only aural tunings are good

[Conrad Hoffsommer]

Wim,

At 13:13 10/18/2002 -0400, you wrote:


>One thing that I want to strive for in my tunings is consistency, 
>especially in the university setting, where pianos get used by many 
>different people, and the same people use many different pianos. I want to 
>make sure all my pianos are tuned consistently the same way, day in and 
>day out. That is where an ETD is, in my opinion, much more effective.

Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely 
consistent people are the dead. ATTRIBUTION:Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)  ;-}

>When it comes to my concert work, again, I want to be consistent. If I 
>know where that piano is, and it's the same every time, then when, and if, 
>a concert artist has a complaint about the tuning, I can use my machine to 
>look at an individual note to see if it has slipped. If has, it is easy to 
>make a change. If it hasn't, then I know I need to make a minor adjustment 
>to the artist's wishes. I can then later retune that note back to where I 
>want it.
>
>Aural tunings are good. And I have tuned some pianos that were tuned 
>aurally as much as a year ago, that matched my machine perfectly. But in 
>my opinion, machine tunings are better in the long run, for consistency 
>and accuracy. I wouldn't give mine up for anything.

Me, either.  I just overheard some faculty discussing the possibility of 
doing some Bach 3 keyboard stuff (originally for harpsichord).  20 years 
ago I had to tune a D, SD10 and SD6 for the same stuff.  I did it it all 
aurally then. Uff Da!!  With the ETD (RCT in my case) it'll be a piece of 
cake. Heck, now I'd even throw in another D so's they could do the 4 
keyboard stuff!



Conrad Hoffsommer - Music Technician
Luther College, 700 College Drive, Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045
Voice-(563)-387-1204  //  Fax (563)-387-1076(Dept.office)

-The only substitute for good manners is fast reflexes.