On 8/5/96, Sy Zabrocki RPT rote: <<>From Sy Zabrocki RPT Circumstances on a job last week has prompted me to post this topic Fork or Float. This classic example reminded me of a symposium held at the PTG Convention in Kansas City in 1994. A panel of several members was selected to debate the issue. Some members defended the principal that we should always tune exactly to the "fork" at A-440. Others defended the concept that it is permissible to "float". Float means that if the pitch is 12 cents sharp in the summer it is OK to tune maybe 6 cents sharp knowing that in a couple of months the humidity will decrease and the pitch will settle down to A-440 on it's own. Likewise in the winter, if the pitch is flat 12 cents, then tune maybe 6 cents flat knowing in the spring it will rise to A-440 on it's own. The debate was about an hour and half. Those on the fork side stated it will probably be necessary to tune twice anyway so tune to 440. The piano is out-of-tune, you've been called and it your duty to tune A-4440. I can't remember all the points stated. The float members believed the tuning should involve as little movement in the strings as possible to put the piano in tune.Over many years this would be less wear in the tuning pin holes. The average customer is not going to notice 6 or 8 cents flat of sharp. Of course we tune to 440 in a concert situation. >> Jim Coleman Sr., Chris Trivelas, and I were the panel, with LaRoy Edwards moderating. There was not nearly the debate which was anticipated as the designated "fork-nailer", Jim admitted to having softened considerably on an imperative pitch standard. (It's all yours, Jim, if you want to qualify my gross oversimplifications.) Chris's adherence was not so much for how the piano or its tuning might benefit from nailing pitch to A440 everytime, as for the more general proposition that any sound filling modern homes from audio systems is likely to be based on A440, and that if the piano is not pitched there as well (assuming those times of year when the tuning is close enough to allow a concise definition of pitch), it will one, be at odds with the rest of the musical environment, and two, fail to help in the internalization of a well-defined A440 in the hearing of the pianist. On 8/7/96, Mark Johnston <markj@ix.netcom.com> rote: <<Use phrases like "establishing a consistant ear in her better students for perfect tuning" and "assisting her perfect pitch students in honing the foundation of perfect A440. >> This was Chris's main argument. Mine of course was laid out in two articles in the PTJournal 6,8/93. Yes there are constraints to letting the pitch float. No it won't practically alter the tone or tunability of the piano. No, it has no effect on how much the weather will push the pitches around before the next tuning. But yes, the less wire you have to move to put the piano in tune, the more solid the tuing will be and the less the block will be ground out or the bridge stressed. On 8/6/96, Wimblees@aol.com rote: <<Sy: As you mentioned, if we "float", the bass and upper treble will need adjusting. If we "fork" (can I say that on the list?), we need to tune primarily the middle of the piano. >> Wim, that's not what finds the best A for the piano to float at. Remember that the pitch of the middle of the piano generally hinges up or down in relation to the bass section. Usually unless the pitch warp is really bad, we can find an A440 in the bass which aggrees with an A440 somewhere in the mid-treble. This is what I use to float. It's not a matter of (in this season) raising the outsides up to meet the swollen up tenor, but of finding where the most stable part of the tuning is pitched at and using that as the standard. (Chris Trivelas wrote an excellent piece recently on finding what's left of the previous tuning and building on that to touch up (restore, if you will) the tuning.) On 8/6/96, Wimblees@aol.com rote: <<One suggestion to get around this problem is to tune the piano in the spring and fall. The piano piano "float" up or down during the summer and winter, but when you get there, during the more stable months, you won't have to work as much. >> Right on. It took me years to figure out why pianos should be tuned twice a year, Spring and Fall. If you're tunning at six month intervals, summer and winter tunings will be done when the piano is most bent out of shape. At Spring and Fall the climate conditions are generally coming through the zero line of the annual roller coaster. Are we self-serving by tuning a piano at times of year whose climate conditions are roughy similar. No, we're saving the piano wear and tear. Yes I do own a fork (and had all three of them calibrated on Liz Baker's SAT in June), and no it isn't made of rubber. Bill Ballard RPT NH Chapter "We mustn't underestimate our power of teamwork." Bob Davis
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