piano tuning practiceI should be pleased if somebody would be so kind to update my knowledge of piano tuning.

I should be pleased if somebody would be so kind to update my knowledge of piano tuning.

Piano's are supposed to be tuned in equal temperament.However... some tuners make the higher octaves a little too wide. They say this adds to the "brilliance"of the sound.I also know of a tuner who makes the lower octaves a little too wide, he says this makes cords sound better. Are great pianists known to have an opinion on this topic, and if they have, is there concensus ?

A tuner has to memorize the beats of the fifths, but without instrumental help small errors are unavoidable. Could it be that tuners have favorite keys that sound better than others ? Are great pianists known to have tuners who tune to their taste?.

To what precision can a piano be tuned? I think the slip-stick effect will limit the smallest increment to which a string can be tuned .

A further source of tuning error can be found in the friction between the string and the comb.

And a last observation : I read many years ago in The Scientific American that the three strings tuned to the same note are a coupled vibration system which can be made sound longer if slightly mistuned. I can hardly believe it.

Leen van Assendelft, Arnhem, the Netherlands

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Leen van Assendelft"
<leenvanass@w...> wrote:
> I should be pleased if somebody would be so kind to update my
knowledge of piano tuning.
>
> Piano's are supposed to be tuned in equal temperament.However...
>some tuners make the higher octaves a little too wide.

most do . . . and the lower ones a little wide as well.

>They say this adds to the "brilliance"of the sound.

it also helps the octaves beat less. it's impossible to tune beatless
octaves on a piano, because of the inharmonicity, but stretching the
octaves can lower most of the audible beating rates. typically, the
octaves are tuned by matching the second partial of the lower note to
the fundamental of the higher note in the upper register
(shorthand "1:2"); as one moves to lower and lower registers, one
uses higher and higher partials, moving through "2:4" to "3:6"
to "4:8" to "5:10" or even "6:12" in the extreme low register.

>I also know of a tuner who makes the lower octaves a little too
>wide, he says this makes cords sound better. Are great pianists
>known to have an opinion on this topic, and if they have, is there
>concensus ?

yes, it's rare to find a piano tuned with no stretching at all. i
tried to do this on my piano, and it doesn't sound too bad, but the
highest notes definitely sound a bit flat . . .

> A tuner has to memorize the beats of the fifths, but without
>instrumental help small errors are unavoidable. Could it be that
>tuners have favorite keys that sound better than others ?

>Are great pianists known to have tuners who tune to their taste?.
>
> To what precision can a piano be tuned? I think the slip-stick
>effect will limit the smallest increment to which a string can be
>tuned .
>
> A further source of tuning error can be found in the friction
>between the string and the comb.
>
> And a last observation : I read many years ago in The Scientific
>American that the three strings tuned to the same note are a coupled
>vibration system which can be made sound longer if slightly
>mistuned. I can hardly believe it.

i refer you to ed foote, who's on this list, to answer these latter
questions before i attempt to.

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Leen van Assendelft"
<leenvanass@w...> wrote:

> And a last observation : I read many years ago in The Scientific
>American that the three strings tuned to the same note are a coupled
>vibration system which can be made sound longer if slightly
>mistuned.

i think that's if the mistuning is low enough, from zero up to some
threshold -- here's an abstract:

AN 89(4):14521
PHYS
TI Fundamental theory and computer simulation concerning the
decay
characteristics of piano
sound.
AU Nakamura, Isao (Department of Computer Science and
Information
Mathematics, University of Electro-Communications, Chofu, 182
Japan)
SO J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Suppl. (15 Oct 1988) v. 84(1) p.
S135
116. Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Inc. (ASA) -
2.
Joint Meeting with the Acoustical Society of Japan, Honolulu,
HI
(USA), 14-18 Nov
1988
Published in summary form only Current Physics Microform
No.:

8811D0135

ISSN 0163-0962; CODEN
JACSC
CY UNITED
STATES
DT Journal;
Conference
TC
Theoretical

LA
English

AB It is shown by theory and computer simulation that the
decay
characteristics of piano sound are dependent upon the degree
of
coupling between the strings. String and soundboard vibration
are
calculated using an equivalent circuit. Each string is comprised
of
resonance circuits that correspond to partials, and the behaviors
of
individual partials are described independently of each other
by
these circuits. When the most simplified version of only one
partial
is considered, the equivalent circuit is expressed by the
two
resonant circuits coupled with the soundboard impedance. The
degree
of coupling between the two strings is dependent on the ratio of
two
constants: the degree of mistuning and the ratio of
soundboard
impedance to string impedance. If the former is smaller than
the
latter, the two strings are closely coupled with each other and
a
double decay characteristic results. If the relation between the
two
constants is reversed, the coupling is loose and a beat type of
decay
characteristic results. The decay characteristics are changed by
the
above two constants. The results show that the degree of tuning
and
the characteristics of the strings and the soundboard determine
the
decay characteristics of piano
sound.
CC
*4375

CT SOUND WAVES; *COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; *MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS;
*ACOUSTICS; STRINGS; COUPLING; ACOUSTIC IMPEDANCE;
EQUIVALENT
CIRCUITS