(WARNING! This thing just got longer, and longer, and l-o-o-n-n-g-g-g-e-e-r-r-r-rrrrr. It's not required reading by any means. Just another tuner's rambling on tuning philosophy. Delete at will! Possibly right now.) Dear List-Folk, All the questions, answers, approaches, opinions, & views on how to tune a piano have REALLY cramped my style! Much has been written on the List & in the Journal on various ways to mute (...or not mute) pianos. Everyone is convinced that they have the best approach, not that they insist on it ... they're just (quietly) sure that everyone else is either wasting time, wasting energy, or losing stability by not following their particular method. It's all quite friendly... but it's really playing havoc with my own tuning technique! Arrrgh! Like all technicians, I always look for ways to improve my tuning technique. I'm looking for ways to improve stability in my tuning, and increase customer satisfaction. I'm seeking ways to cut my time in tuning, so that I can schedule more work or increase the time I have for the regulation and repair of each piano. We ALL want to be the best we can at what we do. Right??? What's the upshot of this? Simple... I've been trying everyone's "new & improved" methods, right? What's happened? I'll tell you what's happened!!! Everytime I walk in on a new customer I can't decide how to approach the tuning!!!!!!!! ( I exaggerate... not much... but I do manage to confuse myself occasionally). Since the early 80's, I've followed the techniques I learned in my classes at college. (An improvement over the "Learn Tuning at Home!" study course that began my tuning career in the 70's. Hands on with an instructor REALLY helps.) Here's my method; 1. Play the piano. Check the overall bend in the pitch from bass to tenor to treble. Listen to the unisons. Feel the temperament through the mid-range. (Get a general sense of where the piano is...and where it should be going.) 2. Check the A-440 by tuning fork. Determine if a pitch raise is needed. If it's beating more than 3 or 4 beats per second flat (or sharp) it will probably require two passes. 3. Strip Mute the piano from tenor to treble. Plain wire, sometimes the wrapped-string bichords or trichords on small pianos above the bass break. 4. Build a temperament octave (this expanded to an octave and a M3rd after watching Michael Kimbell work on that Waoliwinick in a dim bar one day...) 5. Tune the bass, first. Unisons as you go. This gives audible check-notes for the rest of the tuning through the tenor and treble. 6. Tune Center strings to the top of the piano. 7. Tune Right string unisons back down to the tenor/bass break. Pulling the strip-mute one unison at a time. Rubber mutes or Papp's ('til I gave it away) through the few dampered-notes above the tenor/treble break, rather than ripping damper felt by pulling strip-mute from these one-at-a-time. 8. Tune Left string unisons back to the top. Checking and correcting unisons & octaves on this (...usually) final pass to the top. 9. Re-check the bass. 10. Tighten the music-rack and bench legs. Replace missing rubber buttons on the key-slip or lid. (Customer's don't always remember or know if the tuning is good... but they remember that you CARED!) 11. Set next appointment time, discuss any suggested work or improvements to the instrument. Hand the customer a sheet of paper with numbers & collect a piece of paper with numbers on it. 12. Go to bank. Collect more paper with numbers. Return home and add new paper wadding to mattress. This worked for years... and my tuning times were predictable, the tunings stable and the customers pleased. When I began tuning, my time ran about 3 to 4 hours to tune an instrument. After about 2 years, this went to about 2 hours and my tunings were grew more stable. As time went by, my hammer technique & pin-setting improved & my tuning time has gradually been reduced. An instrument that's close to pitch, and regularly maintained, will now take me about 1hour & 15 minutes...mebbe less. I schedule 2 hours for regularly tuned instruments, this allows tuning time and handling paperwork and discussion with my customer (...including; "How's Johnny doing with his lessons?"). I schedule 3 hours for new customers, knowing that I'll spend 1/2-hr to 1hr doing regulation and repairs (capstans and probable pitch raise at a minimum). I can do a reasonable store tuning (or "floor tuning") in about 50 minutes. The exceptions to this tried and true method were/are the two extremes. 1. Pitch Raise- Minimum two passes. First one is for "ballpark tune"... get the tension up to where it's supposed to be (..and warn the piano we mean BUSINESS!). Strip-mute both passes... unless the first pass nailed that puppy in place. In which case... 2. Piano at pitch and and temperament clean- Strip mute only the temperament octave. Run through the temperament. Run down the bass. Pull the strip mute one unison at a time, pulling the outer strings to the center as you go up. Then single mute (rubber and/or Papp's) up to the top. Left string, then center, then right. Re-check bass. Stuff mattress. Straight-forward, right? Acceptable technique. Good tuning times, not the fastest.. but reasonable. Anyone who tells me they can tune a piano in 40 minutes or less earns a REAL hard look. That means less than 10 seconds a pin... including set-up, removal of case parts, and putting it all back together, too. Yah, it CAN be done... but demands a very tunable piano (excellent draw across the bearing points & smooth pinblock) that's VERY close to pitch with a good temperament on it already. Get real! Every keystroke takes about 3 to 4 seconds of listening... whether it's a machine or an ear that's listening to it. Can you really expect a stable tuning on two whacks at the key??? Yes... but it needs to be close. (I'm not knocking you tuning gorillas out there... just wary of those who schedule tunings an hour apart!). More reasonable is 4-keystrokes per pin. One to hear, one to tune, one to set, ...and one to check. More checknotes on temperament tuning, so more keystrokes in there. Less keystrokes on pitch raise- First whack is combination hear it/tune it. Second is to set/tune it. There is NO third whack on a pitch-raise unless the note is flat... sharp is OK, just not too sharp. Pitch-raise is 20 to 25 minutes max. So, where does that put tuning time on an average piano? 