PS Octaves vs beatless

[Bob Anderson]

The question: Is a 2:1 octave beatless? reminds me of two  different
questions: 1) "Have you stopped beating your wife?"; 2) "Can a piano
really be tuned?"

The first is a catch-22. The answer is obvious. The second question came
to me early in my piano tuning career. I decided that a piano could not
actually be tuned. The reason is that my initial training stressed the
elimination of beats. As I became more experienced, I discovered that
all beats couldn't be eliminated. Learning the difference between what
could be accomplished and what couldn't be accomplished was a major
phase of my training. 

Not only are there beats which can't be eliminated, but there are
desirable beats, viz., the common musical use of vibrato. There have
been others who have hit upon the key: the musicality of the final
tuning. (This also ties in with the thread on rescaling.) Somehow, you
have to discover what a musical tuning sounds like. It doesn't depend on
ANY particular octave ratio beatlessness. A given ratio octave(2:1, 4:2,
3:6, etc.) may be appropriate at a given area in the scale, but to say
that a given ratio, i.e., 2:1 is the primary beatless one is like saying
that the hammer blow distance should be 1 7/8". It may or may not be.
The decision as to exactly what it should be is no easier than the
decision about string scaling alluded to by Del Fandrich in his latest
posting.

We are also faced with the never-ending descrepancies in terminology
evidenced by the dialogue between Jim Coleman, Sr. and Virgil Smith.
Don't think for a moment that they are talking about different ways of
tuning the piano. They are speaking different LANGUAGES about tuning the
piano. This highlights a need for attention to how we frame our
thoughts. We need to learn how to express ourselves in writing(me
included). Now that we are handed a medium to do so, all-of-a-sudden in
the form of these computer terminals, we have a new skill to master.
Let's pay as much attention to our fingers at our terminals as we do to
any other detail of our trade. And attention to detail is one of the
most important aspects of our craft.

Bob Anderson
Tucson,AZ