Cracking the unisons

[David Ilvedson]

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So David, when are you go to demonstrate this at a convention...?

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, California






Original message
From: "David Andersen" 
To: Pianotech 
Received: 1/6/2006 9:47:57 AM
Subject: Re: Cracking the unisons


Cracking the unison was described by Virgil Smith in PTG 2/95, although=
 for him it was a very casual matter. I referred to it  as "prior art" =
in my 1/97 article, although when I first tumbled on it, it quickly too=
k on the highly aural useful technique pitch shimming. In years of conv=
ersation, I never ran across anyone doing something similar. This is no=
t to claim ownership of the technique of pitch shimming (or even unison=
 cracking), just to observe that as a seemingly simple technique ready =
to be stumbled on by any aural tuner, it's a remarkably obscure one.




Hey, Bill---to me, pitch shimming is synonymous with cracking a unison:=
  making micro-incremental pitch shifts in a 3 string note; I think exp=
erienced tuners start doing it unconsciously at some point, but it neve=
r really blossomed for me as a foundational tuning tool until I threw m=
y felt strip away and started tuning unisons fully on the fly---open-st=
ring tuning.  Now, 5 years later, I literally sculpt and balance the te=
mperament by very fast and precise shimming of the unisons---and I can =
set a highly idealized, close-to-perfect temperament, solid as a rock, =
all open strings, on basically any piano, in 15-20 minutes. 

Pitch shimming is also incredibly useful as you tune down into the bott=
om of the piano, especially in the all-important and devilish tenor bre=
ak area---the horrific, deliberately confusing end of the long bridge--=
--aaahhhhhhh!!!! I scared myself.....But reallly, this a, perhaps the, =
crucial area of the piano to tune.  If you get it right, and the octave=
s are stretched just the slightest bit flat as they should be, you move=
 to the bass with confidence.

OK?  OK then......

Best, 
David Andersen 

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