<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <STYLE>.hmmessage P { PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma } </STYLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16609" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY class=hmmessage bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Steve-</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Once in a while, try this:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Tune the temperament or mid-range with the strip mute in.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Then tune the unisons.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Then go back over the temperament, correcting by making tiny unison adjustments.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>I think you'll find yourself making very subtle pitch changes this way. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>When you go to the next piano you'll make more subtle single string adjustments in the strip muted tuning.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Ed Sutton (Still addicted to the strip mute, but working to get beyond.)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=atuneforyou@hotmail.com href="mailto:atuneforyou@hotmail.com">Steve Blasyak</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, March 22, 2008 2:41 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> To mute or not to mute</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>Hey Now,<BR> <BR>Thanks Dale and others for comments related to strip muting. I use action cloth too, I think I got it from Piano tech. I pretty much agree with everything David Ilvedson posted on 3/21. I can see using the mute method tuning unisons as described on this thread on grand's. To me its just not practical on most upright/console/spinets. The string spacing is often inconsistent. Lighting and angles are often an issue. Also the mutes flop around and fall out. I have cut down the wire to at least minimize this last problem. Its just too frustrating to be enjoyable. In the end I tune unisons as I go with the action cloth temperament strip on anything standing up. Yesterday as an experiment I tuned a grand with a felt mute that has a tapered tip. It fits nicely into the unisons and its a method I could get used to. I went left to right though. I'll try the right to left as David Anderson has suggested next time. I already use this method in the sixth and seventh octave anyway.<BR> <BR>Again I agree with the stability statements and think tuning unisons as you go is the hot ticket. following this thread I have discovered there are several different ways to achieve this goal.<BR> <BR>As far as temperament tuning with mutes. I thank John Formsma and I can't remember who else posted comments. But anyway thanks for the encouragement to both of you (who ever you are?). Here's my thoughts on that. The test is given with the piano completely strip muted. I intend to continue my practice with the piano strip muted because it is my goal to pass the test. It seems to me to be logical to practice under same the conditions you will be tested on. My mind is quite feeble, not sure if it would be a good idea changing my whole routine at this particular point in time. I know that I will never achieve the ability of David Anderson and others on the list (no sarcasm intended), I'm just trying to learn and pass the test. After that I will try to hone my skills to a higher level. With the help of my friends on list of course.  <BR> <BR>Thanks again to all for the wealth of information. Have a great holiday weekend.<BR> <BR>Steve Blasyak<BR>Orange County Ca.<BR> <BR>Pura Vida <BR><BR> <HR> Windows Live Hotmail is giving away Zunes. <A href="http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/ZuneADay/?locale=en-US&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_Mobile_Zune_V1" target=_new>Enter for your chance to win.</A> </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>