tuning

[pianotune05]

Hi John,
Virgil Smith also states using a strip mute at first if a piano is off pitch 
etc.  Once the piano is approximately where it should be I believe he 
suggests using the new method.  I tried that method on a friends spinit, and 
found that pitch drop to be true.  This is what I loe about being new in 
tuning.  I can experiment with different things and see how they work or 
don't work. It's a great learning experience.
Marshall
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John M. Formsma" <john at formsmapiano.com>
To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 4:30 PM
Subject: RE: tuning


> >Whole tone tuning, when practiced by a good tuner, is incredibly 
> >accurate.
>> Whoever made that statement to you is ignorant on the point,  with all
>>due respect. PTG sells a little book by Virgil Smith about tuning that
>>will set you straight, I believe.
>>
>>David Andersen
>
> [John Formsma] I definitely agree with David here. There's something about
> whole note tuning that actually makes it easier to hear when the note 
> being
> tuned gets in the right place. (It's probably the fact that you have more 
> of
> a solid "foundation" with all three strings sounding together then if only
> the middle string is sounding.)
>
> Now the caveat is that you have to get your unisons perfect as you go, or
> your octave will be off.  The better the unison, the better the octave. 
> For
> me, tuning octaves is easier to hear this way than with a strip mute,
> although it still takes me longer than with a strip mute.  I like tuning
> with open unisons better because of the better sound it produces.  I think
> it is also more stable.  However, I don't always tune with open unisons.
> Usually just with better pianos that are close to pitch to start with.
>
> Also, the piano should be fairly close to pitch before trying this.
> Otherwise, there will be pitch drop that will cumulatively affect the rest
> of the piano.  With experience, you can learn to expect pitch drop in
> certain sections, and tune sharper to counteract this.  For instance, 
> today
> I was tuning a piano with the middle section just slightly sharp, and the
> first section of treble was about 6-8 cents flat.  I only did one pass
> through this section, but had to make adjustments to four unisons because
> they had dropped a bit flat.  If you are careful to check your double
> octaves and your octave-fifths, you will catch these before you make too
> much cumulative error.
>
> I have not read Virgil's book on tuning, but in his classes he teaches to
> get the upper note of the octave just a tad sharp, so there is just a tiny
> beat.  This beat will go away once the unison of the upper note is tuned.
>
> JF
>