The Great Temperment Tune-Off

[Billbrpt@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/16/98 11:57:33 AM Central Daylight Time,
 pianotoo@imap2.asu.edu writes:

<< I overheard Bill say to Dr. Sanderson that the top C8 was 77 cents 
 sharp. >>

Thanks for your kind words, Jim.  The above figure was for the console piano.
 The grand was 66¢ on note 88.  Both sound really high, and they are, but as I
 have often remarked, I know many people who tune much sharper than that.

Also, this is the figure for C8 (note 88) which has the highest deviation of
 any note, mostly because it is a new octave but the only note in that octave.
 The last half of the 7th octave usually does climb geometrically sharper,
 seemingly out of proportion to anything below it.  In recent years however, I
 have been able to "justify" what I do in that range by matching coincident
 partials with something below it.  If I really want the most stretch I can
 get, I simply go lower on the keyboard to find it.

 In the case of the console, C8 is tuned to C4.  When you play the middle C of
 most any piano and read it on C8, you'll get a figure in the range of 75¢.  If
 you want your high treble to be that sharp however, you have to find ways of
 stretching everything that leads up to it as much as can be justified and you
 will still have audible but tolerable beating when single octaves are played
 between the 6th and 7th octaves. 

 In the case of the Walter Grand, the note C8 was matched with C5.  I did not
 do "maximum" stretch with this tuning, I did what I consider to be "optimum"
 stretch.  I tuned the console with maximum stretch because it is the program I
 use for my own piano at home.  I usually don't stretch a console's octaves
 quite that sharp but the Walter console is a real professional grade musical
 instrument as compared to many others of the same size.  With the Piano Disc
 System installed, it can give me a concert any time I want it to.  Since it is
 my personal piano, I tuned it to suit my own taste.  When I tune the same
 piano in other people's homes, I usually tune the 7th octave more
 conservatively.  At the Convention however, this is the place for innovation,
 so I used my special program.

I consider "maximum" stretch to be a good strategy when tuning for a Concerto.
 The piano must compete with the orchestra whose violin section is apt to push
 the pitch very high in its highest register and make the piano sound flat by
 comparison.  Maximum stretch in this instance gives the piano a chance to
 establish the pitch, not be a victim of it.  I also believe that highly
 stretched octaves project better in a very large hall but the latter is an
 opinion for which I have no evidence or data to back it up.  Its just a
 feeling.  I would not want to stretch octaves that much on a piano which is
 miked closely in a studio for a recording.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin