replys throughout I wrote ".....I almost always use two passes even with pianos close to pitch." Terry responds: Let's say a piano is close to pitch (2 to 5 cents flat). You want a really nice tuning, so you will do two passes. Will you do the first pass in pitch raise (Coarse) mode? Or will you do both passes in Fine Tuning mode? As far as the tuning calculation process goes, is there any difference in the way the VT will calculate the tuning with either approach?> > Yes, I would start in coarse mode, with the range set to narrow to give me a good target for the needle. I even went so far as to apply a screen protector, then put a little pen line that represents +1 cent. I want everything in the first pass (in your close example) to land in that space. As to fine tuning mode, I haven't done enough experiments with the current tuning order to check if it ends up in the same place. Remember, in fine tune, once you tune a note, it's no longer available to be recalculated, unless you recalculate the entire tuning. This can end up with a good tuning, just not as good as it could be. Terry writes: Let's say another piano is closer to pitch (0 to 3 cents flat). Still reason to do two passes for a really fine tuning. What modes will you use for this one and why? > Hmmmm.. here in the midwest, I hardly ever come to a piano like this! Because of my current mistrust of fine tune mode (paranoid?) I'd still opt for coarse. I'm currently beta testing the new spinner display Dave had in Chicago. Picture the coarse mode line, turned into a circle, around the spinner. Best of both worlds, needle display, and spinner. The scale is still changable from narrow, normal, and wide. Terry writes: What overpull percentages do you find work well with your VT? And when doing a pitch raise pass, in what order do you proceed across the keyboard (start at A0 and go up, or what)? > Overpulls are personal, tied to your own tuning technique. I target 8%,20%, and 33%, and display them all at the same time. I use them more as a frame of reference, paying attention if one note is very different from the rest. It's surprising how close these three percentages display to each other during a pitch adjustment. It also depends on the type of instrument, some respond differently. As to pitch raise order, I think A0 to top has been shown to be the best, but the VT will only do this if you take the time to presample all 76 notes. Hmmmm.... you could probably just presample A4 to the bottom and it would work, too. I tune A4,A3, all the notes between, A3 down to A0, then A4 to the top. This lets me stay in single step mode, and jump octaves between the A's. I think it's important to get the bass strings tuned before going to the top. > Thanks, thanks, and thanks. Terry Farrell You are very welcome :) Ron Koval Chicagoland _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
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