PTG Tuning Exam

[Clyde Hollinger]

Friends:

I've heard of the three CTEs (certified tuning examiners) taking up to
seven hours to come up with the master tuning.  Now that's dedication! 
It goes beyond the time I would be willing to give, and I have a great
deal of respect for these people!

Clyde Hollinger

JIMRPT@AOL.COM wrote:

The procedure is to select a piano to be used for
> testing, usually this will be a grand. The piano is tuned by one of the
> tuners, then the second one tweaks it, and finally the third one tweaks it.
> By this time it is a fairly decently tuned piano.   The three techs working
> together then discuss the "best" possible tuning and discuss the scale note
> by note making agreed upon compromises until the three agree that this piano
> is tuned as well as it can be.
> For standardization ET is used but it could be any temperament I suppose as
> long as it was agreed to by the three and the testee was informed, and the
> temperament was allowed by PTG bylaws. (I think this would be correct)
> 
>   Anyway, this final compromise "best" possible tuning for this piano is
> recorded on the SAT.  This recorded tuning for that piano is known as the
> Master tuning.  The Master tuning is only for that one piano, no other
> piano.... period. The use of three excellent tuners 'tends' to even out
> individual proclivities as to intervals, stretch, etc.  It is this 'Master'
> tuning for that one piano that the testee is working to duplicate and as the
> SAT has the numbers stored any measurement as to sucess or failure is purely
> objective.