To mute or not to mute

[erwinspiano at aol.com]

-----? Steve all
? There are many ways to skin the tuning cat.? I suspect the strip mute method I & others?use may share some things common to the single mute guys.
? For instance when pitch raising I mute everything out & use individual felt mutes at each break. I'm a fast stripper....ooohh. usually can gitter done in 60 seconds.
?WHen Using the Acu-tuners 1/4 of the flatness value over pull /pitch raise?protocol used By Rick Baldassin, I calculate the flatness of a note starting at f- 3 0r the first tenor plain wire.?I then tune about a fourths worth of middle strings & then go back & immediately pull in the unisons....Recalculate pitch with the machine & tune another fourths worth and so on up to the top .? The bass can be tuned on one machine setting setting but it's faster for me to just pull them?up & in by ear.? The stability is the proof in any system & this sets the piano up for fine tuning within a cent or so. Often way less. 
? Works for me. I can jam & give the piano a musical, stable tuning. 
? When I?attended the Yamaha red school house in 1976 they?stated that "?always spend an?1 & 1/2 hours in the home". When asked why, the answer was because it takes that long to do a stable tuning, & also gives the customer value. If you finish tuning sooner tweak the regulation & pedals etc. They would judge the success of a new tuner by how many times he was invited to lunch with the client. Hey if he wasn't eating he was doing something wrong & they tried to correct it.
? When doing major pitch raising I still find spending 1 1/2 hours yields the best rock solid results.
??? Dale Erwin




Hey Now,
?
Thanks Dale and others for comments related to strip muting. I use action cloth too, I think I got it from Piano tech. I pretty much agree with everything David Ilvedson posted on 3/21. I can see using the mute method tuning unisons as described on this thread on grand's. To me its just not practical on most upright/console/spinets. The string spacing is often inconsistent. Lighting and angles are often an issue. Also the mutes flop around and fall out. I have cut down the wire to at least minimize this last problem. Its just too frustrating to be enjoyable. In the end I tune unisons as I go with the action cloth temperament strip on anything standing up. Yesterday as an experiment I tuned a grand with?a felt mute that has a?tapered tip. It fits nicely into the unisons and its a method I could get used to. I went left to right though. I'll try the right to left as David Anderson has suggested next time. I already use this method in the sixth and seventh octave anyway.
?
Again I agree with the stability statements and think tuning unisons as you go is the hot ticket. following this thread I have discovered there are several different ways to achieve this goal.
?
As far as temperament tuning with mutes. I thank John Formsma and I can't remember who else posted?comments. But anyway thanks for the encouragement to both of you (who ever you are?). Here's my thoughts on that. The test is given with the piano completely strip muted. I intend to continue my practice with the piano strip muted?because it is my goal to pass the test. It seems to me to be logical to practice under same the conditions you will be tested on. My mind is quite feeble, not sure if?it would be?a good idea?changing my whole routine at this particular point in time. I know that I will never achieve the ability of David Anderson and others on the list (no sarcasm intended), I'm just trying to learn and pass the test. After that I will try to hone my skills to a higher level. With the help of my friends on list of course.??
?
Thanks again to all for the wealth of information. Have a great holiday weekend.
?
Steve Blasyak
Orange County Ca.
?
Pura Vida?

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