humidity

[Gordon Wilson]

On Fri, 1 Sep 1995 McNeilTom@aol.com wrote:

> Question:  If you tune it at the pitch "where it is found", isn't that still
> a bunch of changes to put the piano through?  For instance, in northern
> climates, especially around the Great Lakes, summer brings high humidity;
> pianos go sharp.  But that influence is primarily in the tenor and mid
range,
> often in the high bass, too, depending on the make and model and other
> factors.  Often the last octave at each end is right about where we left it
> six months ago.  If we tune at the pitch "where it is found", it avoids a
> commotion in the mid-range (probably including at least most of the
> temperament area, depending); but then we have to _raise_ both the treble
> (hardest area to get right and stable?) and the bass.  What is gained by
> that?
>
> - Tom McNeil -
> Vermont Piano Restorations
>
Thank you, Tom!

You just said what I was going to say, only better!  I am in East Central
Illinois.  For me, a certain amount of seasonal pitch raising or lowering
seems almost inevitable, so the reference is usually still A-440.

In my neighborhood (IMHO) as they say "tune it to itself" usually means
"get in and out quickly and get your money".  By the time the customer
calls me for a second opinion, the piano is often 75-100C flat!

Of course, the situation is altered somewhat when you compare tuning in
the field with institutional situations where the pianos are _supposedly_
under the control of the staff technicians.  I know, however, from what
I've gleaned from this list, that a university position in no way offers
the technician immunity from dealing with bone-heads! ;->

Gordon Wilson
Keyboard Studio
Urbana, Illinois