Huh??

[Barb Barasa]

>For over 35 years I have tried to show the importance of using good tools,
>even in tuning.  Having an X-ray machine does not make one a Doctor.
>But not having one certainly does not make him a better Doctor.  I don't
>know how to make this any clearer.  I have not received one response
>to my announcement last week about the great Tune-off in Chicago in Oct.
>I expect to prove that there is no appreciable difference in good tuning
>with a machine and good tuning without a machine.  If that does not put
>an end to the potshots back and forth between aural and machine
>tuning, I just don't know what will.
>
>Ok, its safe to come out now, I'm down off of my soapbox.
>
>Thanks for listening.
>
>Jim Coleman, Sr. (AZ)


Jim,

I was really excited about The Great Tune Off, but I am moving out of the
area at the end of August.  Otherwise I would plan to be there!  I think
it's a great idea.

When my customers ask about tuning with a machine (I tune only aurally, but
I am enjoying the discussion), I tell them that I used to believe that no
one could tune a piano as perfectly with a machine as a GOOD aural tuner,
but I no longer believe that.  Since the machines have gotten better, and
the tuners have gotten better at using them, I know there are many highly
competent machine tuners.  But what I tell them is that someone who just
goes out and buys a machine and a tuning hammer and starts tuning could
probably get a badly out of tune piano to sound better than it did to start
with, but it would not sound as good as a piano done by a GOOD aural tuner.
And the discussion here does seem to indicate that even those who use a
machine should have aural tuning as their base.

This seems to me to have to do with the nasty little inconsistencies of each
piano design.  If the tuner does not understand the theory of what s/he is
trying to accomplish, then the tuning will not be smooth all the way up and
down.  I have tuned plenty of pianos that were not badly out until a certain
spot in the high treble, where they suddenly "jumped" or just got completely
bad.  I have always assumed this was because the previous tuner was using a
machine and the machine wasn't adjusted for the scaling of that piano.

So, yes, competency is the crucial issue.  I can assure you that if I went
out and got a SAT today and used it to tune tomorrow, my tunings would be
terrible!  I would have to learn how to use the thing properly.

Regards,

Barb Barasa
Sycamore IL (for now)