AUDIO RECORDING OF ACTUAL TUNING

[John M. Formsma]

Tom,

I do not know about the recording.

What has helped me a great deal in listening to beat rates is listening for
them at the pitch of the coincident partials. If you are having trouble with
4ths and 5ths, it may help you. If tuning a 4th, listen at the 4:2
coincident partial. Example: for F3-Bb3, you would listen at F5. If tuning a
5th, listen at the 2:1. Example: F3-C4, you would listen at C5. There are
some tests for 4ths and 5ths--look in Jorgensen _Tuning_ book, or I can
write about those later.

You also might check the quality and/or thickness of your muting material.
If it does not mute well, you get a lot of extra junk, especially if the
piano is not at pitch. I use the 1 inch felt from APSCO, but it is basically
action cloth. If you do a lot of verticals, you can trim one end so that the
hammers do not hit the felt at the upper midrange end before the break.

Not sure if this is what you needed since you mentioned counting beats using
the metronome as a reference. I have been blessed not to have too much
trouble with being able to accurately "beat" a second interval. For some
reason, a second has always been a "natural" beat for me. Maybe because I
spent a lot of time in church counting my pulse rate, watching the seconds
tick by. (When I was young, of course)  :-)

John Formsma
Blue Mountain, MS


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of Tom Robinson
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 8:30 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: AUDIO RECORDING OF ACTUAL TUNING


As a matter of pride and self satisfaction I have a strong desire to be
able to tune a piano competently using only aural techniques.  However,
after two years, I am still struggling with aural temperament setting,
so I continue to be dependent on Tunelab to set a really good (for me)
temperament.  I recently had a hearing test, and as I suspected, I've
lost substantial acuity in certain frequencies.  In spite of this, I
have very little trouble accurately tuning octaves and unisons aurally
in a quiet setting, but counting beats gives me extreme trouble.  I
have tried and retried all the suggestions that the list has offered in
the past, but I am still frustrated at my shortcoming in this area.  I
have begun to think that there is something beyond my control which has
kept me from reaching the goal I have set.

Recently I endured the annual appointment with my neurologist.  After 10
years, it has become a social visit, so during our conversation I told
him of my current interest in pianos and tuning.  When I described some
of the basic tuning procedures,  I told him of having trouble counting
beats using a metronome as a reference.  He was not surprised that I had
this trouble.    He said that people with my condition have trouble
focusing collectively on dissimilar stimuli........(OK, hold the
jokes.......) and in this case, my brain focuses in on the metronome
(the louder of the two stimuli), rather than on the beats (OK, so I have
a one track mind.....).  I also have the same trouble using a pendulum
reference.

In between the two-dollar words he used to describe this condition, he
stated that I might be able to compare a good quality recording with the
actual sound coming from the interaction of two strings.  He suggested
listening to the recording for a couple of seconds, then switching it
off and comparing the interval beat to what my brain remembers.
Question is, do recordings like this exist?  Any suggestions?

Tom Robinson
East Tennessee - do spinets deserve a fine tuning?