<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2716.2200" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"Perfect" is such a relative term. I've = got a few pianos around here in which "perfect" can only be defined as "best this = ornery old upright, puky PSO, stupid spinet, or baby bland will = do."</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>But I know and agree with what you are saying. Sour notes are the most obvious and obnoxious defect in a = tuning. Octaves come second, but it's not too hard to make decent sounding = octaves. Even our local "tooner" with his electronic guitar tuner (no kidding!) gets = okay single octaves.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think only fairly proficient pianists start hearing double and triple octaves as "off," = and only the truly trained will nit-pick about temperament, spread, stretch, and interval</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>issues--unless the = errors are pretty severe.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Anyway, that's my whole three years of = experience talking. Ha. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Bible says "Be ye therefore perfect = ..."  That</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> is certainly my = goal on every note in every piano, but sadly not possible  in many cases.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There is a nice fellow who has tuned in = this area for over 30 years. I watched and marveled as he tuned a Kawaii studio (admittedly not one of my nightmare pianos) using only one split treble = mute, his hammer, and a C fork. He did a 4ths and 5ths temperament, tuned to = the top, then to the bottom, unisons as he went. Very few checks, mostly double = octaves. Took him 45 minutes and we were talking the whole time.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is the piano I play for our = church. It sounds great ... for a couple of weeks. Then the unisons start drifting quite a = bit, though our building does not have the extreme climate ups and downs that = many churches have.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>He told me he tunes 6 or 7 pianos, most = days, and I believe him. But I could not in good conscience leave a piano that unstable.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stable, "perfect" unisons really are key.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My $0.02</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Alan Barnard</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=Wimblees@aol.com href="mailto:Wimblees@aol.com">Wimblees@aol.com</A> </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"><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> Wednesday, September 18, = 2002 9:46 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: ETD's, aural or = both</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>In a = message dated 9/19/02 12:20:25 AM !!!First Boot!!!, <A href="mailto:pianolover88@hotmail.com">pianolover88@hotmail.com</A> = writes: <BR><BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px = solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" TYPE="CITE">I guess the way i see it is, no matter which technique = we may employ, it's <BR>always the results that speak the loudest. = <BR><BR>Terry Peterson <BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>And regardless of the = tools that are used, and no matter which temperament is used, if the unisons aren't = perfect, you might as well throw all of it out the window. <BR><BR>Wim </FONT></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>