Dean, I agree that plugs are beneficial. Mine are "musician's plugs." Custom molded to my ear. > They also attenuate the loudness by about 10-15 dB. This lets you, maybe > even forces you, to hit the note harder which gives greater stability. After > tuning for 30 minutes without plugs I find myself subconsciously hitting the > notes softer because the loudness hurts my ears. Plugs let me keep on > hitting them hard. I agree that with a certain lever technique, hard test blows yield greater stability. For me, though, I don't use hard test blows. I used to, but then my ears would be literally aching at the end of the day. What I've found is that a soft to moderate stroke about twice per second eliminates the need for hard blows to stabilize. In other words, if I play the note, then listen for two seconds while moving the pin around, a hard blow is needed. But, it I play a soft stroke frequently (about twice per second) while manipulating the pin, it's stable. Also, I try to move the pin as little as possible. There is a point at which one can just raise the pitch and then back down, leaving the string perfectly stable. That point varies from piano, but for my technique, it's usually around 1-3 bps sharp, then back down sets the string well - with no pounding. John Formsma
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