Hi David, I feel you should know that Daniel Carlton wrote what you quoted and not Ryan Sowers. Felt you would appreciate this input. Aside from that, the information you have been offering on this ETD offering has been spot on from my point of view. Sincerely, Keith McGavern On Jan 27, 2011, at 2:35 PM, David Love wrote: > Ryan Sowers wrote: > > "how is the next generation of tuners going to find the inspiration to pick > up this important skill which is at the heart of our craft?" > > > I think this is a bit of the fallacy of the appeal to belief. The > suggestion is that etd users don't acquire the important skills that are at > the heart of the craft. That's just a wrong assumption. First, most (if > not all) etd users tune unisons by ear. The essential skills required for > our tuning craft can all be found in acquiring the skill of tuning solid > unisons. The issue of tuning has less to do with our ability to hear what > our target is and more to do with learning how to get it there and keep it > there. Those of us who pursue this profession tend to be inclined toward > good hearing skills. Learning to hear coincident partials, a narrow fifth, > an expanded fourth, 7 beats per second, a sequence if increasingly beating > thirds, clean unisons is a small part of the battle, in my view. Learning > to manipulate the tuning pin and tuning hammer in a controlled way is what > takes the effort. If we could simply turn a dial and stop it when the > desired pitch is reached tuning would be relatively easy. When you stick a > lever and flexible pin in the way it changes everything. The notion that > etd users shut their ears once the machine gets turned on is also a false > belief. Similarly that they don't tweak the machine settings and refine the > calculated tuning based on their own professional judgment. Any suggestion > otherwise is more a comment on one's own practices than it is a fair comment > on anyone else's. > > But there's another issue here that we've not really discussed and that has > to do with compensation and fees. When I tuned aurally (and I consider > myself a very skilled tuner) it took me about 1 hour and 20 minutes to do a > careful tuning. Add a pitch raise and it was two hours if I got the pitch > raise right the first time, which wasn't always the case. That seems to > comport with David Andersen's own admissions, somebody I consider a very > skilled aural tuner. With an ETD I can do that same careful tuning in 45 > minutes. A pitch raise (and an accurate one) in 15 minutes. That's half > the time. My basic fee (and I won't say what it is here but you can look on > my website) is based on a 1+ hour appointment. My customers get what I can > accomplish in that time for my basic fee. So, if the piano is on pitch it's > 45 minutes to tune it and 15+ minutes to do whatever else. That whatever > else might be a pitch raise in which case I'm done in my basic fee time and > they pay me my basic fee. If there's no pitch raise I'll spend the extra > time doing what I see fit and that will vary depending on need. The use of > the etd allows me to be consistently efficient and deliver a better product > in a shorter time frame. So what do I do? I can decide that I really enjoy > the challenge and personal satisfaction of tuning aurally but it takes me > twice as long and I accomplish less in a given amount of time as far as the > customer is concerned. Should I then charge double to my customers so that > I can have my personal satisfaction? Or should I work that extra time for > free? No difference in the quality of the product, mind you. Just an issue > of what gives me more pleasure, how much time it takes, and what I then need > to charge for my time. What do you imagine my customers would say? Don't > wonder too long, I can tell you. Do they really care how I do it or do they > care that I'm efficient, get done what needs doing and deliver a quality > product for a predictable fee? > > That's where my hobbyist remark comes from. If I'm doing this for fun (and > that doesn't mean without a high level of skill) then who cares. But if I'm > doing this to make a living, maximize my earning potential and want to > deliver a quality product to my customer in the most efficient, consistent > and professional way that doesn't cause them to have to pay additional and > unnecessary charges because I choose to take twice as long when I didn't > really have to, then what is the responsible and, perhaps, most ethical way > to think of this? Is refusing to use the most modern technologies available > because of some false belief, personal pride or pleasure mentality not > potentially doing our customers a disservice? I think it is. > > David Love > www.davidlovepianos.com > > > >
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