Hi Terry, The piano was tuned one month later after the 92 cent pitch correction and was at 7.5 cents sharp. (second data line on my original email). The piano was a small 42" upright that was 50 years old with an unknown tuning history. The fact that the pitch correction "over shot" by 7.5 cents one month later (with 7% more humidity) tells me that the piano had crown and that the strings didn't stretch much in that initial month--this also tells me the piano probably had been at A440 for at least some of its prior life. I agree about the 2 cents per year--that's very clear on quality pianos *with* full DC systems (including back/bottom covers), and especially so with "quality" uprights. I agree this piano exhibited good stability with average pitch change of ~0.15 cents per month (1.8 cents per year). At 10:22 AM 5/13/2005 -0400, you wrote: >Well, maybe I am missing the point, but I don't think so. If I am >understanding this pianos pitch/tuning history, in 1992 the piano was 70 or >so cents flat and was raised up to A440 or so at that time. Then today, 13 >years later, the pitch was about 25 cents flat at A4. > >Again, I say that measuring pitch drop over time on a piano that just had a >pitch raise doesn't have much utility. It's not all that different from >restringing a piano and pulling the entire piano up to A440 - then measuring >pitch drop over time - likely would drop a bit more than 25 cents in 13 >years. Yes, you can indeed do just that, but what does it tell you? Not much >except that things stretch and settle A LOT right after a restringing. Same >with a piano that just had a pitch raise - just less of a degree. I think >all that tells you is how unstable is an unstable piano. > >What is of interest, it seems to me, is the rate of pitch drop on a piano >that has been tuned to A440 for some years. I think this would give one some >insight into how stable a stable piano might be. My observations suggest >that most pianos, excluding humidity considerations, will drop less than two >cents per year. > >And actually, your 70-cent-pitch-raise piano wasn't all that unstable after >the pitch raise if it only dropped 25 cents in 13 years - that's just less >than 2 cents per year. > >Terry Farrell Regards, Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T. Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat mailto:pianotuna@yahoo.com http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/ 3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7 306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner
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