John, That is really interesting. I really like the idea of setting the temperament octave notes aurally. (otherwise- how will I learn?) I had the idea to set A4 with Verituner- then save my file, tune Verituner off- do as you did setting the temperament, turn the machine back on and see how my ear compares A work in progress... Zoe -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of John Dorr Sent: January 8, 2010 7:25 AM To: piano tech list Subject: Re: [pianotech] aural checks and verituner or other ETD List, I use Tunelab. I set the temperament in a hybrid fashion. That is, I set A4 with Tunelab, then I set each note from that aurally. I use Tunelab in "aural sequence" mode and after I've set it aurally I ask Tunelab what it "thinks" about it. If we're in complete agreement, fine. If we disagree, I'll listen to where TL wants it and compare. Sometimes I win, sometimes TL, sometimes we compromise. I think this is a nice way to continue refining my aural skills. ("Skills" might be too strong a word! ;-) ) After setting the temperament thusly, I set TL to "auto down", and follow a similar procedure. Here is where TL is very cool. Since it tells you onscreen which partial it's listening to, you can also play the octave above and monitor the stretch as you go, since if TL is listening to the 6th partial, then the note an octave above will trigger a reading on its own 3rd partial. Thus you have a visible check on the 6:3 octave in this case. You can set up whichever partial you want to hear, btw, either temporarily or permanently. This way you use the machine to check ITSELF. Doing it this way is helping me develop my ability to CHOOSE aurally a partial pair out of thin air and focus on it. That is, I can play an octave and CHOOSE TO HEAR a specific partial. Very exciting to me! A similar procedure is employed going upward from the temperament. When I get very high (last octave or a little more, sometimes 2 octaves) and TL is listening to the fundamental, I can play the octave below, the 17th below, and the double octave below and make a good placement. I've yet to tune all the unisons as I go. I intend to learn that too. My holdback fear right now is that it may add time to my tuning, but I have some pianos at the store where I work where I could (and WILL) practice that on. Summing up -- I tune aurally and use ETD checks. It's refining my aural skills. (there's that strong word again: "skills" LOL) Thanks for bringing up the topic. I love what I'm reading. John Dorr, RPT Helena, MT
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