Defending your tuning

[Diane Hofstetter]

Robin,

When we start to lose hearing, it can be anywhere in the frequency range.  
Hair cells can be damaged in one area of the cochlea only.  A piano analogy 
would be that if the strings on C6 through F6 broke, you could play that 
piano. but not hear anything from C6-F6.

A difference with hearing is that when hair cells in a certain range get 
damaged, the neighboring hair cells try to take over the job.  But the 
"neighbors" are tuned to different frequencies, so their responses are 
"wrong".  The condition is called _Diplacusis_.  It is a false perception of 
pitch.  Often happens to musicians when they lose hearing.

Diane



Diane Hofstetter




----Original Message Follows----
From: "Robin Blankenship" <tunerdude at comcast.net>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: Defending your tuning
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 08:53:30 -0400

MessageGeoff, some years ago I was tuning a brand new Steinway B for a 
professional oboe player and he said that C6 through F6 were all slightly 
sharp. As it turned out, that is the top of the oboe's usual "power" range 
and he had a very well developed sense of pitch based on that. I had to 
lower each note about one or two cents and he was then satisfied. It was 
still ok as far as the piano was concerned. Very curious affair. Strange to 
me that above F6, he did not seem to care.

Robin Blankenship
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Geoff Sykes
   To: Pianotech at Ptg. Org
   Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 1:13 AM
   Subject: Defending your tuning


   Greetings all --

   This afternoon I did a repair tuning on a Yamaha C3. By repair I mean 
that the owner of the piano felt that the tuning from the previous tuner, 
two months ago, left a lot to be desired. Once I checked it out I had to 
agree. Anyway, I tune the piano up and make it all right again and the owner 
sits down and plays it a bit when I'm done and complains that the treble, 
especially the area around sixth octave, is sharp. OK, I pull out my trusty 
Reyburn Cybertuner and double check the tuning, and it's right on. Just to 
make sure, I put the ETD away and do aural checks all the way up from about 
F5. Everything checks out good, but the owner still insists that it's sharp. 
Since he's not complaining about every single treble note, but just a half 
dozen or so, I strip mute the treble and work with him on each note that he 
is unhappy with. Doing a number of checks, including some of his, I get to a 
point where I just can't make the note any flatter and still claim the piano 
is in tune. I'm bringing notes down so flat that they are full of fast beats 
and the octave is just ruined, and he's still complaining that they sound 
flat. By this time I've disagreed with him enough that he's starting to, 
(finally), question his own perception. I suggest we leave it where it is 
and when I come back for the next tuning I will make a point of reducing the 
amount of stretch in the treble to as close to nothing as I can make it. He 
says OK.

   Rather than go through this again, as well as learn from the experience, 
I'm looking for ways to work with a customer who is obviously hearing 
incorrectly but who I, nevertheless, want to satisfy. Today's question: How 
do you defend a tuning that you know, and can prove, is correct when the 
customer says it is not?

   -- Geoff Sykes
   -- Los Angeles