[pianotech] Self-tuning piano

[Mark Schecter]

Paul,

Your points are good about isolation, causing me to think further. You could isolate wire from capo (electrically) using say a layer of wood between the bearing and the plate. You could isolate an agraffe from the plate with a non-conductive heli-coil to thread it into. I don't know how you could isolate the strings of a unison from each other in that agraffe unless the agraffe itself was non-conductive - what, plastic? Maybe, but I totally agree, it will never be feasible as a retrofit, and the incremental advantage a self-tuning new piano might have in the marketplace is very debatable. And the effect of all these other changes on the sound just further obscures its practicality. A solution? Definitely in search of a problem. 

Pete Wolford used to tell a story about an engineer who thought he could solve the same "problem". He paid double to get a "perfect" tuning. A couple weeks later, Pete saw the solution: A solid block of epoxy making certain those pins would never move again. Perspective?

~ Mark Schecter

On Jan 25, 2012, at 12:30 PM, Paul McCloud <pmc033 at earthlink.net> wrote:

> This idea was put forward by QRS years ago.  I'm not sure, but there must be a connection between QRS and the inventor.  Sending a current through the wire to heat it is easy enough.  The problem is, if you're going to send a different current through each wire, the wires need to be insulated from each other.  Agraffes, anyone?  Capo bar? Hitch pins?  Looped strings?  You're not going to be able to retrofit this into an existing piano unless there's some way to insulate the wires from each other.  What's going to happen when there's rust on the string, and contact isn't good enough for the current to pass?  A fair amount of current is going to be needed to make this work.  What it's going to cost to install will far exceed years of tunings, not to speak of other work needed on the piano over a long period.
> 
> Yeah, the unison sucks.  But ok, it's only tuning one wire. 
> 
> The way to make this work is to have heated air directed at each string, or some kind of inductance heating.  Otherwise, it seems impractical to me.
> 
> I'm not worried about losing business anytime soon.
> 
> Paul McCloud
> San Diego
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Schecter" <mark at schecterpiano.com>
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Cc: pianotech at ptg.org
> Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 12:04:30 PM
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Self-tuning piano
> 
> 
> 
> If that unison is "perfectly in tune" I'll eat my hat. While that system may have potential, the demo should at least succeed in tuning the one demo note. Also, how many pianos have enough clearance under the block for the circuit boards? Clever idea, but I'm not worried. I'd rather spend my money on a self-parking car. 
> 
> 
> Electrified piano strings? Could help keep the bugs down. 
> 
> ~ Mark Schecter 
> 
> On Jan 25, 2012, at 11:31 AM, David Boyce < David at piano.plus.com > wrote: 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> Erk! Is this the way forward? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugAxXm2SAXw 
> 
> Best regards, 
> 
> David. 
> 
>