Partial Hearing

[Ken Jankura]

List, 
I think I may have hit on something to help us all do our work better and
more efficiently. Recently I was tuning and having a little trouble hearing
the partials I wanted to hear. Though I use an Accu-tuner now, I learned to
tune aurally and I always check as I tune to try to improve on the machine.
Well, I was tuning the high treble and noticed that I could hear the 2nd
partial, the 2:1 octave, better when I opened my mouth. Try it, you'll
definitely notice a difference. If you open your mouth just a little it
seems like the second partial just gets isolated a little more than normal.
There must be something of a synergistic effect in using your eustachian
tube as a resonator chamber. So I then went the next step, and opened my
mouth as wide as I could and I noticed that the 6th partial just rang out
as clear as a bell. It was really simple to hear and tune the bass this
way, except that my jaw got tired. So what I've come up with is a series of
"Partial Props" that I carry in my toolcase, four of them, to help me hear
what I want to hear. They range in size from 3/4 inch to 2-1/4 inches,
pieces of dowel rod, turned from beautiful tropical hardwoods, with teeth
protecting rubber caps, for different ranges of the piano. Thank goodness I
don't have to use that 2-1/4 inch one very often, that's for an 8:4 octave,
but the 1-7/8 inch works great for a 6:3, the 1-5/32 inch for a 4:2, and
the 3/4 inch for the 2:1. Customers do look at me a little funny, but I
just take the prop out of my mouth and explain that it's for the good of
the piano. I was hoping to go into business manufacturing these, until I
realized that each person is going to have to find their own best
dimensions, their own 'sweet spot', if you will, to get the best effect. So
don't let your eustachian tube just sit there, make it work for you! My
tunings have never gone so smoothly or so quickly.
Ken Jankura