[pianotech] aural vs edt

Conrad Hoffsommer hoffsoco at luther.edu
Sun Apr 5 08:55:06 PDT 2009


Matthew Todd wrote:
> So, what does EDT stand for? (ust kidding)
>  
> And doesn't ETD stand for Electronically Transmitted Disease?
>  

Been staying out of this due to being busy. (Saturday is prime time 
moonlighting for this college tech)

I've tuned aurally for 35+ years and with Cybertuner for almost 10. I 
tend to think of myself as a CAT (computer assisted tuner).

Like others on this list, I routinely do a double tuning to maintain 
440Hz on my instruments. (The ten student recitals on one piano 
vs:various instruments this weekend all demand it) In and out in an hour 
or you'll never survive in a college situation.

My moonlighting, Saturday, took me to see a 57" cut down and mirrored 
open pinblock upright which hadn't been tuned this millenium. A4 @ -47¢, 
top octaves to -100¢ or so.

Did I use RCT for pitch raise? You bet!!

Did I use RCT for fine tuning? Yup.

Did I let it go at that? NO! I never have, and never will, consider the 
machine as the final arbiter. It does the "heavy lifting" by taking a 
lot of load off my lonely brain cell, and it sure helps when I have a 
cold or a slug of 8 pianos to do for a high school contest. I can, and 
do, give my ears and wetware priority in any disagreement.

Did I charge for a pitch raise? Yup. The customer had even said she 
expected it to cost more before I got a chance to say the same thing. 
[Couldn't disappoint her, now could I?] Customer left in mid-tuning and 
left a blank check... ;-} I'll be back in the fall to keep it at pitch.

BTW, I love open pinblocks. 100+ years old and pins all felt good.


-- 
Conrad Hoffsommer, RPT - Keyboard Technician
Luther College, 700 College Dr., Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045
1-(563)-387-1204 // Fax 1-(563)-387-1076



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