[pianotech] shorter final tuning time with pitch raises; forearm smash

[David Nereson]

    Thanks, everyone, for your replies -- it all helps.  Maybe 
I'm listening too long and thinking too much.  But I've observed 
tuners at conventions who hit a  unison that's out, and in one 
quick single movement of the tuning hammer, hit the beatless 
spot first time.  That happens for me on maybe one in thirty 
unisons.  On all the rest, I've either over- or undershot the 
intended target, and then have to pound away, beating it back 
down, or cranking it a little farther up, until it's "on." 
There's such a variance in how far you move the lever before the 
string moves.  In some pianos, the lever can rotate through 10 
or 15 degrees before a pitch change is heard, and in others, if 
you even look at the pin askance, it will change pitch.
    --David Nereson


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Nossaman" <rnossaman at cox.net>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 10:36 PM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] shorter final tuning time with pitch 
raises; forearm smash


> On 11/3/2010 6:15 PM, William Truitt wrote:
>> I can do a single pass tuning in about 50 minutes, a double 
>> pass in an hour
>> or less.
>
> Yup, or 40 minutes, and an hour or less, depending on the 
> venue.
>
>
>> Ron is dead on the money here.  What Ron is talking about 
>> here is the
>> precision of a craftsman with no wasted motion, nothing 
>> extraneous.
>
> Sort of, but it's not all that exalted a thing. It's more 
> getting straight to the process, with as little wandering 
> through the weeds as possible. It's neither exclusive of mere 
> mortals, magic, nor available from Ronco if you call now. It's 
> just focus and action.
>
>
>>It only
>> takes about half a second to hear what you need once you have 
>> advanced your
>> procedure to the point that you can function doing this.  You 
>> have stopped
>> thinking at this point, it goes straight from your ear to 
>> your hand..  It
>> becomes a very pure concentration.