>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. Have they ever specifically asked for an Electronically Enhanced tuning? The reason I ask this is I have received dozens of concert engagement calls over the last 10 years where I was asked if I use a machine (ETD). Upon responding that I only tune aurally, I was immediately hired. To my knowledge, I have never been passed over by a client for being an "old-fashioned" aural tuner. Why would they ask if they weren't biased? Be it right or wrong, the public has preferences, and to date, I have never seen any client "prefer" a tuning with an ETD. Yes, Charles you have been busy. I noticed from your biography that you were an aural tuner for the first 30 out of 34 years, so I can't imagine why anyone here in Austin would question your tuning abilities or subsequent choice to use an ETD. However, you've been an accomplished concert technician for a long time, so I also kinda doubt that your recent choice to use an ETD got you to where you are today. I don't question the use of ETD's by fully trained aural technicians looking to improve their tunings when circumstances are less than ideal (i.e. we are tired, or ill, or upset, or it's just too noisy, etc.) However, I still question the wisdom of relying on a machine while someone is still formulating his or her aural tuning skills. I believe that with your 30 years or aural tuning experience, you have wisely chosen to use an ETD to cope with any combination of the above listed challenges. However, I cannot imagine that it is half as much FUN to tune a Model D in Bass Concert Hall with a SAT as it is to tune it aurally. Don't you ever miss just listening to the piano "blossom" as you tune it aurally? Isn't part of the "tuning experience/adventure" lost in the translation? Does IT (tuning with an ETD) ever give you that "rush" of excitement or sense of personaly pride and accomplishment? Please don't blush with "shame" for having been an exclusively-aural technician for those first 30 years. I've never known you to be boastful or arrogant, so I'm sure that any dismissive comments that you may have made in the past were heartfelt beliefs. Never an attack. Wow, this is such a weird world that we live in today. I never would have imagined having to apologize for being an aural tuner who believes in his or her skills. It used to be called confidence. Sincerely, Brian Henselman BTW: Baby #3 (Sarah Elizabeth Henselman) our first girl was born last Saturday (October 25). She's beautiful! > >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
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