At 6:39 PM -0400 7/14/02, J Patrick Draine wrote: >>> Affleck Piano Tuning offers an "ebook" on "How to Tune Your Piano." >>> Is is worth the $19.97? I'm a beginner and interested in getting >>> information from as many (reliable) sources as I can on tuning pianos >>> aurally. > >Why don't you start with the PACE series, tha manual on prepping for >the the PTG tuning exams, and Rick Baldassin's book, all available >from the PTG (I believe a PDF of the catalog of publications etc is >available at www.ptg.org). They are authoritative, though they do >cost more than $19.97. Those are excellent primers. Further useful articles on the subject of the basis of aural tuning are Jack Stebbins RPT "Partial Hearing, Your Greatest Asset" (??/95?), myself "Your Friend, the Unison" (??/92?), and for some real sophistication any, Thing by Dan Levitan RPT. All of these, descriptions of the basic environment of the aural dimension. The real value of aural tuning is that when you put a human ear to the sound, that human while listening to the sound, will also be hearing the condition of the bridge pins, the capo bar, the wire, the board, the hammers, the keyframe, the bronze bearings in the casters, whatever. And because he has spent more than a few years learning how to tune aurally, well, he also has had the time to learn plenty about what these sounds mean for the piano's musicality and its health. And to do whatever this piano wants and needs. When you put an ETD on the tuning, the tuning issues from a very sophisticated mathematical model of "harmony in a piano". The curves in this tuning may be exquisitely drawn, but all of the other incoming signals (the buzzing, choking, rattling, and whining, and the pure gold) are not involved in the mathematical model, and as such are filtered out of what we read visually like so much noise. It takes several years to make a good piano (mainly, the work of the technician in home). It takes several years to make an decent aural tuner (anything shorter is a true gift). And it takes a village to make sure of there are plenty of young and new technicians gaining in skills (and I've seen many on this list gain, not me of course), and dedicated to the proper care of pianos. If the pianos don't survive, we won't survive. It's a symbiotic relationship. And it ensures that pianos stay singing on this planet for longer. I'm just now putting one foot over the line into ETD tuning, not because I'm having difficulty zero-beating the 7th partials in a unison nearly up through the 4th octave as well as I did 10 years ago. The reasons are other, and are the common ones cited by long-time (and sharp) aural tuners. However, listening to the sound at it shows me far more of the strength of the piano, than does looking at it, so I am working through separation anxiety. (You got issues wit' my issues?). Anyway, when I was a kid we had to walk a mile to get to school, going through a mountain pass and an alligator-infested swamp. Speaking of "the village" and other liberal ideas, At 10:15 PM -0700 7/12/02, Kevin E. Ramsey wrote: >(For all you Liberals, pass the ammunition, that's right, that's how >it's spelled.(Ammunition, that is)). The actual spelling is two words commonly used to describe our beloved country: ammo nation. (I hope you're ready to smile & laugh after a stressful Friday.) Bill Ballard RPT NH Chapter, P.T.G. "My, my, my. Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains!" ...........Humphry Bogart in "The Deep Sleep" +++++++++++++++++++++
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC