Partial Hearing

[Jon Page]

One must be careful with these so as to place them right side up
and forwards.     Otherwise a Reverse Well Temperament is set.

Jon Page


At 09:44 PM 3/31/99 -0800, you wrote:
>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
>
>
>
>\
>
>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
>