A= 440 Fork - advice please

[Jim Coleman, Sr.]

Hi Terry:

Assuming your SAT 3 is in calibration (it should be unless someone has
messed with it. It's easy to correct) you have a lot of filing to do on
the ends of the times. I like to lay a file down on the workbench and
drag the ends of both tines on the file. I rotate the fork after every
two strokes. If the fork builds up heat (and it will) you can test this
by placing the fork on the side of your face. It is stabilized when it
feels neither hot nor cold to your face. When it gets to about -1.0 cents,
go a little slower to let it have time to normalize in temperature.

Another problem some people have is being able to judge the beat rate
produced by F2 and the fork. It sometimes helps to raise the F2 a little
to slow down the beats rate so that you can actually count the beats in
groups of 4. Tap your foot once for every 4 wavers you hear using the
fork. Then with your foot continuing at the same rhythm, play the fork
and the note A49. Tune to achieve the same rhythm. Of course it is simpler
to first tune the A49 in unison with the fork the best you can, being
sure to sock the key hard to help stabilize the strings. The F2 test is
used primarily to tell if you are high or low so you will know in which
direction to aim in your correction.

Tuning to a fork can be confusing. You must discipline your mind to 
concentrate on listening to the fundamental and not the 2nd partials.
A tuning fork does not have a 2nd partial, but when it is placed upon an
object to amplify its sound, the object may breakdown into other partials.
Besides this, your ear and your brain can manufacture partials for the fork.
These are called subjective tones.
This is why it is so important to use the F2 test so that you can 
concentrate upon the 5th partial of F2 and the fundamental of the fork or
the A49 note.

Jim Coleman, Sr.

On Wed, 27 Oct 1999, Terry L Jack wrote:

>  Much simpler to tune your fork to the SAT II at body temperature.
> 
> > When you take your test, hold your fork under your armpit to keep it
> > in tune when you need to use it critically.
> 
> 
> I am a student of Randy Potter and have been working on tuning temperments.
> I have been having trouble proving my A-49 with a 17th test so have been
> using my SAT III.  I want to be good at aural tuning  and do not want to get
> to where I can only tune with a machine.
> 
> Reading this thread about tuning forks I decided to check mine, making sure
> to warm it up under my arm pit first.  The fork I have is a John Walker.
> The reading I got on my SAT III after numerous tests is  -3.6 !!  I know I
> am a newby and suspect I must be doing something wrong, however this is such
> a simple measument I wonder.
> 
> Any advice?
> 
> Terry Jack
> Eugene, Oregon Chapter
> 
>