ETD's accurate?

Ron Koval drwoodwind@hotmail.com
Tue, 17 Sep 2002 19:41:33 +0000


OK, I said I wasn't going to do this yesterday, but today Ron N wrote this 
(unrelated topic) that woke me out of my cave:

<snip>
Yes they do, but beyond a certain resolution the numbers don't mean much 
except as to how they interrelate with the rest of the scale. It's like 
ETDs. They're already more accurate then the pianos being tuned with them, 
with the difference in tuning results being how they're used.
<snip>

OK, here is the BIG problem as I see it with discussing ETD's, the 
interchangeability of the words accurate and precise.

Picture one of those nice, Starrett rulers, with markings down to 1/64 of an 
inch.  Now, imagine measuring something like the knuckle distance that you 
wanted to get JUST RIGHT.  So you squint, and pull out the magnifying lens, 
or call your young-eyed kid over to get the BEST measurement possible.  
You've just gotten the most precise, but not an accurate measurement 
possible with that ruler, because that afore- mentioned kid was using your 
rule for a pry-bar and snapped off the first 1/4 inch.  He cleaned it up 
real good, you can hardly notice anything's missing.....

Accurate, however, relates to what's really there, or in the ETD example, 
where the note SHOULD be placed.  At this point there is a big difference 
between the calculations of the machines, even though they are all precise.  
So do you trust the precise, but maybe innacurate box?  How do you know if 
it's aiming at the right target?

questions

questions

end of today's rant

Ron Koval






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