Susan----Bravo....beautiful writing, and my sentiments exactly about obsession with gnat-anatomy to the exclusion of the unweighable, the ethereal, the uncomfortably vague reality of tuning as a body skill rather than a head skill. Even me saying that will freak some out, I expect. Spot on, Sssssn. Thanks.... David Andersen > Susan, > > Very well said! > > Thank you very much. > > Horace > > At 08:07 PM 1/10/2006, you wrote: >> Dear Ed, >> >> Most graciously written, though my ego was not pricked by what you >> were saying -- >> well, not much ... >> >> I find it encouraging that several of the people writing most >> earnestly about this supposedly crucial inaccuracy had the direction >> of it wrong ... good for Bob Davis! >> >> Tuning a couple of not-so-hot pianos since we had this discussion, I >> tried the A4 after I finished my usual procedure -- it seemed >> beatless with the fork. So, wondering how I ended up awfully close >> to where I should be by the "wrong" method, I started thinking about it. >> >> I don't set the A4 from F3 and the A-440 fork. I set A3, using the >> fork and F3. Once A3 is beatless to the A440 fork, and F3 is a >> reasonable beat rate from A3, I tune F4 to a pleasing octave (well, >> pleasing to me ...), and then fiddle with C#4 till the contiguous >> major thirds proceed pleasantly, changing the F's if needed. Then I >> lay the rest of the temperament -- if all goes as I expect it to (I >> have been doing it this way for 28 years, after all ...) the G# at >> the end of the sequence will be happy with the C# from the beginning >> of it, and I move on to octaves, after running fifths and fourths to >> see that they are equally happy or unhappy, depending on the >> instrument. I march upward, treating A4 just like all the other >> notes ----------- and there may lie the saving grace. I make all the >> octaves just slightly wide of what your machines might consider dead >> straight perfect. And this stretch may be just the amount needed to >> get the A4 fundamental beatless against the fork. >> >> I do them this way because I like the sound better. It's less >> stretch than would yield a noticeable beat, short of holding, >> waiting ... waiting .... waiting ....................... etc. >> >> So, if when I check the A4 against the fork it is okay ------what is >> all this worry about? I mean, the world really doesn't need any more >> slipshod piano tuners than it already has, but is it slipshod if my >> ear, listening to the note and the fork together over several >> seconds, can't tell the difference? What earthly harm is that small >> a discrepancy (if even worth mentioning) going to do to anyone? >> >> There are so many undesirable aspects of pianos which are plainly >> audible to an unaided ear, and which often just go by the wayside -- >> why not pay more attention to them, and not worry about the >> "Nano-Issues"? I don't really see the point of spending so much time >> dissecting gnats. >> >> On the other hand, I (sometimes) am happy that people with minds put >> together somewhat differently than mine enjoy taking unreasonably >> exact technical devices, and working out _exactly_ where the gnats >> like to hang out. It's nice, on general principles, to know these >> locations, and have a grounding in general gnat-anatomy, though I >> will always depend on my ear instead -- so it ends up as kind of an >> academic pursuit. Never mind, we all have our roles in life ... we >> all make our various contributions. >> >> Regards, >> Susan Kline (oh, yes, RPT, and I tuned A4 on the test using F2 ...)
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