<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Re: over-all tuning discussions, was How we = hear</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>okay, I want to watch the movement of the = rubber mute. How do you tune the whole piano using one rubber mute? From start to = finish, please please.</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left>-----Original Message----- From: = pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of David Andersen Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2004 9:21 = PM To: Pianotech Subject: Re: over-all tuning discussions, was How = we hear </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE>David Anderson - Apologies if my = original question sounded at all terse; didn't think about it until I saw it = in reply-mode. Please bear with me if you've already covered this, as = I'm sure I've probably missed some bits of this conversation in places until recently. When you say "15 seconds" - could you go into more detail? = IE, are you listening for 15 seconds to the unison each time you're moving = the pin until it's in place, or is the 15 seconds the final "test" listen? </BLOCKQUOTE> Hey Ilex---I certainly = don’t listen to every single 2 or 3-note unison for 15 seconds----I should have = been clearer: When the unisons are what I call “coupled,” the note = picks up the “bloom” of the soundboard and actually sounds or feels like it = swells, and there is absolutely no phasing or movement of any kind until the note = dies. It is a priori that the strings must be seated and lifted = properly, and that the speaking length terminations are solid. Yes, you can hear = most of what you need to, most of the time, within 5-7 seconds. In actual practice---as with everything else---you get so quick and so good at = moving the pin in teeny increments, and then have it rock-solid where you put = it, with whatever settling blow you’ve given it---that you move a little = quicker, but in a good rhythm. I’m tuning as I go, with just one rubber mute, = so everything is pretty clean and precise. I take what most people = would think is a horrifically long time---about 30 minutes---to really = ideally, precisely, and firmly set the temperament,  with all 3 strings = per note tuned. It takes me from 50-60 minutes to tune the rest of the piano. = Many, many tunings have I done for monster players, who WILL move the note = if it can move, so I’m pretty confident of ability to produce a stable tuning. But I’m old, and kind of eccentric, and diminished by = years of what one friend has politely called “rugged living,” so I belong = out in this old school pasture of has-been Jurassic geezers. (The above is = irony; not intended for less than mature audiences.) <G> Hope this helps.... David Andersen = </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>