[pianotech] A432 Tuning Fork

Rob McCall rob at mccallpiano.com
Wed Jan 19 23:57:27 MST 2011


Since you mention Tunelab...

I have the iPhone version which is calibrated with the NIST.  It plays a tone of A440 if you want.  Would that be something that could be used for practicing for the RPT tuning exam, and even the exam itself?  Is that allowed? It seems that since it's calibrated and it doesn't change if it's hot or cold, that it might be a good option.

Regards,

Rob McCall

McCall Piano Service, LLC
www.mccallpiano.com
Murrieta, CA
951-698-1875



On Jan 19, 2011, at 22:00 , Jim Moy wrote:

> Since you're considering the electronic alternatives, you might take a look at Jim Coleman's 12/2008 article in the PTG Journal. Basically: tune the piano's 3rd partial of A4 a few bps sharp of a quartz oscillator's 3rd partial.
> 
> Get yourself a good quartz reference metronome with an A440 tuning setting. I bought my second Seiko SQ-50 on eBay for $10. (My teenager commandeered my first for band.) Both were within 0.2 cents of 440, tested against my NIST calibrated Tunelab. If you're in a hurry, maybe you'll pay $25-30.
> 
> Three times more accurate. Cheap as a fork. No drift with temperature. Sits next to you on the bench, so no bopping your knee, or vibrating your teeth. Of course you've got to worry about having a fresh battery in the oscillator, but you can do that long beforehand.
> 
> Jim



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