<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Re: Cracking the unisons</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY style="BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER= -LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none"> So David, when are you go to demonstrate this at a convention...?</P= > David Ilvedson, RPT Pacifica, California <DIV style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5p= x; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 3px solid; PADDING-TOP: 5px"> <HR> Original message From: "David Andersen" <DAVID@DAVIDANDERSENPIANOS.C= OM> To: Pianotech <PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG> Received: 1/6/2006 9:47:57 = AM Subject: Re: Cracking the unisons <BLOCKQUOTE> Cracking the unison was described by Virgil Smith in = PTG 2/95, although for him it was a very casual matter. I referred to i= t  as "prior art" in my 1/97 article, although when I first tumble= d on it, it quickly took on the highly aural useful technique pitch shi= mming. In years of conversation, I never ran across anyone doing someth= ing similar. This is not to claim ownership of the technique of pitch s= himming (or even unison cracking), just to observe that as a seemingly = simple technique ready to be stumbled on by any aural tuner, it's a rem= arkably obscure one. </BLOCKQUOTE> He= y, Bill---to me, pitch shimming is synonymous with cracking a unison: &= nbsp;making micro-incremental pitch shifts in a 3 string note; I think = experienced tuners start doing it unconsciously at some point, but it n= ever really blossomed for me as a foundational tuning tool until I thre= w my felt strip away and started tuning unisons fully on the fly---open= -string tuning.  Now, 5 years later, I literally sculpt and balanc= e the temperament by very fast and precise shimming of the unisons---an= d I can set a highly idealized, close-to-perfect temperament, solid as = a rock, all open strings, on basically any piano, in 15-20 minutes. <BR= > Pitch shimming is also incredibly useful as you tune down into the= bottom of the piano, especially in the all-important and devilish teno= r break area---the horrific, deliberately confusing end of the long bri= dge----aaahhhhhhh!!!! I scared myself.....But reallly, this a, perhaps = the, crucial area of the piano to tune.  If you get it right, and = the octaves are stretched just the slightest bit flat as they should be= , you move to the bass with confidence. OK?  OK then......<= BR> Best, David Andersen </DIV></BODY></HTML>