concert tuning procedure @ intermission

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

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In a message dated 2/9/02 5:10:19 PM Central Standard Time, 
jaymercier@hotmail.com (Jay Mercier) writes:


> After witnessing the first set of the Keith Jarrett trio, I thought it would 
> be good to settle back to what's familiar - watching the technician polish 
> up the unisons at intermission.
> 
> What was supposed to be familiar, wasn't, - he was fine-tuning treble/high 
> treble near the bridge with a tool I'm unfamiliar with, or at least I 
> couldn't see it very well in the dim lighting.
> 
> I'm sure most of you know what he was using and how he was tuning, but I 
> don't. Could anyone fill me in?
> 
The tool was probably the one known as a False Beat Eliminator or some other 
tool made and used for the same purpose such as a modified screwdriver or a 
brass rod.

False beats can creep up during performance because heavy playing can drive 
the strings up the bridge pins.  More likely however, he was using this tool 
to settle strings which were not staying in tune.  During high level work as 
well as ordinary tuning, it is common to encounter strings which will go very 
flat on hard blows.  Pull it back to pitch, hit it hard again and down it 
goes again and not just a little, 10-30 cents (way off, rapid beats) or more.

I approach this problem in two ways using the False Beat Eliminator only as a 
last resort.  When a string just won't settle, I pull it sharp by an amount 
that would ordinarily be way too much such as 10-30 cents.  A hard, sharp 
blow brings it down instantly.  Sometimes, further hard and sharp blows bring 
it once again way flat.  I may try pulling sharp again, maybe a little more.  
When this just does not work, I pull the string a little sharp, then give a 
good and quick jab with the False Beat Eliminator.  This will usually cause 
the string to go very flat, as much as 50 cents or more but when it is pulled 
up again, it will stay put.

Sometimes, it takes more than one attempt.  The important thing to consider 
when using such a tool is damage to both the string and the bridge.  You can 
break a string or induce false beats into it by distorting the string with 
too much force.  The bridge is made of wood, so too much force can crush the 
material.

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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