etds and ears

[Fenton Murray]

No challenge felt here, I'm honored to be asked.
I'd probably agree with most of what JF has said below. It is a feel thing based on roughly a 1/3 over pull on my first note A440. From there I usually tune single strings everywhere but the bass. A couple extra beats going into the tenor break, then backing off into the treble. I save the bass for last, after pulling up the unison elsewhere, I simply don't want to break bass strings. Every piano is different and you get to know how they will behave. Old rusty Chickerings are not going to be yanked up 1/3 over when they are 100 c flat. Common sense there. Suesan Graham wrote 15 or 20 years ago that the further flat the piano is the faster she tunes, as things get closer, slow down and be more careful. Sometimes I am absolutely right on after a 20 minute pass from 100 cents flat, other times the treble is still down. If things aren't behaving properly one should be looking at things like pin block fit or bridge problems. I like to spend a bit of time on the temperment even on pitch raises because I want to start creating that foundation right away. I enjoy the challenge of pitch raises. It's kind of like archery.
Fenton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John Formsma 
  To: Pianotech List 
  Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 6:55 PM
  Subject: Re: etds and ears


  John,

  I'm assuming you mean a pitch "raise."

  I haven't done any personal studies on it, but I accept the fact that one will get a more accurate and stable pitch raise by tuning unisons as he goes, from the bottom up.  I think Dr. Sanderson proved this many years ago, and my time with the Verituner confirmed this to me. 

  As a strictly aural tuner now, though, I don't have a choice except to tune from the middle outward, unless it's a "blind" pitch raise, which I personally never got the hang of. The way you get the right overpull is to do pitch raises enough that you know sort of what to expect. It becomes less of a guessing game and more of a "feel" thing. You could think of it as knowing how many beats sharp to tune it. As you learn through experience, you will find certain types of pianos behaving more predictably. I generally set A4 1/3 more than it is flat; e.g., if it's -10¢, I'll set it to +3¢.

  I use strip mutes in the whole piano, "Dan Levitan style." It takes about 15 minutes for a pitch raise. It is generally not as accurate as an ETD, but I have had occasions that many strings were as close as an ETD could get in a first-pass pitch raise. 

  There is probably lots of stuff in the archives. Good luck searching for it!

  JF


    I would like to know from Fenton and from others how
    they manage a pitch range aurally.  I've often thought of going completely to
    aural tuning but am worried about how exactly to estimate overpull, and make
    it as efficient and close as my SAT does in one pass when in pitch range mode.
    I've also heard that it's a preferred method to go from bottom to top,
    unisons as you go, when raising/correcting pitch.  I'd love to hear aural 
    tuners' takes on this.  (Understand I'm sincerely curious and NOT challenging
    anybody)

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