Hi Charles, Install a back cover. Tune faster. Run a room type humidifier. Make sure there is a stable temperature in the room. All of these will help. Perhaps set your temperament, then close the piano for a coffee break? If the cause of your pitch drift is humidity change then If you were to open the piano and then tune it some time later when you closed it up the humidity would rise. This will "smear" your unisons. I do doubt that it is humidity change. I live in an area where the climate is very harsh, and I don't appear to have this problem. How much are you attempting to change the pitch? If more than 2 to 4 cents (l hertz or less) then the culprit is the metal plate flexing under the greater load. If you use a good back cover the pitch of the piano will vary less than 2 cents per year, unless there is a "set back" thermostat in the home. I find these are murder on pianos, even ones equipped with a damppchaser. I have experimented with a small electric heater and a thermostat inside uprights and that does improve results when a set back thermostat is in use or when the piano is in a room where temperature fluctuates greatly. At 11:53 PM 3/21/02 -0500, you wrote: >Any strategies on tuning when there is a D-C installed? > >When I open the piano, the humidity starts to change. After a while this >affects notes I've already tuned. > >In my case, the humidity near the action of my vertical changes from 42% >to 36%. After a half hour or so of practicing setting a temperament, my >first notes have drifted a bit from where they were. I assume the humidity >change is the problem, but I suppose it could be how I set the notes. > >Do people run into this problem? If so, would you recommend leaving the >piano open for a while before tuning? > >Charles Neuman > > > > Regards, Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T. mailto:pianotuna@accesscomm.ca http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/ 3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK S4S 5G7 306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner
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