Virgil's Natural beats

[Ron Nossaman]

>Yes. You mean you have to listen to the overall results of your tuning and
>adjust until it's right?  :)

Exactly, and that's what I meant by compensating for unison drop as he goes
- not by anticipation, but by trial and refinement. Thanks for saying it
more clearly than I could.


>Pitch drop happens, but I'm not convinced it is often much of a factor in
>the actual tuning of actual pianos.

Maybe, maybe not. This goes back to your assumption that this drop probably
happens throughout the scale. Pending further evidence to the contrary, I'd
tend to conditionally agree (though I don't have any data to support the
assumption, I don't see any compelling reason the same phenomenon shouldn't
work at all frequencies). The conditions being dependent on when the
unisons are tuned in the process. Virgil's way seems to me to be the
optimal ideal, and strip muting with an "average" unison drop keeping the
relative unison pitches in relatively parallel relationships (I'm not sure
how to put this more clearly) would be second best, but quicker. When you
do what, looks to be nearly as important as what you do.      


> I think Virgil just works hard at and
>has a lot of practice in tuning 6 note octaves in which each individual
>string is exactly in tune with the other two notes of the unison and each
>individual string has _exactly_ the same relationship with each string of
>the note an octave away. (If anyone thinks every tuner can do this, I'll
>take some measurements with a VTD that will show otherwise.)

Not me. I'll accept that one without reservation. 


>> Or is it too obvious?
>
>If yours is too obvious, where does that leave me?  :)
>
>Kent Swafford

Apparently out in the weeds with me. What are you doing for lunch?

Ron N