Question About Piano Tuning Using Accutuner SAT III

[David Love]

When the tuning doesn't count as much, such as in an institutional setting,
I calculate the FAC and tune from A0 to the top unisons as I go.  When I
want a more precise tuning I calculate the FAC then tune A3 and A4 to see if
the octave is to my liking.  If I don't like it I play with the DOB to
narrow or widen.  If it is, I go ahead and tune the notes in the octave from
A3 - A4 (always unisons as I go). Rarely do I widen but not infrequently I
narrow the whole thing by a factor of .3 to .5.  Then I tune outward.  I use
the A3 - A4 octave because it gets the temperament out of the lower tenor
where scaling problems on some pianos can occur.  Tuning outward I usually
go up first but you can go either way.  I check the octaves as I go.  When I
am through going up I check the 3rds and 10ths progression as high as I can
hear it and then check the 12th and double octave to the top.  I make
corrections as needed.  Then tuning downward I also check octaves.  You can
check this with the machine as well.  Tuning G#3 the machine will be
listening to G#5.  You can play G#3 and compare it with the machines reading
of G#4 (while still set at G#3) to see if the 4:2 octave is pure, wide or
narrow.  If you like what you hear then keep going.  If you don't, you can
adjust the DOB on the fly or simply switch to direct interval tuning by
hitting the Tune button and proceed that way.  Below C3 the machine switches
to a 6:3 octave, so at B2 the machine will now be listening to F#5.  You can
now see how your 6:3 octave is doing by reading B2 and B3 off the machine
set to B2.  Make sure the transition across C3 to B2 is smooth since that's
where the machine switches from a 4:2 to a 6:3.  When I'm done with the
bass, I turn off the machine and go through the octaves slowly (also a good
way to catch faulty unisons), 10ths and 3rds progressions both ways, double
octaves until I'm satisfied.  

 

Not infrequently I am making a few corrections.  Sometimes I fudge the FAC
numbers if I don't like the readings.  That happens mostly when I get a very
high A reading or a very high C reading.  Scaling anomalies and low tensions
at A4 can sometimes give you higher readings than will work well and
similarly a very high C reading will stretch the top too much.  A very high
F reading means that you will probably be better off direct interval tuning
the low tenor and bass.  That's why I find it very important to check the
A3-A4 octave before you proceed with the tuning.  If you tune from the
bottom up you will inevitably run into a situation where a bad reading will
leave the center of the piano sounding out of tune.  Tuning from the center
out nips that one right from the start and allows you to control the tuning
while still taking advantage of the machines strengths.

 

I don't, btw, ever go through the entire sequence that I would if I were
tuning aurally.  If you want to get a sense if your double octave
temperament will work before you begin, tune A2, A3, A4 after you calc the
FAC and see how it works.  It will give you a sense of what kind of changes
you might have to make.   

 

BTW just to illustrate the importance of not totally trusting the machine, I
tuned a Hamburg O recently that had some weirdness in the mid bass.  There
was a wide disparity between where the notes would have been set depending
on whether you used a 6:3 or 4:2 and the resulting 3rds progressions were
all over the place.  The machine tuning didn't sound right and compromises
had to be made between the octave type selection to get a smooth 3rds,
10ths, 6ths progression through the bass.  The customer had gone through two
tuners previous to me who could not (or did not) get it right.  Fortunately,
she told me this up front which allowed me to focus in on what might be
causing the problem.  Had I simply tuned straight up from the bottom she'd
have been looking for a 4th tuner.  

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Robert Finley
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 9:09 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Question About Piano Tuning Using Accutuner SAT III

 

I would like to ask those of you who use the Accutuner SAT III what step by
step procedure you use to tune a piano? Do you calculate the FAC with the
SAT III, and then use it to set the temperament using the sequence function
for one of the stored temperaments (such as the  Potter FA temperament)?
Having set the temperament, do you then tune octaves up the piano to the top
and then octaves down the piano, and finally tune the unisons aurally?  

 

My question is, do you do follow the same step by step procedure as you
would for aural tuning, but instead of listening and adjusting for the
correct beat rates when setting the intervals in the temperament and
octaves, you tune the strings to stop the lights on the SAT? I assume that
you would perform various aural tests as you progress such as listening for
the 1 bps rate of the 4ths and slow roll of the 5ths, and perform the
3rd-10th tests for octaves (i.e. the 10th beating slightly faster than the
3rd) to confirm that the SAT is producing the correct result? 

 

Thank you very much for your advice. 

 

Robert Finley

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