Tuning forks

[Brian Trout]

Hi Jeff,

Interesting discussion so far.  I had wondered about the same things some
months back.

This thing of a tuning fork and how you use it can be a very personal thing.

What kind of fork you use can make a difference.  I've been using an old
chrome plated steel fork since the early '80's.  It's not very big compared
to some of the new ones I've seen, and it's not overly pretty either.  It's
very quiet, and difficult to hear by just holding it up beside your ear.
And besides that, if you have to hold the fork with one hand, play the key
with one hand, and move the tuning hammer with one hand, you need three
hands.

So, years ago, I decided I would hold the fork between my lower lip and my
upper front teeth.  I'm so used to it, I don't even think about it anymore.
(It does get a rather puzzled look from a customer once in a while though!
<grin> )  It gets me close.  I'll then use the F2 to compare the beats I
hear with the F and the A I've tuned, and the A fork by holding the
vibrating fork on a surface like the bridge or the keyslip.

Knowing that the temperatures I use the fork at would likely be different
(higher) than what it was originally 'tuned' to, (it's debatable if it was
ever fine tuned until recently,) it would likely be flatter than what it
would be if someone else was using it in a different manner, such as keeping
it as close to room temperature as possible.

So what I did was to tune the fork to the best source I have available, in
like conditions as to what I'd be doing while tuning a piano, closer to body
temperature.

What's the source?  I downloaded Robert Scott's TuneLab program, which came
with a program which can calibrate the tuning program to a true A440 by way
of timing a long term interval exactly.  I used a shortwave radio to set the
exact time, let the program run for about 48 hours, (not necessary, but the
longer it runs, the more accurate it will be) and resynchronized the clock
to the shortwave again. (It was off by almost a full minute in that 48 hour
period.)  So I'm figuring I have a pretty accurate source for A440.

The main thing though, was that your fork needs to be tuned according to the
temperature you'll be using it at.  Everyone likely has a slightly different
method of handling their forks, and thus a different temperature.

Good luck figuring it all out.

$0.02  :-)

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net