ETD Question

[Brian Trout]

Hi Conrad,

You wrote:
<snip>...As you may recall, I am an aural tuner<snip>  Today's ETDs are
wonderful tools which can help in many ways, but the final arbiter is the
ear.

Absolutely, positively.  I wouldn't have the nerve to go out on tunings if I
couldn't tune aurally.  EVERY single tuning that I do with the assistance of
a machine is again checked by me, by ear, to see if it meets my approval.
It's a rare piano that I don't change at all.  Sometimes, it's only one or
two notes, sometimes more.  But my ear is the final authority on where each
pitch and interval will go.  I make no bones about that, and if a customer
is worried when they see my computer, I many times will offer to do the
tuning strictly by ear if they'd like.  (So far, no one has told me to turn
off my computer.  But then again, it isn't on for the whole tuning anyway.)

Most any chisel can notch a bridge.  But it's the skills of the person who
sharpens and hones it and the person guiding it down the notch who makes the
difference between a precise well cut bridge and a sloppy job.  It isn't the
tool.  It's the worker.  A good worker can do amazing things with a lesser
tool.  But a poor worker will likely climax at mediocrity even with the very
best of tools.

Best wishes,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net