Tuning forks (and ETD's)

[Brian Henselman]

Charles,  please don't blush.  Your response following this response was
beautifully written.  I leave the
entire contents intact for others to read in that you have indeed had a
flourishing career as both an aural tuner, and a technician who has later
embraced ETD's.

My only concerns were about human nature, not the machines, but the people
who use them.  As that previous quoted "really good local" technician put
it, "an ETD is just another tool."  To this point I completely agree.  It
has many advantages.  However, I cannot dismiss my belief that it also has
dis-advantages to at least some of the people who use them.

I consider myself to be an evolving being.  I wish to continue to improve my
skills each time that I tune a piano.  To just tune it for a good regular
paycheck isn't enough for me (although with 3 children to support sometimes
that has to be enough).  I want to approach each tuning as an adventure.
Yes pilots can use the "autopilot", and still maintain their skills... but
are these pilots really "flying", or is the plane just "holding course"
without them?

In that I have only been an RPT since 1992, I do not possess the skills or
reputation that
you have developed over your 34 year career as a concert technician.
However, I steadfastly believe that the only way that I ever will develop
this level of expertise, is to use every chance I get to hone and improve my
aural tuning skills.  To this aim, I suspect that I would slow my evolution
and personal
progress if and when I choose to use the "auto-pilot/ETD" and simply
"reproduce" my previous best aural tuning.

I'd like to think that my best work is still ahead waiting to be discovered,
not just "replayed" from a memory page in an ETD.

Do most artists performing locally request aural tunings?  Not necessarily
most, because most have more important details to worry about.  However,
many do, and I don't know of any artist that has ever booked a local hall
and specifically requested a technician because he or she uses an ETD.  (Let
me also concede that since you are the Head-Technician at the University of
Texas, and since you therefore tune for most if not all of the Major Artists
visiting and residing at the School of Music,  that your assertions that you
have never been personally doubted for using an ETD is also valid).

However, upon reviewing many pre-production "spec-sheets" for the smaller,
less prominant concert venues in the Austin-area, there have been many
artists/producers that have specically requested an "aural" only tuning.
Would I have been turned away if I had an Accu-tuner in my briefcase?  No,
because I could always do it by ear.  But that's my point.

There are times, be it right or wrong, that artists specifically request
aural tuning.  When this happens, I'm ready.  To date, I have never had any
seek to hire me to perform an "Electronically Enhanced" tuning with an ETD.
Apparently, aural tuning still seems to be "good enough" if not prefered in
commercial live music venues.

Again, let me point out that I believe ETD's to be incredible machines.
They don't have
bad days, get tired, get upset, or have hearing loss.  They are a marvel to
behold.  Unfortunately, ETD's also don't care if
the final result was a "work of art", or a compromise of the above listed
ailments.

I think that I'll stick to my guns on this one, and "learn" to
work around fatigue, emotions, and the inevitable hearing loss that we all
must face as best as I can.

Will, I ever use an ETD?  Sure, but only when I believe that I have nothing
more to learn from aural tuning... or whenever they finally including that
"Mr. Coffee" late hours caffeine-boost feature for the poor bloke staying up
too late working in the shop.  I think that would probably win the rest of
us stubborn aural tuners over in a hurry.

Cheers,
Brian Henselman

BTW:  I like seeing biographies here on pianotech.  I think that it would be
really neat if more people could post up their histories too.  So Frank,
don't feel too bad about letting us know that you probably really are a
former "rocket-scientist."  ;-)

-----Original Message-----
From: Charles K. Ball <ckball@mail.utexas.edu>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Friday, October 29, 1999 2:34 PM
Subject: Re: Re: Tuning forks (and ETD's)


