Tuning Patterns

[SidewaysWell1713@aol.com]

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In a message dated 12/8/02 3:29:04 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
ssclabr8@flash.net writes:


> Forgive me if I'm rehashing a subject that has been discussed before, but 
> I've been trying a lot of different tuning patterns on many different 
> pianos.  Although I've only been tuning part-time for two years now, I seem 
> to keep coming back to the pattern I first learned.  Here is what I do.
>  
> 1.  Strip mute the entire piano
>  
> 2. Tune the temperament (I use a Vrtituner but prefer to do aural tuning 
> checks as I go)
>  
> 3. Tune octaves down to the tenor/bass break (using aural checks to make 
> sure everything sounds ok)
>  
> 4. Tune octaves up all the way to C88 (using aural checks to make sure 
> everything sounds ok)
>  
> 5.  Using the back muting method with a single rubber mute, pull in all the 
> unisons from C88 on down to the bass/tenor break.
>  
> 6.  Tune down to A0 from the tenor/bass break, pulling in the bi-chords as 
> I go along.
>  
> That's it.  I've tried doing unisons as I go but for some reason, I seem to 
> get a better tuning overall if I use the above method.
>  
> I curious what some you you seasoned veterans think about this method - 
> it's advantages and/or drawbacks.  
>  
> What patterns have you found to work best?
>  
> Thanks in advance for your responses!
>  
> Corte Swearingen
> Associate Member PTG
> 

There is really no right or wrong way but people do differ in how they do it. 
 Some have good reasons, others just do what they were taught and don't 
question it.

I use strip mutes too but believe me, there are people who say that is wrong. 
 I almost never tune a piano just once.  When using the strip mute, pulling 
in the unisons will affect the pitch of the center string, no doubt, question 
nor exception about that.

Sometimes, doing things in a certain, routine pattern gives the worker a 
sense habit which goes a long way towards consistency which is important.  To 
me, tuning the unisons as I go is uncomfortably tedious and slow.  Using the 
strip mutes, I really fly through a rough tuning in 15 minutes or under.  
This gives me the foundation for a fine tuning which will hold.  It will also 
take under 30 minutes on many pianos. 

I did a concert tuning today where the pitch was flat, way off and octaves 
across the middle were a nightmare.  I had tuned that piano last on October 
26 when it was sharp and out of tune. I've been the only technician for that 
theater and piano for 10 years now and that is normal for that piano, that 
place and the climate I live in.  I tuned it 3 times but it still took less 
than an hour.

I would never tune a piano starting on A0 with an ETD but I am not saying 
that's wrong, I just wouldn't even think of doing it that way.  Whether it be 
a rough or fine tuning, I start in the middle, tune the temperament octave 
and any notes below it in the middle/tenor section, then proceed upwards to 
C8, tuning the unisons in the treble and high treble on the way back down but 
leaving the middle stripped and leaving the bass for later.  I have very good 
reasons for doing it just this way and wouldn't care to change.

If you try to tune the higher end from notes where all 3 strings are 
sounding, you may easily encounter the effect which I think of as the 
"coupled motion of strings effect" where the pitch of a 3 string unison is 
slightly lower than the pitch of a single string.  Since I create my own 
programs on my SAT, never using the FAC program, I like to tune a single 
string to a single string.  This gives my program the greatest clarity and 
accuracy.

Once having tuned the treble and high treble, I tune the bass to the 
middle/tenor which is still muted.  I pull in the unisons of the bass and do 
my middle/tenor unisons last.  The bass and middle/tenor unisons are the 
easiest part of a tuning to do well, that's another good reason for leaving 
them until last.  It gets the hardest, most tedious part done first and saves 
the easiest part for when some fatigue starts to set in.  I approach most 
other piano work this way too.

These techniques are so routine for me that I can and will be tuning 5-7 
pianos per day from now until Christmas.  This, of course, means $$$ and that 
is how I earn my living.  Every business has its peak times and ours is now.  
The demand is so great that I simply must accommodate my customers or lose 
them.  I am obviously the benefactor for getting done what needs to be done 
when it needs doing.

On an off topic note, I just finished a 2 night concert series where I was 
the featured soloist, singing a verse of "O Holy Night" in the original 
French and then a verse in English for a trio where I wrote the arrangement.  
It was extremely well received both nights but tonight in particular 
(standing ovation).  I got a new voice student out of it.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin
<A HREF="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =-</A>

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