A440 under fire

[Marcel Carey]

<snip>

I really like your point Ed. When doing concert work (touch up at
intermission sometimes) the machine is really useless.

I agree 100% with you.

Marcel Carey, RPT
Sherbrooke, QC

> On the other side of machina,  I got this soap right here..............,
>      (IMHO), a tuning machine is of little value when the piano has
"sagged"
> unevenly   throughout its scale during a hard first half under the lights
and
> inspiration of, say, Liszt and Brahms and the tuner has perhaps 10 minutes
to
> deal with it.
>      It is at these times that the judgement and ear of the tuner must
make
> the maximum repair to the harmony in a triage sort of way. Sometimes
unisons
> absorb all available time and the octaves are left alone, perhaps  in some
> "angelic",  choral stretch.  I have heard beautiful music out of a piano
> that "expanded" between tuning and performance. (think an extra 20 cents
over
> three octaves!)
>     When there is time to do more than unisons, the piano's worst octaves
> will have to be thrown together, but there are some very harsh thirds
waiting
> for the tuner that haphardly makes octaves out of things.  ( don't ask me
how
> I know)
>
>    This is a point that the beginning tuner should grasp;  that the
machine
> will get you up and tuning very quickly, but if you neglect learning how
to
> tune aurally, there will be a place you can't go, i.e. the performance
> platform.  If you do find yourself in this situation, and have only a
machine
> to give you information,  the odds are very good that you will do  damage
to
> your reputation.
>    There is no substitute for being able to aurally judge all the normal
> interval widths, and being able to arrange them in one or more consistant,
> acceptable temperaments.
> Regards
> Ed Foote RPT
>
>