Sarah wrote: >Doesn't a higher-tensioned string produce better sound? Who says? That's a self-propagating myth which I've never seen any convincing evidence to support. It is true that a too-slack string will have a negative impact on tone, i.e. a *sufficiently high* tension is required for decent tone. But this doesn't say out of two high tension strings that the higher one will automatically be preferable tonally. [Effects of soundboard/bridge etc. notwithstanding, as these are obviously affected by tension.] But the absolute statement that "higher tension is good for tone" does not seem to be valid. >Tuning pins do slip, and if even a couple of pins slip enough, there are >sure to be a couple of very sour notes. You'll get a telephone call at that >point. Yes. A good point. But not very often. >When repeatedly heated and cooled, the strings will become overly hardened >and brittle. Surely there are extra service calls ahead. I doubt the temperature required to effect the self-tuning is high enough to cause metallurgical changes in the wire. >Hundreds of heated strings will be like a Dampp Chaser gone nuclear. What >will that do the sounding board? Yes. A good point. And certaily enuf heat involved to affect the environmental state inside the case. >What will that do to the glue joints? What type of glue would be affected by mild heating? Certainly not hide glue, which is only affected by moist heat [that's why it's still used to glue the abrasive on sandpaper]. >Anyone buying an auto-tuning piano would be looking at the bottom line in >terms of cost. He/she will be smart enough to think in the long-term with >regard to cost up front saving on cost later, and he/she will be less >interested in the overall quality of the piano. Service calls will be few, >even if the piano *needs* service (e.g. regulation, voicing). (If I paid an >extra $1000 for some feature that would spare me some other cost, I would be >very reluctant to swallow that other cost anyway. I'd feel like a sucker.) People pay a lot more for pianodisk units to be installed. Don't really see that a self tuning accessary is all that different. Now I am playing devil's advocate a bit here, because I am sceptical that the device as described is feasible in practice. Too many variables to go wrong for a consumer item. And while the principles may be sound, the application seems flawed to me. Caveat - I haven't seen any detailed technical descirption. But some of the gut reactions aren't really valid. Stephen Stephen Birkett Fortepianos Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos 464 Winchester Drive Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2T 1K5 tel: 519-885-2228 mailto: sbirkett[at]real.uwaterloo.ca http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett
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