[pianotech] Order of Importance in Tuning (was advertising)

[Carl Teplitski]

I don't think anyone would argue with that,   -  very good.
I think Jim was being quite general with that remark, to make his point
about unisons.

Thank you.

Carl


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe DeFazio" <defaziomusic at verizon.net>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 10:45 PM
Subject: [pianotech] Order of Importance in Tuning (was advertising)


>
> On 1/26/2011 12:47 PM, Carl Teplitski wrote:
>> He also said
>> that unisons are most important in a good tuning, whereas" temperament"
>> is a close second.!! ??

I'd go with:

Unisons
Octaves
Double/triple octaves
Fifths (keep them reasonably close to pure at the 3:2 level, and not too 
noisy at 6:4 and 9:6)
Temperament
Walking tenths and seventeenths in the bass
Clear P12ths and P19ths in the high treble

Having been a former conservatory/academy/university ear training instructor 
for quite some years, that's the order in which I believe my fellow 
professional musicians are most apt to notice tuning problems or 
differences.  Temperament is pretty far down the list (I'm not saying that 
it's not important for us;  we should do a great job of setting temperament, 
as it makes the whole puzzle fit together well).  And, wearing my third hat, 
as an audio engineer, I have done a fair amount of editing of major symphony 
level players where a few cents off is fairly normal, and doesn't sound too 
bad in context.  It always helps me to feel a little more relaxed when I 
recall that while trying to tame an impossible false beat on a poor quality 
spinet.  That little shimmer juuuust might not be the end of the world.

Joe DeFazio
Pittsburgh