It's been interesting to read all the posts touting the benefits of tuning with an ETD, especially the time-saving and stress-reduction. But my experience has been quite different. I have an RCT, but it has never saved me any time whatsoever (well, maybe once - perhaps I should have gotten a different ETD?). In fact, pitch raises take 'way longer with the RCT, and are no more accurate than those done aurally. Also, after tuning with the RCT I usually feel more drained/stressed than I do after tuning aurally. Perhaps I'm just one of those guys for whom the ETD just "gets in the way" (though I would never put myself in the same class as the super-tuners named in Jim Busby's post below). Nonetheless, I do use the RCT occasionally, but never for concert work, and never for pitch raises or for tuning the bass. The one benefit I do enjoy when tuning with the ETD is the reduced wear and tear on the ears: I can tune almost the whole piano with earplugs in (I pull them out a bit at a time as I make my way up into the upper treble so I can hear the unisons clearly). When tuning aurally I don't wear the earplugs as much. By the way... A pro-ETD comment with which I wholeheartedly agree (from Jeff Tanner): "Aurally tuning 30 Hamiltons in practice rooms is drudgery. But knowing that you can ... be through in less time and move on without the struggle and fight of that aural temperament just makes your day easier." I am fortunate in that I don't find myself in this situation often. A generalization to which I am an exception (from David Ilvedson): "I tune unisons as I go and this is a challenge for aural tuners...why? Because they are not confident in tuning from unisons." I tune aurally from unisons all the time. No problem. Cheers, Bert --- On Mon, 4/12/10, Jim Busby <jim_busby at byu.edu> wrote: From: Jim Busby <jim_busby at byu.edu> Subject: Re: [CAUT] using as ETD To: "caut at ptg.org" <caut at ptg.org> Received: Monday, April 12, 2010, 9:52 PM Wim, I’ll be the one to disagree here. I’ve seen techs like Terri Nimmi who blow me away with how fast they tune aurally, and they tell me the ETD just get’s in their way. LaRoy Edwards once told me that you should be able to set a temperament in about two minutes. (I take about 4) ETD tuning might be faster for you, and maybe for most of us, but I still tune the bass and upper treble aurally and feel I’m faster than watching jiggly lights or screens. I know all the arguments on both sides, and like Elwood said, this “debate” will never change anyone’s mind. I’ll stick with my statement; nearly every ETD tuning can be enhanced by good aural listening/tweaking, and every aural tuning can be smoothed out or improved by careful examination using an ETD. Most people will do it their own way, anyway. I’m fine with those who thinks that one way is better than another for them. God bless ‘em. Your point about saving time is a good one, but only your opinion, and you know what they say about opinions… Let’s agree to disagree, but share as many “tricks” as we know for the betterment of us all. Vive La Différence! Your shot… <G> Regards, Jim The Aural vs. ETD debate is on! No one’s mind will be changed. Gotta go tune a practice room piano. Joy! Elwood Forgive me, Elwood, but this is not the usual ETD vs Aural debate. This debate has nothing to do with whether an ETD tuning is better than an Aural tuning. It's all about saving time. You just got back tuning a practice room piano. You took, what, about an hour to do that? What if I told you that there is a way to tune that practice room piano exactly the same way you just tuned it, but instead of taking an hour, you could do it 45 minutes. Would that be of interest to you? What if I told you that you could tune all the practice rooms in your school, and all the other pianos in your school, in 45 minutes, instead of an hour. Would that be of interest to you? I don't know how many piano you have, but if you have 50 pianos, you just saved your self 12 and a half hours of work. Using an ETD is not about the quality of the tuning, but the time it takes. I'm sure you're aural tunings are fantastic, and dead on. But how many times have you been late for supper, or had no supper at all, or had to come in on a weekend, or ....., because you had to tune a piano at school. What if you could spend that extra 15 minute voicing the piano, or doing some minor regulation, or whatever, instead of tuning it? Would that be of interest you? The bottom line, Elwood, is that an ETD is a time saver. It also, as a side benefit, is a stress reducer. And last, but not least, it allows you to put exactly the same tuning on each one of the pianos in your school, every time you tune it, without having to take the time to set a temperament, which, in itself, takes 15 minutes. I know you enjoy tuning the pianos aurally. But let me ask you one more questions. Would you rather tune a piano, or spend time with your family? Wim __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
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