<div>Tim,</div> <div> </div> <div>In my area, if you pitch correct a piano each time it's tuned, it will be out of tune <EM>much more</EM> when the season changes than if you pitch float. Relative humidity here ranges from 20% in winter to 70% in summer. For me, it <EM>is </EM>about stability. I've watched this with the pianos I tune regularly. When I first began to tune, I was very picky about A440. So, when a piano was 10 cents flat in the winter, it got a pitch raise. Then, in the summer, it was 12 cents sharp and sounding awful! I eventually figured out why. :-)  In my opinion, ethics has little to do with it. If so, you could not "ethically" tune to A442 when asked. And, you could never leave the piano even a tenth of a cent off. That's hardly practical, especially when you consider that A4 often wanders once you've finished the tuning (unless you do 2 or more passes).<BR><BR>If my customers want A440 every time, then they must be willing to pay every time for a pitch correction, or they need to get a Dampp-Chaser system. But, if they aren't willing to do either, then I'm going to pitch float because the tuning will last longer. I mark on the invoice what pitch it's tuned to. I've had one person ask -- and I told her why. It's a question of value for the customer: does the customer get more value with a pitch float tuning, or by a pitch correction with a tuning? I think the former for my area. It may be different out on the "left coast" -- what's the humidity like out there?</div> <div> </div> <div>John Formsma</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 8px; MARGIN-LEFT: 8px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><BR>-------- Original Message --------<BR>Subject: Re: frequent tuning - floating pitch? was tuning<BR>From: timothy ehlen <tehlen@uiuc.edu><BR>Date: Sat, January 28, 2006 1:09 pm<BR>To: Pianotech List <pianotech@ptg.org><BR><BR>List,<BR><BR>I agree with James about this.  Even though I don't <BR>currently tune professionally, I feel the urge to weigh in <BR>on this one, and I ask for your consideration of this <BR>point.  It seems to me that the public has a natural <BR>expectation (and rightly so) that a piano will be tuned at <BR>A440 after a professional tuning, and I question whether <BR>doing otherwise without explanation is even ethical.  Also, <BR>I question whether there isn't more interest in the <BR>convenience of "freebies" rather than "stability" in this <BR>case.  As an example, would someone pass the RPT tuning exam <BR>by tuning a whole piano at A339?  I doubt it.<BR><BR>On that point, it seems to me that this practice might be <BR>violating a regular customer's trust, as someone mentioned <BR>that "most people won't notice," or something to that <BR>effect.  It seems to me as a musician and teacher that there <BR>are essential reasons for students to hear a 440 tuning <BR>which go beyond the practical considerations of playing with <BR>other instruments.  As this is the current standard, it does <BR>have a bearing on pitch memory, some of which is <BR>psychological and intuitive in one's listening and playing.  <BR><BR>One further example from my own experience: when I free-<BR>lancing in Los Angeles as a pianist/teacher/technician, I <BR>was fortunate enough to have a contract tuning the Steinway <BR>grands monthly for an upscale club.  In this case, I thought <BR>that it was my minimum responsibility to keep the pianos at <BR>440--actually, I didn't consider doing otherwise.  <BR><BR>Regarding the discussion about tuning frequency, it seems to <BR>me that there could be one argument for tuning less <BR>frequently, namely that the tuning pins will, over time, <BR>gradually lose their tightness in the pinblock.  Perhaps in <BR>cases of regular tunings, this is a consideration, although <BR>it still seems to me that any mitigating circumstances or <BR>considerations should be discussed with the client before <BR>leaving a piano at something other than A440. <BR><BR>Thank you in advance for your reactions to this concern,<BR><BR>Tim </BLOCKQUOTE>