Partial Hearing

[David ilvedson]

Ken,

I think Bill Spurlock is making them now.  As I understand he 
has opted for the nylon material he uses in his many of his 
other tools.  The milling work is much more accurate.  His 
invovation (did he get this idea from you or you from him?) has 
each, he calls them oral/aural overtone generators, with a 
brass insert which apparently amplifys the tone.  I have my 
order in!

David Ilvedson, RPT



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Date sent:      	Thu, 01 Apr 1999 00:02:17 -0500
To:             	pianotech@ptg.org
From:           	Ken Jankura <kenrpt@mail.cvn.net>
Subject:        	Partial Hearing
Send reply to:  	pianotech@ptg.org

> 
> 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
>  
>  
> 


David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA
ilvey@jps.net