for those on the fence about hearing protection..

[jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca]

I think it is more to do with the environment, not having changed.
If the humidity changes, you can have the best technique in the world, and the piano pitch will have changed.
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: AlliedPianoCraft 
  To: Pianotech List 
  Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 6:22 PM
  Subject: Re: for those on the fence about hearing protection..


  I have been tuning since 1964. I value my ears and I have never used firm blows.

  Today I tuned 3 pianos. One was for a church that I last tuned in December 07. The other was for a musician, that I last tuned in November 07 and the last was a player piano that I tuned in March of 07. None of these are equipped with a DC. Not one of them was more than 6 cent off in either direction.

  I am not bragging here. I'm just trying to make a point. I think It's all in hammer technique. IMHO firm blows are overrated and lead to hearing loss.

  Al Guecia

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: erwinspiano at aol.com 
    To: pianotech at ptg.org 
    Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 4:38 PM
    Subject: Re: for those on the fence about hearing protection..


    IMO Firm blows are a must for stable tunings but more importantly really good hammer technique. Good techique requires fewer firm blows.
      Dale Erwin


    -----Original Message-----
    From: Diane Hofstetter <dianepianotuner at msn.com>
    To: pianotech at ptg.org
    Sent: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:59 am
    Subject: for those on the fence about hearing protection..



It's good this topic has come up.  It's one we have collectively been taught and 
now collectively need to objectively examine. 

 I taught a class in hearing protection and did hearing tests at a piano tuning 
school last fall.  
Part of the class included measuring how loud they were tuning.  When I asked 
the instructor to demonstrate tuning blows,  he asked "should I do it like I 
teach them, or like they DO?"   I said "both".  So he proceeded to tune, using 
an average blow of 95dB.  Then he demonstrated his students' blows.  They 
measured 85dB.

Afterwards, when I tested the students' hearing individually, they confessed to 
me that it hurt their ears to tune as loud as the instructor wanted them to.

So I started wondering whether it is actually necessary to use extremely loud 
test blows, or whether it is PTG folklore?

How many of us have actually done objective studies?  Now we have ETD's we have 
the ability to measure our results down to thousandths of a cent.  We can go 
back immediately after a tuning. the next day, the next week, and measure 
whether it is holding or not.   

In the 1990's my husband, who had previously been involved in quality control, 
devised a graph and we started measuring every tuning on the piano before we 
tuned it.  This allowed us to have a picture of the results of our previous 
tunings.  It gave us information on the seasonal tuning changes--helped sell 
Damppchasers.   It helped us selll pitch raises.  It gave information on the 
changes in pitch in the conference center concert instruments so we knew what 
time to tune to have the piano at pitch.  It gave us information on our tuning 
stability.

When I went back to school, more than full time to study hearing, I stopped 
tuning for a year and a half.  One day I opened a little used dresser drawer, 
and gasped!  It was filled with devices I used to use to try to stop the pain in 
my left fingers, wrist, arm, shoulder..........

The worst part is that those pianos I hurt myself on three years ago are no 
longer in tune, but I have residual pain.

Diane




for those on the fence about hearing protection..
Ron Nossaman rnossaman at cox.net <

> Sorry I don't use a "trusty etd" I instead use my "trusty god given
> ears" and I haven't experienced what you describe.
>
> Mike

I tune aurally, and I sure have, which is why I let up on the
pounding.
Ron N


Diane Hofstetter


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