Practical Concert Work

[Otto Keyes]

Hi Fred & all,

I guess I'm one of those "conservative" tuners.  I like clean octaves, but
in-tune on the stretched side.  Sorry, but I've never been much of an
interval counter, either before or after ETD's entered my tuning kit.
Though I have other devices, I primarily use TLPocket, because of its ease
of use, & it easily calculates things in much the way that I like to tune
aurally.  Primarily, I use 6:3 octaves in the bass, & 2:1 in the treble,
though 4:1 or 4:2 are used on occasion as well, depending on what fits the
piano.  Sorry, but in my book, "single octaves that have a significant beat"
are out of tune.

Had an interesting comment from an artist who came through here this winter.
He played a piece that made use of lots of harmonics & overtones, & the
piano really sang.  He commented that many places he plays, the sympathetic
overtones just don't work, which makes for a rather pathetic piece.  IMHO,
with lots of stretch, the harmonics won't  match up & resonate with each
other, but may pick up some of the nasty stuff that's present in almost any
piano.

This piece was extremely soft in places as well, which I didn't know until
he was into the piece -- a bit late for any refinement.  I like the let-off
to be crisp & even.  Not excessive, but probably more noticable than some of
you describe, and the pianist & I had discussed this earlier in the day.  He
preferred a slightly tighter let-off & shallower after-touch, but understood
the approach I took, since that is our primary recital piano, used a whole
variety of pianists.  After the recent discussion here, installing new felt
(w/ironing) on the let-off buttons is on the schedule for the summer.
(Thanks Fred & all for that reminder.)  I probably could have accommodated
his preference, per Mike's suggestion, had the buttons been in better shape,
but under the circumstances I couldn't guarrantee the consistency which is
much more important to a successful concert.  By the way, I'm happy to
report that, despite the "tolerant" regulation, the concert came off very
well, though the new buttons would have made it possible to tighten the
tolerances a bit, while still allowing both of us to enjoy the concert.
While he may want to surprise and delight the audience, surprises are not
something an artist wants to experience in front of that same audience.

Otto

----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm@unm.edu>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 6:55 AM
Subject: Re: Practical Concert Work


> --On Saturday, May 29, 2004 4:06 PM -0700 Otto Keyes <okeyes@uidaho.edu>
> wrote:
>
> >  The current penchant
> > for over-stretched tuning is also counter-productive, since tone is
richer
> > (shoulder voicing or not) when all the harmonics of the scale of a
> > particular instrument work together to build the sound, rather than each
> > high treble note screaming away on a pitch of its own.  (no bias
displayed
> > here, of course!  :-))
>
> Hi Otto,
> I'm interested to know what you consider to be "over-stretched."
> As a point of reference, my own tuning style emphasizes 8:1 triple
> octaves, at least at the top end of the piano (IOW, notes in 8ves 6 and 7
> are tuned to the 8th partial of notes in 8ves 3 and 4). In the center of
> the piano, I use a stretch that corresponds pretty closely to RCT style 5
> (using RCT, I start with 5, and use custom EQ to generate additional
> stretch at A5 [just a hair], A6 [a bit more] and A7 [a lot]). This is
> pretty much the way I've been tuning for many, many years, though when I
> tuned aurally, I would emphasize 6:1 19ths (easier to hear and test -
> m3rd/M17th), and later, using SAT, I would start by bumping up the A
number
> by around .5 cents, and expand higher from C5 to C8 by checking lower
> partials.
> My own intent is exactly what you describe: making "all the harmonics of
> the scale of a particular instrument work together to build the sound." I
> like the way the whole instrument sounds with this degree of stretch.
There
> is a blossoming of tone, to my ear, when "playing the whole piano"
(holding
> down the pedal, play, eg, C1/C2, C3/G3/C4; then C5/G5/C6, C7/E7/G7/C8. Two
> big chords with both hands. Listen the the reverberation). And I've begun
> to lean to 16:1 quadruple octaves for concert instruments. Single octaves
> do have a significant beat in the upper ranges, but the upper notes
aren't,
> IMO, "screaming away on a pitch of their own" but, rather, reinforcing a
> partial from lower in the piano. I have yet to hear a complaint that I
> stretch too much. I have occasionally had requests to stretch more (which
> is what led me to experiment with 16:1, which actually isn't that much
> wider than 8:1).
> Anyway, I'd be interested to learn other people's opinions about what
> constitutes enough or too much stretch.
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
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