Blind Pitch Raises

[Barbara Richmond]

Howdy,

I've had good luck with blind pitch raises.  The secret(?) for me is using 
<thin> strip mutes that let a little hint of sound through.  OK, so it's not 
totally blind, but I'm not removing the mute while I work.  I suppose it 
would be blind if I took off my glasses.  :-)

Barbara Richmond, RPT
near Peoria, IL


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Formsma" <formsma at gmail.com>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2007 8:03 AM
Subject: Re: Blind Pitch Raises


> Like Terry, I've tried the blind (shouldn't it be deaf?) pitch raises,
> and ended up with wild results. It's probably me, though, and I'm sure
> with enough practice one could get reasonably close.
>
> However, if you can raise pitch in 15 minutes or less, I don't really
> see why you'd want to do it blindly.  For me it's just not a skill I
> think I really must have.
>
> As others have suggested, if I were doing a 100+ cent pitch raise, I'd
> do two or three quick pitch raises, then come back later and do a fine
> tuning. Unless the piano was to be used for some event that
> necessitated a fine tuning, of course...then I'd fine tune it as well.
>
> JF
>
> On 6/30/07, Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> I'm another one who believes that one can utilize this technique, has 
>> tried
>> it, and has gotten nothing but a wild piano of higher pitch.
>>
>> Take your semi-tone-flat piano and do a blind one-pass pitch raise. Now 
>> go
>> through the piano and measure strings with an accutner (or whatever ETD).
>> What is the extreme range of the wildest strings? And how close to target
>> pitch is the "average" string?
>>
>> Just ballpark answers are what I am looking for. Keeping in mind that
>> ideally, no string is more than two cents away from target pitch (or 
>> maybe
>> five cents in extreme cases like this) to get a good fine tuning on the 
>> next
>> pass, it is difficult to do a significant pitch raise slowly and 
>> carefully
>> measuring each string and getting those kind of results - let alone 
>> whaling
>> through the piano blindly turning pins. And if the blind pitch raise
>> optimistically gets most strings within 10 or 20 cents of target - then 
>> you
>> need to do a second pitch adjustment anyway.
>>
>> I can see a blind pitch raise for a 100 cent flat piano followed by a 
>> second
>> careful pitch raise and then a tuning pass. But then again, if you start 
>> the
>> second PR with a piano that is sharp and flat all over the place, it is 
>> very
>> difficult to know how much overpull/underpull to apply. If I did the 
>> first
>> PR carefully, things may still not be within 2 cents of target, but at 
>> least
>> pitches are consistent sharp or flat and I can accurately calculate for 
>> the
>> next small PR.
>>
>> I just don't get it I guess. I may just be that I'm blind-PR-challenged.
>> Don't jump on me - I'm sure someone out there does this will excellent
>> results. But I have never seen it done. 'Course, I've never seen anyone 
>> tune
>> a piano either.....
>>
>> Comments?
>>
>> Terry Farrell
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: ITUNEPIANO at aol.com
>> To: pianotech at ptg.org
>> Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 8:59 PM
>> Subject: Re: Blind Pitch Raises
>>
>>
>> Hi Mark.  First practice by muting the entire piano with  temperament
>> strips  Raise the center string by ear, paying attention to how much you
>> just moved the pin, then raise the other two strings of the note the same
>> amount.  This does take practice.  Pay attention to how far the pin moves
>> for different amounts flat.  In time, you will be able to raise a piano 
>> 20
>> cents , 30 cents, 40 cents, whatever amount you want without listening to
>> the tone.  Note - use both hands on the tuning lever to control the
>> movement.   You should limit pitch raises to 100 cents at a time.  Bob.
>>
>>
>>
>>  ________________________________
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>