Strip mutes was . . Re: Moving from Uprights to Grands

[Don]

Hi Susan,

Unisons "as you go" does lead to greater stability. We ETD assist types
have years and years of accumulated data to prove it beyond any reasonable
doubt.

Yes the pitch overcompensation is about 1/3 in the plain steel strings if
strip muting is used and 1/4 without. Of course using a "look up table" in
Reyburn Cyber tuner gets you *much* much closer, and is easier on the
tuner. Perhaps even easier on the piano???

At 10:47 AM 7/21/2005 -0700, you wrote:
>At 10:27 AM 7/21/2005 -0400, Ric wrote:
>>'is the muted temperament exactly the same when you return to complete the 
>>unisons'?
>
>The strip has one advantage: when you return and tune the side strings you 
>get a very good sense of exactly how far and in which direction you had to 
>change the pitch.
>
>If you tune each unison as you go (just one or two wedges) you depend on 
>your tuning stability throughout. Unless you tune very stable unisons 
>quickly, it's going to be very hard for you to do a decent temperament. I 
>suppose this is why tuners in the UK (and a few here) look down on those 
>who use a strip mute. Ric even said "has to use a temperament strip."
>
>I don't HAVE to use a strip mute -- I _can_ tune just fine without one. I 
>find it _convenient_ to use a strip mute, and I feel that doing two fast 
>passes with a strip mute gives me better stability than doing one slow pass 
>with wedges only.
>
>The next question is for those who tune with only wedges: "how far does the 
>pitch change as you proceed with the tuning?" Only those who use a machine 
>know for sure. From my experience with the middle treble, which usually is 
>the least stable part of a piano, and which I don't strip mute, I would say 
>that the pitch changes less than if you wait to tune the side strings, but 
>still, it changes appreciably unless it was very close to begin with.
>
>I just do two passes. If the second pass requires quite a bit of tuning, I 
>do three passes. That usually settles whatever needs settling. If I put the 
>strip back in for the second pass, and almost nothing needs to be changed 
>at all, I can be confident that the first pass was sufficient. Checking 
>takes very little time.
>
>Best to all, on both sides of the water
>
>Susan Kline 

Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat

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