[CAUT] Bechstein model B tuning stability

[Jeannie Grassi]

Fred,

Thanks so much for taking the time to articulate the details of your method
so clearly.  This is the approach I have used and wanted to be sure that I
had not misunderstood all these years.  

jeannie 

 

  _____  

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred
Sturm
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 9:45 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Bechstein model B tuning stability

 

On Oct 17, 2009, at 3:53 PM, Jeannie Grassi wrote:





Hi Fred, and anyone else,

Can you take your description of downward and upward motion a step further?
I've been hearing conflicting descriptions of this recently in private
communications.  What I'm asking is specifically..when the pitch needs to go
up, do you lift up on the end of the tuning lever at the same time there is
a slight rotation to sharpen?  And conversely, does one push down and rotate
slightly flat?  I've had the opposite described and just want to get a sense
of how most people interpret this deliberate flag-poling motion.  I've
always used it the way I've described.  Have I been climbing up the wrong
flagpole all these years????  :>)

jeannie

 

            I can't speak for anybody else, but in my own practice, I make
us of flagpoling consciously as a way to "compensate for" the combination of
bearing friction and tuning pin twist. 

            Tuning pin twist varies depending on friction in the block,
usually called torque. When there is high torque to overcome, the top of the
pin twists a good bit before it moves as a whole in the block. This pulls
considerably on the string. But how much the pitch changes before the pin
begins to move is dependent on bearing friction. Usually, pitch moves before
the pin actually rotates. So in that case, I flagpole the pin toward the
string (push down on a grand, pull out on an upright), and I try to do so
just enough so that when I feel the pin move in the block, I simultaneously
hear the pitch begin to change (or see it on an ETD display). 

            I find that by doing this consciously and consistently, I have a
much better idea at all times of exactly where the tuning pin is relative to
where I want it to be. In the end, what matters is precisely how much and to
what position you turn the pin. That's what leaves you in a stable
condition. 

            What I aim for is to move both the pin and the string the
precise amount necessary in the direction needed, no overshoot. I'm not
saying it is always possible, but often it is very nearly possible. In fine
tuning, I will often bear down on the hammer (assuming raising pitch) so
that I feel the pin move a tiny bit and the pitch hasn't moved at all. Then
I manipulate the hammer, flagpoling upward to pull the string across bearing
points and see whether it has moved enough (or too much or not enough) by
wiggling the hammer - essentially the method Steve Brady has written about
and taught for many years. The idea here is to focus on the feel of the pin,
and on moving it/nudging it the tiniest possible amount without the
confusing feedback of pitch change. It also separates the movement of the
pin and the movement of the string into two tiny controlled movements, which
is a lot easier to keep track of.

            If there is a lot of friction, things change. In that case, I
will often pull up on the lever while turning it, adding flagpoling to the
inescapable twisting. Lowering pitch has a different feel, and with high
friction I will usually press down to help move the string, with harder
blows. 

            But the principle always remains the same: do the amount of
flagpoling in the appropriate direction that will get as close as possible
to having the pitch and the pin move in sync. Sometimes that means no
flagpoling at all. I should add to all this that I assume a 12 o'clock
position so that the flagpoling of the pin at a right angle to the lever
(that happens because the lever is higher than the pin) doesn't enter the
equation, and so that pulling up and pushing down has the maximum effect (is
in line with the string). 

            Dan Levitan's invention more or less eliminates flagpoling
altogether by putting the point where you are activating the lever in the
same plane as the pin in the block. That is an entirely different concept,
and one that is at odds with my own method. But it certainly might work well
for others.

Regards,

Fred Sturm

University of New Mexico

fssturm at unm.edu

 

 

 

 

 

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