Tune-off in Chicago

[David Graham]

I was there, and because my background is unique, I have decided to
share my thoughts on this event, which I enjoyed even more than I
anticipated.  The first thing you should know is that Virgil trained me as
his apprentice in 1980-81.  We frequently work together now and have
kept in contact over the years, so I have had many discussions which
began with "I've been experimenting with (fill in the blank) and I have
learned that..."  Sometimes these discussions are of major changes in
technique, but most often they have been minute changes that add up
over time.  Virgil, I am convinced, will never stop learning and teaching as
long as he can pick up a tuning hammer.
    When he first began talking about this difference between one and
three strings, I too thought it a bit of arcane knowledge.  However, when
I heard him tune this way, I found the sound to be very exciting, and
have tried when appropriate to tune this way since.  There are
significant dangers to this approach, the chief being that any slight
change in the climate around the piano will send the unisons and octaves
out very quickly, so it is definitely not for the average home or studio
tuning, where long term stability is most important.
     Having said all that, I should also say that I have a very early SAT
(serial#240) and have used it much over the years.  I have appreciated
Jim Coleman's comments on how he customizes the FAC mode to get a
more satisfactory response, which I have found to be as helpful when
tuning with the SAT as Virgil's experimentation has been when tuning
aurally.  For those of you who would argue that your ears are all you
need, how would you have tuned (as I did Monday) on a stage with a
belt sander being used on the wood floor, a large vacuum cleaning the
stage around the piano, lights being set and a bass being tuned in the pit
while I tuned the piano (tilted bass to treble at 15 degrees) for a major
rehearsal? I simply put in my ear plugs, found the Yamaha C6 tuning in
memory, and tuned (The piano was also not quite on pitch.)  When I
returned for the dress rehearsal 2 days later, the piano (which had since
been moved), needed less than a half hour, tuning aurally, to correct
everything that had changed.
     I spent the afternoon of the tune off with Jim's Mac with the RCT
program in my lap as Virgil tuned his piano.  I was very impressed by its
accuracy and the ease of use.  It tracked Virgil's tuning very closely ,
though I didn't try to record the tuning for comparison.  Perhaps when
(not if) I get my own RCT I will have Virgil tune a piano here at NIU to
compare the two results.  What struck me the most as I listened to both
pianos, and then heard both men retune them, was that Jim's tuning
sounded exactly like Virgil's tuning did when I was an apprentice. This
observation was confirmed when Pete Nielsen, who was Virgil's
apprentice 2 years before me, confidently asserted that the wrong piano
was Virgil's.  Both of these tunings, as has been said over and over,
were very fine tunings, and don't be misled by Jim's constant apologizing
for the unisons not holding. As our friend in Holland so astutely
observed, rich is rich, and both pianos would have sounded wonderful
on any concert stage.  I did not hear the pianos played in the evening, but
in the afternoon I found that on some musical selections I preferred
Virgil's tuning and some I preferred Jim's. This entire event was a treat
for me,one which I hope both men will be able to repeat in the future, as
they both continue to experiment and learn, and then share their
knowledge with all of us.  Sorry this is soo long
David Graham
dgraham@niu.edu