I've been reading back and forth and depending on how I read what I find it really difficult to be in disagreement with any of the apparently (to some degree at least) opposing views here. Clearly Virgil and guys like David Andersen can demonstrate aurally wonderful tunings... and they claim they are listening to some kind of beat phenomena that is apart from the simple beats produced by coincident pairs. There is clearly a kind of sub-level beat produced when several coincident pairs inter-react as is the case in playing octaves, double octaves... etc. I posted a graph of this a few years back produced on a wave program I have. And this sub beat changes amplitude and rate depending on how all the partials line up. Perhaps this is what these folks are hearing... perhaps not... its small in amplitude compared to the simple beats of partials. Its all very interesting to be sure... Cheers RicB I would disagree with Virgil about where beats come from. Of course, they come from coincident partials. But it is true that one can tune extremely well without listening for specific coincidental partials. However, one can still benefit from the concept of listening musically. Just relax and let the "force" guide you. <G> OK, all kidding aside, if you do relax and listen for the sweet spot, you will hear it eventually. Assuming you have good lever technique. You also need to learn how to setthe middle string slightly above that sweet spot so that when the otherstrings are tuned to the middle, the pitch is correct for all three strings sounding together. (Pitch does change somewhat when unisons are tuned to the middle string.) David Andersen, I'd like to attend the tuning soirée in GR. Would it be during a normal class time, or after hours? -- JF
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