Hi Susan, I'm with you all the way. It amazes me how many technicians who use the ETDs try to convince us aural tuners how wonderful they are. I tune aurally because I want to. Not because I'm afraid of technology, Wim. Its because I am enthralled with being able to begin with one pitch and tune the whole piano just using my ears and my intellect. I very much enjoy setting a temperament, then tweaking it to make it sound the very best I can. I like your wording, "interplay of intervals." I like tuning octaves and unisons and the checks used in octave tuning. I like what the piano sounds like when I'm finished. I don't care whether it's a Steinway D used on a concert stage or a Henry F. Miller spinet that is to be played by a beginning piano student. I put just as much effort in tuning one as the other. I like to listen to the finished product and realize that, starting from a single pitch source, I tuned that. Me...just me. No ETD, just me. If I started tuning at A1 and tuned up the chromatic scales to C88 using an ETD, then this shear joy would become work...drudgery...I don't care how fast I could tune it or how "relaxed" I might be at the end of the day. I'm sure there are plenty of piano technicians out there just like us, Susan. May our tribe increase! Oh, and Wim, am I afraid of technology? Well, let's see, I use a Sanderson Accu-Fork to get my A=440 pitch and to check how sharp or flat the piano is. Keeps me from having to have 3 hands. Nice technology! Joy! Elwood Elwood Doss, Jr., M.Mus.Ed., RPT Piano Technician/Technical Director Department of Music 355 Clement Hall The University of Tennessee at Martin Martin, TN 38238 731/881-1852 FAX: 731/881-7415 HOME: 731/587-5700 -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Susan Kline Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2010 11:59 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: [SPAM] Re: [CAUT] using as ETD, was Re: Too tall!!?? Importance: Low To each his own, Wim. It's true I haven't tried using an ETD myself, but I've watched tuning with one. It didn't look tempting to me. And I hate blinky lights and twitching little readouts. I sometimes even turn off overhead fluorescent lights because they bother me. But mainly, I like the direct contact with the piano, and the interplay of intervals. I just like the sounds. Anyway, enjoy your SAT IV. Susan
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