Fw: Accu-Tuner ad/Aural Tuning++

[Michael Gamble]

Hello Wayne Lutzow
Know what you mean - but its "how" you do it..Yes? I regularly tune a Yamaha
C6 for use with the London Philharmonic. I have never. but never set the
whole of the piano to an EDT.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ibetuner" <ibetuner@sbcglobal.net>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 3:33 PM
Subject: Re: Accu-Tuner ad

> You said:
>" Instructors have used phrases like "the piano will talk to you and tell
you
> what it wants". I keep saying, "it's not talking yet", and I get
frustrated."

> I say: No two pianos are the same - and they all use different
languages! - Indeed they do talk to you but you must learn how to listen.

>"From my experience explaining my perceptions about the sound of my
tunings,
> and my dislike for them, can be difficult for others to understand."

I say: The "sound" of a tuning is embodied in the beat rates shown by
playing intervals. When properly tuned the beat rate of  a M3 - say A440
with middle "F" - is established. Then go down the keyboard playing M3s
chromatically. This should sharpen your ears to listen to what the piano is
saying! The beat rate should get progressively slower roughly according to
the curve laid down by my little formula 12th.root of 2. Once you have come
to terms with that concept you can then set about "modifying" the tempered
scale to see what it does and how it sounds to you. The 8ves though must
always be an 8ve apart!
>
> Does this make sense?  My tunings don't seem to be "smooth, creamy,
delicate
> (they have a cold edge)".  I've heard concert tunings at Sacramento State
> College, done by our former guild president Peter Clark, and they are
> wonderful. They sound smooth, creamy and delicate.

I say: You too can do this! It demands perception and understanding of what
the piano (using its "interval language") is trying to tell you.
>
> I've come to the conclusion that aural tuning is the only way to get those
> results. It's not just setting the temperament aurally but tuning from the
> center of the keyboard to the treble and then doing the bass, as many of
the
> books and instructors teach.

I say: You are quite right! But I go the other way. I set the bearings
only - just one 8ve - with an EDT , checking the M3,M4 & M5 as I go, then go
to the bottom. Then starting from the middle I go to the top. All this
chromatically, of course!

 After setting the FAC or selecting a factory
> FAC I've been tuning from A0 to C88. I don't think the sound is the same.

I say: I would never even try to tune a piano that way. You are not allowing
it to speak! It cannot tell you anything when you most need it to!
>
> The reason for my conclusion: A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of tuning
a
> Yamaha C5 in a huge home, in an open, empty room with very high ceilings.

Now you're talking!
>>
> Remember, I'm not a total aural tuner.
> I told him I know of another way to tune the piano so I set my temperament
> with the accutuner

I say: Did you cease to use the EDT once you had set the bearings?

> and then tuned octaves to the treble and then the bass.

I say: Did you not test the M3s, M4s,M5s,M10s,M15s & M17s? For that is when
the piano talks to you! You use these tests as you go down to the bottom
from the Bearing 8ve. and again as you go to the top when the M15 & M17 are
most useful!One of Prokofiev's piano Sonatas uses M10s in the bass - and
it's an ear opener. If the M10s are not laid properly the Sonata loses its
art.

> I'm taking a whole week off in November to practice my aural tuning. I
hear
> things better now than when I first started but I really need to solidify
my
> conceptual knowledge of aural tuning.

I say: I hope my input has helped...?
>
> Wayne Lutzow
> Lincoln, CA
> Sacramento Valley PTG

Michael G (UK) near Brighton on the Sunny South Coast
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