Cracking the unisons

[william ballard]

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On Jan 6, 2006, at 1:44 AM, David Andersen wrote:
> You do use a mute.  Not using one would be wacky, and
> counterproductive.

I'm relieved to hear that. Tuning a unison between two strings of a  
unison with the third string also open is an aural tuning exercise  
which I described in "Your Friend the Unison" (PTJ 1/97). Essentially  
zero beating one beat rate while another, simultaneous, stays  
constant. The faster both beat rates are (ie., the further apart the  
starting frequencies are), the more elbow room you have in which to  
avoid tuning the string worked on to the wrong "other"  string.  
There's nothing to tell you which string pitch is being closed in on,  
only that you've finally nailed it. That's when the remaining and  
constant beat rate cleans up (ie., takes on the sound of a two-string  
beat rate). Similar to tuning a two-string unison when one of the  
strings has a false beat.

It's probably possible once one is really good at cracking the  
unison, to make such a tweak-sized correction as David has described  
it, without a mute and with all three strings open. You'd have to 1.)  
pay attention to which direction you'd cracked the unison (a no- 
brainer), 2.) memorize the shape of that "cracking" (or if you're a  
"pry-my-cold-dead-fingers-off-the-7th-partial" type like me, memorize  
the beat speed of your favorite high partial), 3.) bump the second  
string up/down to the first string until you hear that the beat rate  
between the 3d string and the combination of the 1st two sounds like  
a two string unison with clean strings instead one where one of the  
strings has a false beat. Now, your have-way between 3d base and home  
plate. 4.) tune the 3d string to the first two.

Real Piano Men don't use mutes. (you know who you are.......)

Cracking the unison was described by Virgil Smith in PTG 2/95,  
although for him it was a very casual matter. I referred to it  as  
"prior art" in my 1/97 article, although when I first tumbled on it,  
it quickly took on the highly aural useful technique pitch shimming.  
In years of conversation, I never ran across anyone doing something  
similar. This is not to claim ownership of the technique of pitch  
shimming (or even unison cracking), just to observe that as a  
seemingly simple technique ready to be stumbled on by any aural  
tuner, it's a remarkably obscure one.

> IMO, mastering this skill is crucial for high-end work, really fine  
> tuning.

Copy that, good buddy!

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"I'll play it and tell you what it is later...."
     ...........Miles Davis
+++++++++++++++++++++


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