
well. My octaves are at least 4:2, but tend to be more around 6:3. Tuning up
that way seems to allow for my style of octave tuning without yielding flat
upper octaves. Doing double and triple octave checks, I find that the dbl
octave has a slight beat, and I tend toward a purer octave and fifth. So I
know my octaves are not flat. Maybe I hear things differently, or just got
used to the octave sound of the SAT when I was working with it. I really
need to sit down with the SAT, tune a temp octave, tune the rest by ear, and
see how it compares with the FAC tuning. At least I'd know if the walk
measured up to the talk. :-)

Tuning is so individual sometimes. How one person may hear might not be the
same way as another, and he may not be able to explain it fully. I know
Richard Brekne has been talking a lot about what he hears, and Virgil gets a
lot of talk going from his classes. I hope I'm doing it right. It pleases my
ears anyway.

John M. Formsma
Blue Mountain, MS
PTG Associate, Memphis Chapter

mailto:jformsma@dixie-net.com


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