---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment On 26-okt-04, at 20:33, jason kanter wrote: > OK, after Andre's reply my question still remains. > Suppose I (first) play even, soft-though-firm, blows, say three or=20 > four of them while tuning one of the strings of the unison and=20 > listening with the core of my being. Then (second), to settle the pin,=20= > I strike a very hard staccato blow but I do not "listen" to it -- its=20= > function is purely to equalize tension across the friction points and=20= > to zero out=A0any torque of the tuning pin. Finally (third), I play=20 > soft/firm again and listen to the resulting unison. If it is not=20 > satisfactory, I repeat the three steps, otherwise I go on to the next=20= > string. > =A0 > Does step 2 -- the very hard staccato blow -- damage the beauty of the=20= > unison? Is this a bad habit that should not be taught to new tuners? > =A0 > Maybe the very hard staccato blow is only necessary when the string=20 > has been moved more than a very little bit? The very hard staccato blow does damage the beauty of the unison. A firm blow is enough really, provided we have refined our=20 hammer/tuning pin technique. A good way to practice and test this, is - especially - with a tuning=20 machine. All machines of today measure in very small parts called cents. If you=20= think your unison is steady, give it a blow, and you will see that it=20 may go off by less than one cent, or more. It is extremely handy to see what you are doing because you learn fast=20= how to not do it. Another way is to put your hammer straight towards the tail and stand=20 with your body slightly towards the left side of the grand piano. That way you have the ultimate control over the hammer movement. Now, try to manipulate the movement of the hammer/tuning pin so that=20 you are able to tune up and down one cent. That is extremely difficult.=20= However, if, like me, one works with an ETD every day, the ability to=20 move just 1 cent grows over time. Through this kind of training, we concentrate more and more on the=20 hammer pin movement, the moment of torque. By mastering this extremely=20= difficult technique, we get more and more control and we need less and=20= less hard blows to set the string. It is even like this : first you=20 move the string tension to where it has to go and you use a really firm=20= blow. Then you strike less hard but you do the rest with hammer pin=20 manipulation. That way you don't have to continually beat your hand.=20 wrist and fingers to pulp, and you may even get a nice tone too because=20= you don't kill the unisons. This is certainly not easy and may take longer than you think, but=20 isn't it so, that we reach our professional zenith the day we retire? For those who get irritated by all this so called subtle Yogic and=20 Californian talk : just keep on banging the way you always did=20 before...... friendly greetings from Andr=E9 Oorebeek "where Music is, no harm can be" ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 3492 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/67/a1/47/3d/attachment.bin ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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