standards

[Richard West]

Hello, All,

I'm curious about what the "standard" for concert tuning might be.  How 
do you tune a concert grand in equal temperament (9' Steinway, for 
example)?  What are your standards?  I know pianos vary, but what are 
you personally trying to achieve when you tune concert grands?  I'm 
trying to get a handle on what's really being done out there in the real 
world, apart from PTG's tuning exam.

Questions:

1.  When you set the temperament, how wide is your temperament octave, 
4:2, or wider?  If you choose wider, are you comfortable with the 
compromised (i.e. faster beating) 4ths, even if you get nicer, cleaner 
fifths?  

2.  How wide are your midrange octaves?  4:2 or wider?  

3.  When checking octaves and double octaves, do you strive for equal 
beating 3rds, 10ths, 17ths, or do the 10ths beat faster than the 3rds, 
and the 17ths faster still?

4.  In the top octave do you tune clean 2:1 octaves, clean 4:1 double 
octaves, or do you stretch more than clean double octaves?  If you 
stretch more than clean double octaves, how do you know how much more 
stretch you're introducing? Are you comfortable with the fast beating 
single octaves?  What test(s) do you use when stretching beyond the 
clean double octave, especially in the last 1/2 of the top octave?

5.  In the octave between C1 and C2, what should the beat rates for 
17ths be?

Thanks for your input on this.

Richard West, University of Nebraska