Rick, I agree that the test you described does result in a P12ths style octave. And most of what I was writing was pertaining to the center part of the piano. I was commenting mainly on the tonal affects of the beat rates of the 3rds and 6ths near the center as a result of a wide octaves. Entering into a discussion of octaves at the extreme is a whole new topic. I don't think any one formula applied consistently to the whole piano is going to be the best, and if there is a shortcoming to the electronic tuning machines in use today, it is that they do tend to have relatively generic stretch values throughout the scale. I am not practiced with any of the current crop of tuning systems from Europe to be able to comment on their top and bottom octave widths, as I have not paid to receive any software or detailed instructions on the tuning methods. My interpretation of Jim Coleman's system was that it was similar to the Steinway NY method (although approached differently) which resulted in very sharp high treble You should know, though, that I like narrow (slightly wide 2:1) octave width for the top octave, and I like the bottom octave to be stretched wide enough to growl nicely - depending on the piano this is usually a 10:5 octave or wider, even a wide 12:6 for concert grands sometimes :-) In my tuning seminar, the wide octave piano pushes the stretch wide all the way to the top, the way one of the Kawai concert techs likes it, and similar to what I heard from some of the Steinway New York technicians. This allows me to show the class that both sound fine playing music (albeit noticeably different), but the difference of C8 when comparing the two pianos is enough to incite derision from some tuners! Don Mannino -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Richard Brekne Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 2:30 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] String Coupling / SB and Bridge stiffness Don M.
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