Piano stringing scales

[Andrew & Rebeca Anderson]

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Those of us who use stone-age ETDs that don't calculate stretch for you, 
deal with this inharmonicity issue all of the time.  I have been using a 
Peterson 490 ST with built in stretch tables that are labeled "Spinet" 
through [concert] "Grand".  Off-course none actually fit the piano in front 
of you (although a couple of Yamahas were close to the 'idealized' 
tables).  I stretch aurally as I go, augmenting the decimal cents offset on 
the ETD from the temperament octave.  It does expose your cognizance to 
things that you wouldn't necessarily deal with if you were tuning by 
strictly aural methods.  Like scaling breaks in between the tenor/bass 
break (about 4 cents on a Yamaha C7 I tune) and sometimes in the treble 
too.  On the Peterson strobe you can also see the partials as they relate 
to the next octave.  This can help on nasty little spinets where you are 
trying to average between a beating fundamental and beating octaves.
I've encountered console pianos that stretch like what my ETD calls a 
"Small Grand". They do sound much better then their compatriots which have 
more inharmonicity or, perhaps, poorly targeted inharmonicity.  This is 
probably a discussion that would be better expanded by someone who 
specializes in developing/calculating string scales.
I've also noticed on pitch raises, more so on extreme ones, that when you 
pull a note up to a target pitch and harmonize its unisons there will be 
lots of beats.  When you complete the pitch raise pass throughout the piano 
those beats go away as the intervals and partials of other notes (even 
though they are damped) are returned to a harmonized relationship.   How 
much those partials clash will depend on how strong they are and how far 
off of the interval they are when the fundamentals are in the desired 
position.  Occasionally I encounter individual strings that when the 
fundamental is on pitch the other octaves are spinning wildly.  It is a 
funny sounding string too, that is it sounds different from the other 
unisons.  Perhaps it had a kink put in the speaking length when it was 
strung or is just plain the wrong gauge; I should get my wire gage out next 
time I observe that.
This may, in part, be a problem I have with my mother-in-law's DH Baldwin 
6' grand.  When it is in tune it positively rings, distractingly so for 
me.  I suspect that there are problems at the bridge with loose 
pins.  There are many false beats in the treble, I'll be looking into that 
with thin CA glue and a syringe this summer after the air-conditioners have 
been running for a while.  Perhaps the dampers could use some 
'voicing'?  I've debated stretching it more aggressively to reduce this but 
want to eliminate other causes first.

Andrew Anderson
www.andersonmusic.com
Las Cruces, NM

At 09:58 PM 1/14/2004 +0200, you wrote:
>He means that in the 2nd case the overtones start developing on loud 
>playing, while in the 3rd case they are being produced in abundance even 
>at normal playing and cause distortions at loud playing. I don't know if 
>louder playing changes the inharmonicity of a string in any way, and 
>Fenner doesn't say anything about this. My guess: it's just the fact that 
>you hear more partials with loud playing.
>I have never tried analysing the harmonic spectrum of a piano's note and 
>comparing it to other brands in terms of inharmonicity and volume of the 
>different partials - if anybody here did, please share your findings with 
>us. I assume that much of the tonal character of an instrument is given by 
>the amplitudes of the different partials in relation to eachother and to 
>the fundamental.
>I wonder if the reason I like the Bechstein sound so much is connected to 
>inharmonicity or to the mix of partials or maybe both. What I can say for 
>myself (about old Bechsteins though) is that they tend to have a very rich 
>and brilliant sound even at moderate volume levels.
>
>  Calin Tantareanu
>----------------------------------------------------
>  <http://calintantareanu.tripod.com>http://calintantareanu.tripod.com
>----------------------------------------------------
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:741662027@charter.net>Cy Shuster
>To: <mailto:pianotech@ptg.org>Pianotech
>Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 9:29 PM
>Subject: Re: Piano stringing scales
>
>Why is it that louder playing results in "overtones higher than 
>acceptable" in one case, but "gives colour" in another case?
>
>What's the mechanism here?  Does he imply that louder notes have more 
>inharmonicity, or is it just that you can't hear as many partials on 
>softer notes?
>
>--Cy Shuster--
>Rochester, MN
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:dnu@fx.ro>Calin Tantareanu
>To: <mailto:pianotech@ptg.org>pianotech@ptg.org
>Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 12:36 PM
>Subject: Re: Piano stringing scales
>
>
>2. Scales with inharmonicity values higher then average or close to the 
>upper "limit"
>With increasing dynamics the adding up of overtones gives the sound 
>colour, without getting unpleasant.
>Examples: Grotrian-Steinweg, Yamaha, Steinway
>
>3. Inharmonicity is at the "limit" or above
>At normal playing volume, the tonal character makes an outstanding 
>impression. But with increasing dynamics, the stretching of the overtones 
>gets higher than acceptable to the ear and becomes distorted. This happens 
>especially when the string termination isn't perfect. Because one needs to 
>voice the piano mellow to avoid distortion, powerful fortissimos aren't 
>possible.
>Examples: Fenner states that such a scale can be found, nowadays, only in 
>Bechstein pianos.
>

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