[pianotech] Hammer Technique: was Q & A Roundtable

[Ed Foote]

David writes: 


 Overshoot is not necessary
if you apply counter pressure to the pin to offset the tendency for the
twisting and bending motion to pull it sharp, but I'm not going to revisit
the entire thing here. 

That's what I do.  When I have lowered the string to the pitch I want , I try to have enough preloaded flex in the pin to bring the top string tension back up without moving the speaking length. 
      Back up to what?  Back to a tension  above the speaking length by a lesser amount than what is needed to overcome the friction of the bearing surfaces, (agraffe, bars, understring felt. )  Somewhere between speaking tension and overcoming the friction of an agraffe is the golden meadow of stability. It is a zone, rather than a point, and learning to recognize it  increased my tuning speed as much as anything. The wider this zone is, the easier it is to massage unisons.  
     I tune this way to avoid excessive wear at my left elbow.  With  tendonitis problems, every lift of the arm contributes. So, what works for me is sending the strings beating with a blow as I sharpen, and then another blow as I listen to everything slowing down. It is not unlike landing a plane:  I "follow" the beating  until it stops, at which point my ear knows what it is hearing and my hand and wrist know what was involved in getting there, and when it all works  perfectly,  the pin flexes back and the note goes nowhere.  Upon checking my tunings, I find that on the good ones, if any strings are going to move, they are as likely to drift sharp as flat. 
  Regards,


Ed Foote RPT
http://www.piano-tuners.org/edfoote/index.htmll

 
 
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