Fork accuracy - was - OT-Road Service - not really OT...

[Dave Nereson]

 >>According to my laptop based RCT (which WAS inside last night),  the fork
>>was 441.4Hz. After warming up in my trouser pocket for a few minutes to 
>>above ambient temp., it was at 439.9.
>>
>>Let's hear it for electronics which are not so affected.  My memory is 
>>fading in my old age, but how do those who are strictly aural and solely 
>>mechanical pitch source oriented deal with temperature fluctuations?
>>
>>Conrad Hoffsommer

    Except for that one concert tuning out of 1000 other tunings in homes, 
schools, and churches, it just doesn't matter.  If the piano's a bit flat or 
sharp of 440, but basically in tune with itself, I leave it that way, rather 
than raise or lower pitch and make it more unstable.  Now, I said "a bit,", 
meaning 2,3,4 beats, maybe.  I didn't say 20 cents or a quarter-step off. 
In most places, who's gonna come check to see if it's exactly on 440?  Even 
if it's as much as 3 bps off from the church organ, I'll leave it where it 
is in most cases because when they turn on the heat or the lights or the air 
conditioning, or when summer rains or winter heating season comes along, 
it's gonna change anyway.  We're not calibrating the international atomic 
clock (or whatever) here, just making pianos sound decent most of the time 
for most players, only one out of probably more like 10,000 of whom is a 
concert artist that demands exactly A=440 on every piano all the time 
everywhere.
    If my fork is 441 or 439, so what?  If they want it right on, they'll 
tell me, and I'll charge to do the pitch raise or lower, if required.

    --David Nereson, RPT