<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: over-all tuning discussions, was How we hear</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <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 cover= ed 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 in= to 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 &= quot;test" listen? </BLOCKQUOTE> He= y Ilex---I certainly don’t listen to every single 2 or 3-note unison f= or 15 seconds----I should have been clearer: When the unisons are what I cal= l “coupled,” the note picks up the “bloom” of the so= undboard and actually sounds or feels like it swells, and there is absolutel= y 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 speaki= ng 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 yo= u 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, &nbs= p;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, w= ho WILL move the note if it can move, so I’m pretty confident of abili= ty to produce a stable tuning. But I’m old, and kind of eccentric, and diminished by years of what o= ne friend has politely called “rugged living,” so I belong out i= n this old school pasture of has-been Jurassic geezers. (The above is irony; not intended for less than mature audiences.) <G&gt= ; Hope this helps.... David Andersen </BODY> </HTML>