4 X 4= 16 seconds per pin (or a bit less) 16 X 240 pins(average piano) = 3840 seconds per piano or 64 minutes (or a bit less). My average piano tuning, at 75 to 90 minutes, includes; Case-part removal and replacement. Futzing with the temperament. Placing the muting strip(s). And all the movement involved with pulling the mute strip and use of rubber mutes. Pianos at pitch with good temperament can be finished in an hour or less... but are rare.Have walked in after a year and found pianos that DO NOT require attention beyond tweaking a unison or two. Very scary. I try to convince myself that I walked in at the right moment... as the pitch wanders up & down through the seasons. Something to do with the correct phase of the moon and REAL GOOD timing, perhaps. These pianos are usually good instruments, rarely or lightly played, and located in very stable environments. One of them is a Baldwin Acrosonic that REFUSES to shift from year to year (...and is the exception to the rule, it's owned by a church accompanist! I like Acrosonics, too. Was glad to see that Mr. Coleman approves of them. There are little pianos with good scales on 'em. Just too few.) I've always felt that there was a better way to mute (...or not mute) the piano. Time/Motion studies (...read "Cheaper by the Dozen") taught me to seek ways to reduce wasted or repeated movements, and seek ways to economize my time. Not cutting any corners, mind you! Just seeking the most graceful and smooth way to accomplish the task at hand. The notes must be played, the pins must be moved, so where can we save time? The mutes, man! The mutes! How can I/we reduce our motions with 'em!? There are so many methods to choose from! I absorb everything I can on economical use of the mutes and/or muting strips. So what happened? Well (sigh)... I've been reading (scary) and thinking (very scary), and I've been telling myself that there IS a Holy Grail to piano tuning. There must be a way to convince that 20+ tons of tension to STAY PUT after I leave the building... at least for a while. "How?"; is the question that seems most important. Is it better to build the tension from the center out (unisons as you go, NO strip mutes)? Is it better to add the tension across the board smoothly (mute-strip to the top; Center up, right down, and left up)? Is it better to add the tension from edge to edge (A0 to C88 in sequence for ETA-tuners only)? Deciding on the best way to equalize the tension will determine the best way to mute (or not mute) the piano. IMHO. I spent the last few weeks screwing-up my tried (... & mebbe true) methods by working with Mr. Levitan's suggestion... but it works best with grands & large uprights (...also releases untuned strings that I DON'T need to listen to yet.). Teensy pianos don't have room for multiple strips. I tried tuning unisons as-you-go, but found that the center dropped further than with strip-muting. I tried a mixture; Strip the temp., then unisons up & down... but still found things shifting in weird ways by the time I finished. Mind you, I didn't expect to achieve the best times after two tries! I gave each idea a thorough work-out... but the original method seems to work best for me. Problem is... I keep thinking that others are being more efficient and stuffing their mattresses quicker! Now, after giving each method (as discussed and others, too) undivided attention for a time... I am torn between methods. When I walk in on a piano, I think; "Hmmm. Mebbe I should tune unisons-up.", only to discover that the center drops out on me. I think; "Hmmm. Let's leave the bass until last.", but tuning the bass seems to tweak the lower tenor just a touch. I think; "Hmmm. Let's use the Levitan method.", but I get unwanted harmonics from untuned strings. What to do, what to do!? For the last week, I gave up and returned to my early (non-potty) training. Perhaps the habits are ingrained. Perhaps my pin-setting is based on the anticipated-drop. Perhaps my brain just doesn't work well with new ideas (...darn automobiles! Get a horse!!!), but the upshot is this; Strip muting to the top works for me. My (tiny) mind believes the theory that adding the tension in increments (one third at at time; up-down-up) across the bridges and soundboard makes logical sense, too. The tuning drops pitch... but it drops fairly evenly. It's predictable, at least for me. (Shouts from the peanut gallery; "Are you done yet!?") Yep, just about. Here's where I stand; 1. Strip Mutes are quicker than manipulating wire-handled mutes or wedge mutes. Period. Mr. Levitan's muting technique (and his approach to the question) work well for grands and large uprights. It's sensible to yank a single strip and free only one-side at a time. It takes not one second longer to insert mutes this way (Thank-you, sir! Despite disclaimers above, I will continue to use this excellent idea on grands that are close to pitch.), and is quicker to un-mute. (Zing! All the left strings are exposed!). But... using a strip-mute to the top, and pulling it one unison at a time, quiets untuned strings & reduces the garbage my ear doesn't need to deal with. 2. Adding the tension smoothly leads to a stable tuning, with less re-touching for me. Tuning Center-up, Right Down, and Left-up seems to give the best stability. The final pass up the keyboard is with exposed (...is that OK on the List?) unisons & full-unison octaves and checks. 3. It works! My opinion. My technique. I firmly suggest... using whatever works best for YOU! Thanks for your time, Jeffrey T. Hickey, RPT Oregon Coast Piano Services TunerJeff @ aol.com ps- (Short! Have no fear!) Re; Wandering Pitch- Yeah. Let it Float! Tune to A-440 all instruments in school settings or played with other instruments. Home pianos (not played with other instruments) can move a little in pitch without ending the world... I hope. Temperature and humidity are surprisingly even out here on the Coast. Pianos tend to stay put. Folks in harsher climates MUST be tuning more frequently, and are probably the ones shouting; "Fork it! Fork it!" Had a voice teacher who liked his rehearsal piano tuned to A-442 (roughly), he liked the idea that his singers wouldn't be working quite so hard during performances. (Very sneaky... and no... he did not reveal this to his singers. But they always liked the rehearsals with the stage grand. Somehow it was always easier to reach those high notes. Hmmmm!)
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