Tuning: The Great Debate ETD versus Aural Tuning (A few last comments)

[David Love]

Tuning:  The Great Debate ETD versus Aural Tuning (A few last comments)

 

The archives are replete with arguments about ETD versus aural tuning.
We're all probably sick of reading about it even though we do, and when we
do we generally find that we are no closer to answering the question about
which is better or which route, if we are learning the craft, we should
follow.  That's because, like most things, it depends on a variety of
factors.

 

We've been told, among other things, that most people respond to solid
unisons, mostly.  In some sense that's true.  People will certainly respond
most quickly to unisons which are out of tune.  In concert situations where
the pianist spends relatively little time with the piano and can't really
come to know it in any intimate sense that is also likely the case.  But
when it comes to artists or individuals who spend the better part of their
day intertwined with every nuance of their own instrument, you can bet your
life that they are hearing more than mere solid unisons.  

 

If we are only concerned with that periodic tuning of Aunt Mimi's piano who
only calls us because Uncle Hector reminded her that the holidays are coming
and it's their bicentennial turn to host the family celebration and
therefore maybe they should get the piano tuned, then a quick and dirty pass
with a calculated tuning on our favorite ETD, even if we miss the numbers,
will probably be better than anything they've heard in over a hundred years.
But if we are tuning a piano that belongs to an individual who has explored
every pitch related nook and cranny of their instrument, then we better pay
attention to a few more details, inconsistencies in the scaling, bumps,
awkward transitions as well as solid unisons or we may not be invited back.


 

Pianos are imperfect, at best.  Graph an inharmonicity curve on any piano
you are likely to find as many pot holes as smooth highway.  Navigating
those bumps in tuning can be tricky, require experienced judgment and,
unfortunately, is simply beyond the scope of a calculated tuning--at least
the ones that I've encountered.  While you may be able to put it in cruise
control for a good portion of the ride, you can easily be derailed in a
couple of sections that can disrupt the overall flow, create awkward
transitions or create an effect which is less than totally unified.  Not a
disaster, but not artistic, nuanced, refined (whatever word you wish to
assign) either.  Not that ETD's by themselves don't produce passable
tunings, they do.  Take the RPT tuning test and tune with an ETD and, if
your control and stability are good, you'll score 100%.  But what does that
tell us?  I've tuned with an ETD "ears free" on "quality" pianos and found
many areas that were, let's just say, less than I would have hoped for.  One
hundred percent is not always 100%.  A thorough tuning which takes into
consideration all the subtle bumps of a typical scaling simply cannot be
calculated, not completely.  Sure, maybe it's 98% on a given piano, but
maybe it's only 85%, or 80%, where do you draw the line?  And without
listening carefully to the discrepancies that invariably occur how do you
even know where the line is being drawn?   

 

In my view, for a high quality tuning, any use of an ETD must be accompanied
by careful listening, period.  It might also be argued that most aural
tunings will benefit from the visual reference of a pitch analyzer of some
type to verify what it is that you think you are hearing.  Why we would not
take advantage of both (and many are) in order to produce the best and most
consistent tunings remains a mystery and if you trust self reporting it
seems that many--maybe most--who use ETD's use them in exactly that manner
(though I don't think so).  The fact is, we get lazy, we are presented with
marketing promises about machines that produce perfect tunings, we don't
learn to tune aurally to begin with, we learn not to trust ourselves when
our aural judgments don't match the "calculated" placements, or any and all
of the above.  Others would argue, as I mentioned, that it doesn't really
matter: solid unisons are the only criteria that really count.       

 

As one who has both won customers for my attention to detail, customized and
nuanced tunings and lost customers from dial-in laziness I can say that it
does matter.  If you are only interested in tuning for the Aunt Mimi's of
the world then dial it in and tune from bottom to top, collect your fee and
whistle a happy tune.  But if you want to move to a higher level and satisfy
those customers who demand a bit more (not to mention yourself and your own
standards), you'll simply have to pay a bit more attention.  If you are
already doing that then bravo, I think you're ahead of the game.  If not,
then I think it's only a matter of time before you get burned.  Remember
that for many, even your most loyal customers, you are only as good as your
last tuning.     

 

David Love

davidlovepianos at comcast.net 

www.davidlovepianos.com

 

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