<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; cha= rset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV> <DIV>Ric Moody writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"> <FONT face="MS Sans Serif">If you  produce a musicia= n (oboist you say) who says their instruments get weird outside of 2 ce= nts deviation I will take a fresh  look (with them) at my premise = that you completely disagree with.  I know a few musicians but hav= e never asked them if  2 cents or two cycles per second is a big  = deal and wonder if they know the difference.  </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV= > <DIV>As an oboist as well as piano tuner, I get a chance to monitor, on a lo= ng term basis, both the orchestra I play in and the piano out front. I = will agree that the pitch of the orchestra drifts during a performance. Howe= ver, I don't agree that it's acceptable, and want to do everything with= in my power to limit it. I think the orchestra sounds best when it=  adheres to a standard, whatever it is. I'll address both the piano sid= e and the orchestra side.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For at least an hour before I tune for a rehearsal or performance, I ha= ve the stage manager set the air conditioning and lights where they will be = for the show. I figure they're paying me to tune at 440 (usually), so that's= where I tune, to the best of my ability. If it's a few cents off, I do a pi= tch correction, which will bring it inside one cent, and only takes 15-20 mi= nutes. Since this is a piano I tune often, I have a stored tuning for it, wh= ich is an aurally tweaked calculated tuning, and I listen each time to tweak= it further to make up for seasonal soundboard changes. I get a chance to go= back two days later to tune for the second performance, and it is= rare that the change is more than a cent; and that is attributable to clima= te and not to piano instability (different pattern).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>By the way, even when I tune aurally, I don't spend 15 minutes, as you = suggest in a previous post, setting the A well inside half a cent. It doesn'= t take but about a minute. And yes, I do use an offset for the pitch correct= ion. Maybe it's a philosophical difference, but I don't like to float pitch = for a performance. I don't think it's a practical necessity - it isn't that = hard to stabilize at 440 with a quick pitch correction. You never know how p= itch-sensitive the pianist will be (I am occasionally amazed), and, well, wh= y not just do it. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I make my reeds so they feel best at 440-441. The "A" I give to the orc= hestra is 440 exactly. I check the pitch often electronically, and it is typ= ical for the some of the orchestra to drift upward as much as 4 Hz on a= bad day (the tone starts to pull apart). I can adapt with embouchure up to = about 441, maybe 442, then it becomes uncomfortable, and I usually ask to re= tune. When we play with the piano, we stay very close to pitch, and incident= ally, sound better.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Bob Davis</DIV></BODY></HTML>