Conservative Octaves?

[TunerJeff@aol.com]

Dear Dean,

     I found your response most interesting. Most tuner/techs will probably
agree with your analysis of the aural & visual tuning test, certainly most
tuners (...in the US, at least) are familiar and comfortable with the notion
that visual tuners produce tunings as consistant, exacting, and varied as
(we...) aural tuners. The fact that the these machines/computers do not have
colds, earaches, or 'bad' days simply points out the reliability &
repeatability available from machines (...'though EVERYONE has to set the
tuning-pins and lay on spotless unisons, eh?). I'm not certain that the
numbers favor either tuner, in a true sense...but I thoroughly enjoyed your
comments. Thanks.

 One of your comments drew my attention in particular;

<<from #1 (very conservative squeaky clean octaves) all the way through
number 9 (strongly beating but consistent octaves).>>

     As an aural tuner, I almost invariably find that the machine tunings
I've heard stretch the high octaves far more than my ear is comfortable with.
Is this simply a tuning preferance on my part? Am I too conservative in my
opinion of octave tuning? I find that  nearly "squeaky" octaves, across the
entire piano, give the most pleasing and powerful tuning. I will 'bend' lower
octaves, slightly and audibly flat, far more readily than I will seek to put
sharp-side beats in the high octaves. My thinking (...training, preferance,
experience, ...or just my opinion, ok?) is that in the lower octaves; the
co-incident partials will run increasingly sharp as you ascend the overtone
scale and stretching the bass toward the flat-side actually helps increase
the co-incident possibilities with the octaves above the low note
(...possible and pleasing to my ear only because the fundamental or first
partial is relatively and increasingly weak in the low bass strings... or am
I just speculating here? Hmmm.).


      Is it just my opinion that matching the octaves (as far as possible)
help to re-inforce the power and (  ....hmmm... what would Braid-White or
Helmholtz say?.... ah!...just the word!...) sonority of the piano? The
concept that the coincident partials, vibrating on the differing strings, are
actually helping each other can be experienced by 'ghosting' notes... as many
tuners do to hear difficult partials. Doesn't over-stretching the octaves, to
audible beats, lower the transfer of energy? Couldn't this actually lead to
negative re-inforcement or cancellation possibilities between the partials
(reducing sustain)?

     I've had "picky" ears request some 'color' in the top octave... but this
doesn't usually require more than one or two beats per second in the octave
(...more of a leaning toward the high end of true than the "smoothly beating"
you describe), while unisons remain as clear and clean as possible. I've
never had complaints from orchestra or other performance venues, from artists
to college choirs or piano teachers to piano dealerships with this 'tuning
style'... and I'm curious about how you view the topic.

     Where do you believe such 'colorful' octaves belong? Specific pianos?
Sizes? Styles of music? Or simply a preferance of customer/clients and
individual tuners?  Certainly, there are as many styles of tuning as there
are tuners... but what's your view? Is the beating you describe a way of
adding personality or individuality to a tuning, to please the ear or excite
the music performed? Should Beethoven be heavy and 'clean', while Romantic
performances should have more "Life"? Curious, I am.

     You have opened an interesting topic, sir. Got an opinion? As the
British gentleman might say; "I ask merely for information." Perhaps we need
a mutiple tuning "World Series" to truly test the flexibilities of the
machines & aural tuners, eh? Hope to hear from you soon.

Thank-you,
Jeffrey T. Hickey, RPT
Oregon Coast Piano Services
TunerJeff @ aol.com

ps-
   Has your invention (The Reyburn Cyber-Tuner) made it across the Big
Puddle? Wouldn't adding your ideas to the British Tuning Competition add a
new flavour to the proceedings? (...flavor, flavour, flavoure.. whatever!) I
hear UPS can reach 'em PDQ, why not exercise the possibilities?    :>)
jef