[pianotech] advertising

Conrad Hoffsommer choffsommer at hotmail.com
Wed Jan 26 10:58:01 MST 2011














Harumph!

Now that I have a Medicare card in my wallet and have retired from my college position, I proudly proclaim my fossil status and (at last) my final upgrade/graduation to full Curmudgeon status.

BUT! I have an RCT, and I know how to use it. 
Nor am I afraid to.
Nor am I ashamed to.
Nor am I hesitant to.

I was an aural tuner (professionally) for 25+ years before I got the RCT software and installed it on a laptop 10+ years ago.

Yesterday, I tuned two pianos in a church. Yam P22 up from 437Hz and Yam G3 up from 438.5. Did I use the RCT? You betcha!
Did I tune aurally? You betcha!! 

Say wha? Aurally and computer assisted?

As a computer type, Duaine should know (and I, as a non-computer type, muse)  that the formulas involved in the programming are based on certain assumptions. The tunings derived from algorithms based on those assumptions are also an interpolation from data points obtained from sampling. i.e. - a very educated guess.

As a fossil tuner, and one who has dabbled in scaling and graphing of scales, I know that there are discontinuities.
As a strictly electronic tuner, I could assume that the computer knows all and will compensate. 

I do aural checks for every note after the ETD says it is right on. My ETD and I disagree from time to time. We'll discuss the discrepancies and I can and will overrule it from time to time.  The only reason that I feel confident in contradicting the computer is that I am a competent tuner without it!

Being an aural tuner:
-If the battery dies mid-tuning, it doesn't slow me down (>30-40¢ pitch raises possible exceptions) or degrade the quality of the tuning. 
-I can give my customers a choice if THEY are skeptical about electronics, though that skepticism is less and less nowadays.

As a CAT (computer assisted tuner):
-I can tune in heretofore impossibly noisy environments. (I can actually be friends with custodial. A vacuum running at a flat D# or F# is really annoying)
-I save wear and tear on my body by letting the ETD do the "heavy lifting" of pitch raises.
-I can tune multiple pianos together without having to move them around to access both (or 3) keyboards simultaneously.
-My ETD doesn't feel bad or badmouth me if I leave it home, since it knows it's a tool, not a crutch.

If you don't have alternate ways of doing things, you may find out that you have no alternative.

Conrad Hoffsommer




> Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:22:30 -0600
> From: dahechler at att.net
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] advertising
> 
> On 01/26/2011 01:27 AM, Susan Kline wrote:
> > On 1/25/2011 10:25 PM, Duaine Hechler wrote:
> >>> P.S. Just because you followed one really poor aural tuner doesn't
> >>> > prove anything about the other ones.
> >>> >
> >>>       
> >> Here we go again with the lectures ......
> >>
> >> Fossil is right - and - you have know idea what you are talking about
> >>     
> > In some cases, "fossil" could be considered a badge of honor.
> >
> <snip>
> 
> Of course, you know, the problem of being a fossil, they resist change.
> 
> And, whether you, fossils, like it or not, the change of having and
> using an ETD is here to stay.
> 
> So, lets agree to disagree and for the fossils to accept this change and
> move on and allow each of us to tune pianos, make our customers happy
> and make some money.
> 
> Duaine
> 
> -- 
> Duaine Hechler
> Piano, Player Piano, Pump Organ
> Tuning, Servicing & Rebuilding
> Reed Organ Society Member
> Florissant, MO 63034
> (314) 838-5587
> dahechler at att.net
> www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com
> --
> Home & Business user of Linux - 11 years
> 
 		 	   		  
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