TlabPro tuning

Jim Coleman, Sr. pianotoo@imap2.asu.edu
Sat, 30 Jun 2001 16:19:58 -0900 (PDT)


Here is the way I tuned my piano today. I thought some who own 
TunelabPro might be interested in it. It gives results very much 
like I like to tune aurally.

TlabPro procedure  11-30-01

After measuring inharmonicity on 6C's, go into the "T" curve 
adjusting mode by pressing the letter "T". Set Bass for 6-3 matching
with the drop down menu. Set the Treble for 3:2 matching with the 
treble dropdown menu.

Use the 4-arrow adjusting method and press the up or down arrows to
make the lower deviation curve a relatively straight line in the 
Bass and 
more or less the same for the treble side of the curve. There may 
be a 
slight deviation from the straight line in the high treble but you 
can ignore
that for the moment. Of course, the Tuning curve in the upper half 
of the 
"T" curve display  will sweep upward in a typical exponential 
curve which 
is a little like the flare of a trumpet bell.

Press ESC to get back to the Tuning mode display and tune downward 
from A4 to the Tenor break. This will give you pure 5ths and will 
graduate 
into the 6-3 octave mode as you approach the Bass. Test all aural 
intervals available to make sure there were no lapses in your eye 
judgments. If you notice any variations from smooth beat rate 
progressions, recheck the display of all the notes involved.

Next touch the "T" to readjust the Tuning curve. Change the Treble 
side
to 4-2 matching. Now looking at the lower deviation curve, utilize 
the 4 
arrow mode to adjust the curve in a relatively straight line. The 
software 
will keep the note C8 on the zero line. If the curve has a slight 
upward
curve just to the left of the C8, but the rest of the line is 
fairly straight, this
will give a good tuning at least up to C6. Press ESC and tune from 
A4 
up to C6. Take note of the value of the C6 tuning.

When you get to C6 press "T" to get back into the curve adjustment 
area.
Change the Treble side to 8-1 matching. With the up or down arrow 
in the
treble section adjust the deviation curve to a more or less 
straight line 
again and check the value for the C6 block in the upper tuning curve.
Adjust the arrows until the value is the same as was noted previously.
This should give you a relatively straight line again in the lower 
display
with perhaps a slight variation within the top octave. A simple 
way of 
doing this is to place the cursor on the block representing the C6 
on the 
Tuning curve and then using the "I" and "K" keys in place of the 
arrows to
make the adjustments until the C6 value is the same as before. Press
the ESC key to get back to the tuning display.

This type of tuning in the treble will give a balance between 
double octave
tuning, pure octave 5ths, double octave 5ths and triple octaves. 
This will 
result in top single octaves with beats of 4 or 5 per second, but 
will make
the high treble sound more "in tune" melodically.

Tuning down into the Bass using 6-3 octave matching works well for 
most all pianos. By the time you get down to C2 it might be well 
to have a 
little more stretch for medium or larger pianos. Note the tuning 
value of C2, 
then press "T" to get into the curve adjustment display. Change to 8-2
double octave matching to get a little more stretch. Place the 
cursor on 
the note C2 in the upper tuning curve and use the "U" and "J" keys 
to 
adjust the lower deviation curve to make a more or less straight 
line in
the Bass side of the curve so that in the value for C2 in the 
upper right 
corner of the screen you have a value very close to what you 
remembered 
from before the change from 6-3 tuning. This will make a smooth 
transition from 6-3 tuning to the 8-2 type tuning.

If all this sounds too complicated, whoever said piano tuning was 
easy,
that's why they pay us the big bucks. Actually "doing it" is much 
simpler
than writing about it. Once one understands the principle, the 
doing is
really quite easy for the experienced tuner.

Jim Coleman, Sr.


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