>Dear Brian,
>
>When I read your comments upon ETD's I find myself bushing with
>shame, recalling the days when I made similar dismissive comments to
>my friends and colleagues who used ETD's, having never really
>explored or utilized one in my life. I expressed many of the same
>concerns and objections, i.e. that my clientele would lose confidence
>in my abilities, I would no longer be a worthy concert tuner, my
>aural abilities would atrophy, etc.
>
>Brian, I have been tuning pianos for 34 years, aurally for the first
>30, and do mostly concert and professional work. Currently I have
>served as the head piano technician for the School of Music of the
>University of Texas at Austin, one of the top schools in the country,
>for 20 years, in which capacity I also provide concert tuning for the
>Austin Symphony Orchestra and other major local arts organizations.
>In addition I maintain the concert instruments and prepare them for
>the Van Cliburn Concert Series in Fort Worth. I serve as the C&A tech
>for the Austin Steinway dealer. Thus, since we live in the same city,
>I am puzzled by your statement that most of the major artists
>performing in local venues request aural tuners. Neither I nor my
>colleagues here at the School of Music recall ever having an artist
>or any other client request an aural tuner or question our use of an
>ETD.
>
>Brian, I purchased my SAT II for a special occasion where I had to
>keep two fortepianos tuned together in an historical temperament for
>professional recording sessions in a venue where the AC had to be
>turned off for takes. Afterward I stuck it in a drawer, having
>experienced difficulties in mastering the learning curve, much of
>which was due to my stubbornness and preconceptions. Eventually I
>took the time to master the machine and then I realized just how
>mistaken I had been all along, and my tuning and tuning practice was
>transformed.
>
>You point out some of the advantageous situations for an ETD, i.e.
>situations where the noise level may preclude doing a fine aural
>tuning, shop work, pitch raises, and hearing loss. To that list I
>would add instruments that present special challenges in
>inharmonicity and scaling, time limitations, and the general physical
>condition of the tuner. By the latter I am referring to the fatigue
>one might experience at any time or after having already tuned
>several pianos in one day, illness, mental stress or distractions,
>etc. How many of us can truly say that we are at our peak at all
>times, especially when it is crucial?
>And how often do you work when none of the above limitations are not
>a factor? The ETD does not have bad days, suffer hearing loss, or
>become ill, nor is it as distracted by background noise and activity
>as we are.
>
>But the crucial point that my colleagues tried to make to me during
>my days as a uninformed detractor was that I had nothing to lose from
>using the machine (except for the cost) and everything to gain. The
>machine did not replace or cripple my ears, but supports them. With
>my SAT III, I will assert to you in all sincerity that I can now do a
>more accurate concert tuning in less time, with considerably less
>effort, and reproduce it time and again with extraordinary precision.
>And I have never stopped using my ears, which often refine the
>judgments of the machine.
>
>Brian, perhaps you do not realize that some of the most accomplished,
>gifted and skilled technicians in our profession (and in PTG) use
>ETD's. It was this realization, in part, that lead me to question my
>previous stand. I think that I persisted in my delusion for so long
>because I felt that I was a bit superior relative to my ETD using
>colleagues with my presumed superior aural concert tuning skills; now
>I realize that I was probably the only one who thought I was
>superior--everyone else must have thought I was uninformed and
>perverse.
>
>Brian, my best and most friendly advice to you would be to try an ETD
>for yourself (long enough to master the learning curve). At the
>least, you could offer your criticisms and comments from an informed
>perspective. And, who knows, you might just discover that you done
>something wonderful for yourself...
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Charles
>
>
>
>
>Jim,
>
>"Sounds" like you have the right attitude.  I agree that a SAT can help
>refine a technicians knowledge when used to check aural tuning.  I just
>don't want to become a technician who relies so heavily on a machine that
>I'm not continuing to refine my skills.
>
>I've seen some technicians really benifit from a SAT, especially when older
>age compremises his or her upper frequency hearing.  I've  also believed
>that ETD's are perfect for quick shop work.  They even do a good job, if
not
>better job than aural, when hearing is compremised by background noise.  I
>think that one of the strongest benefits in owning an ETD for a shop is
that
>it would allow an apprentice-type to do "grunt" tuning with a high degree
of
>confidence,  i.e. chip-tuning.
>
>However, concert tuning is another matter.  I don't think that it is an
>accident that most serious artists that perform at our local performance
>venues specifically request aural concert tuning.  I've never had someone
>call and request an ETD tuning, but I've seen numerous times that I was
>called specifically because I won't use an ETD.
>
>Yes, ETD's can and often do a good job, even for concert work.  But no one
>is going to convince me that as long as I have good ears, that I should let
>a machine do all of the "thinking."  Just my $.02 worth.
>
>Cheers,
>Brian Henselman
>
>Charles Ball, RPT
>School of Music
>University of Texas at Austin
>ckball@mail.utexas.edu