In a message dated 12/15/00 4:10:27 AM Central Standard Time, Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no writes: << But if this is to be allowed... then the test has to be redesigned such that it can be confirmed that the examinee can indeed identify when the machine has made a mistake. Ergo... the examinee must be able to tune on his / her own without the help of the machine. Since thats what we need to assure ourselves of. In the end I am not quite sure I see the point in moving towards ETD assisted tunings when we already know a qualified tuner can use ETD's very successfully and the purpose of the test is to see whether or not a person can tune without them. >> The purpose of the exam is to see if a tuner can tune a piano to the standards the PTG has set forth. How that person arrives at that point is entirely up to the inividual. He/she can do it standing on his/her head, using a ratchet for all we care, as long as the end result is a tuned piano. We do not check hammer technique, or ask what temperament is used. We don't even require a particular tuning fork, as long as the fork is tuned within the variance of the examiner machine. It is required that the examinee aurally tune one note to the fork, and two octaves in the middle of the piano (C3- B5) . Those are the only two aural requirements for machine tuners. I am sure you will agree that being able to aurally tune two octaves in the middle of the piano is not a true sign of being able to tune a whole piano. There is a lot more to it than that. And that is why I am not convinced that requiring that part of the exam is that crucial. I'll tell you what. I would much rather have a person tune a piano only using a machine, than some of the people I've had to pass who were strictly an aural tuner. In fact, some of the Associate members who are out there tuning by ear have no business being in the business. Yet they pass themselves off as piano tuners. And from what you are saying, you would regard them more as piano tuners than those who tune strictly by machine. Willem
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC