Smith-Coleman/QUESTION

[John M. Formsma]

Joe,

I also attended Virgil Smith's class, and was very glad I did.  His method
of "cracking the unison" comes in handy, too.

I haven't checked to see about the pure fifth (and I hope Dr. Coleman will
help us out with your specific question), but there are tests to see whether
or not a fifth is pure.  When I have tuned the "Pure 5th" temperament, they
have been *relatively* pure after the unisons were tuned.  (I.e., if there
were beats, they were very slow.)  Virgil's fifths after the unisons were
tuned were not pure.  What he said about his fourths and fifths is that they
are even throughout the entire keyboard.  I don't remember him testing
octaves with fourths and fifths, either. As I recall, he used 3rds and
10ths, etc. outward from the temperament.

Here are the pure fifth checks as listed in Jorgensen's Big Red book:

minor 3rd played above lower note beats the same as major 3rd played below
upper note.

Example: testing C3-G3 5th; C3-Eb3 beats same as Eb3-G3

Or,

major 6th played below lower note beats the same as major 10th played below
upper note.

Example: testing C3-G3 5th; Eb2-C3 beats same as Eb2-G3

Piano tuning is really fascinating!  I greatly marvel at all the hard work
the experts have put into the science behind tuning theory, and then give it
away so freely.  What a great field to be in!  May we all improve each
other.

John Formsma


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of Joe & Penny Goss
Sent: Saturday, August 07, 1999 10:17 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Smith-Coleman/QUESTION


List,
Since returning from the KC convention I have been applying the method that
Vergil Smith
presented in his tuning class on Sunday morning.
This was the only class that time allowed me to attend but it was/is a
turning point in my tunings.
The one thing that stands out the most from the class was the idea of
tuning the first note of a unison (three strings ) slightly sharp. Then
when the second string is tuned the pitch of both strings will be flatter.
Tuning the third string to either string ( they are sharp when played solo)
will result in the tri-unison being on pitch.
The pianos that I have used this method on have turned out great.
My question comes from wondering as I am tuning. The fifth seems to be pure
when the first note is tuned ready to do the unison with the octave
slightly wide. Is this what Dr Coleman is using to establish his pure fifth
tunings. Are the two related?
Joe Goss