<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19328"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>List,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>    This thread has prompted me to bring up a pitch lowering method I've been fooling around with the past few years.(especially when under  time constraints )</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>    Case in point last week :   Steinway L from the 50's in a high school chorus room here in Massachusetts.(no climate control)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>   With the last tuning in April the piano was @ pitch.The high humidity of our New England summer drives this thing to as much as 30 -40 cents </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>sharp from the tenor break on up. Bass maybe 5-10 cents sharp.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>   Now this is not a concert situation but getting the thing down to 440 with reasonable stability is the goal. I'll be back in a few months to retune .</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Using my accu-tuner I pulled down the middle string of all the C's to around  - 8 c flat or so and use muscle memory to feel the pin movement with amount  of  "tick " required</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>in each section. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>   Then without playing the notes I have one hand on the tuning lever head and one on the ball end of the Driscoll CF Tuning Lever (sorry ) and move really fast from pin to pin trying to replicate the pin movement from the samples</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>The exact order probably doesn't matter but from the break on up I lower the middle string then the right string from the top down then the left string from the top down.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>The whole operation takes about  5-7 minutes. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>   There are certainly some strings that are way off but the thing is reasonably chromatic and around pitch. After a  quick pull down on the bass </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial> I then strip mute the entire piano and speed tune the middle strings with the ETD.  Then tune the right string to the center from the top removing the strip as I go then left string </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>to the other two from the top down  (A spin on the 1970's Coleman-Defebaugh P.R. method) then another quick pass in the bass .</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>  The whole process takes 20 - 30 minutes tops. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>I then tune as per usual technique and I seem to have fewer strings creeping  sharp given the time spent on the pitch lowering.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial> I think a version of this was mentioned in the journal way back when.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>    I only do this a few times a year so without much science behind me I'm thinking that the double pass in such a short time creates better stability .</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Thoughts ?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial> Tom Driscoll</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>   </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>