pitch raising techniques

[David Ilvedson]

Please clarify...when pitch raising with a calculated overpull are you tuning as if you were fine tuning?   i.e. careful hammer technique etc.?   When done the piano will be very close to in tune?

David I.



----- Original message ---------------------------------------->
From: Ron Koval <drwoodwind@hotmail.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Received: Wed, 01 Dec 2004 16:36:02 +0000
Subject: pitch raising techniques

>Ok, so I went back and read Joe's articles. (Thanks, by the way, all of you 
>who have taken the time to send in material that gets published in the 
>Journal.)

>There seems to be two different (though similar) goals in pitch adjusting 
>methods:

>1.  Get the entire structure close to 440.
>2.  Get all notes close to a fine-tuning after a single pass.

>These may seem like the same thing, but the approach is different.  Joe's 
>published method uses an identical template for all pianos - regardless of 
>where the final tuning will end up.  This hopes to safely prepare an 
>instrument for fine-tuning.

>An overpull percentage method hopes to leave the piano tuned with minimal 
>adjusting needed on a final pass.  This is based on measuring how far from 
>the target pitch each section of strings are, and applying an overpull that 
>is appropriate to the section of the piano, as well as the individual's 
>tuning technique.  The tuning is calculated first, (It's best to use strings 
>at pitch) with the overpull applied based on the starting pitch of the note.

>So -
>The first method generally is a quick, once over, without setting pins - 
>realizing that when finished, the piano is ready for a "normal" tuning.

>The second, usually incorporating some sort of averaging of the pitch 
>adjustment measurements, hopes to finish the first pass with a substantial 
>number of "freebies" - strings that are dead-on.  This requires more time to 
>set the pins during the first pass.  You may hear that this method can't 
>work, or won't be stable, but that simply has not been my experience.  What 
>certainly helps is to keep good records as you develop this technique, to 
>identify how different models of pianos react, allowing you to adjust and 
>refine your technique over time.

>Both methods use an A0 - C8 progression, tuning unisons as you go.  I know 
>there are other approaches that have been written about here, including 
>strip-muting, or tuning only octaves before going to chromatics - with the 
>hope of spreading out the tension adjustment.  You have to make choices 
>based on the condition of the instrument, as well as how far from pitch the 
>instrument starts.

>Ron Koval
>Chicagoland


>_______________________________________________
>pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives