TUNING METHODS

I use a combination of aural and electronic tuning. I use the same level of quality on vertical pianos as I do for Concert Tunings on 9ft Grands. I look at the art of tuning in a similar way that I look at playing the violin. If one practices an instrument in a sloppy fashion, then that will show in a performance. Similarly, if one tunes sloppy at times, it will be more difficult to do a high level tuning. When I tune a piano, I think of it as a performance and also a high level practice session.

Bass Tuning

There are some special challenges in tuning this section of the piano. Since all the beats that a tuner listens to are occurring at a slower rate then in the midrange and the treble, one has to take some additional time. Otherwise unisons can be left out of tune. (Unisons are the strings that make up a note; there can be 1, 2 or 3 strings per note in the bass. The challenge is in getting the 2 and 3 string bass unisons in tune with each other. As in the treble there are different ways to tune bass octaves. Matching partials between the lower and higher note of an octave is the usual way to go. Usually we match the 6th partial of the lower note with the 3rd partial of the upper note. In the single string bass I sometimes tune the 8th partial of the lower to match the 4th partial of the upper. In order to tell which approach works best in the low bass, I play 3 octaves at the same time using both hands of course. I try to get the best blend of the various partials.

TUNING STABILITY

Creating a stable tuning is an art which takes years to achieve. It comes from skill in using the tuning hammer or lever and also in how the key is struck. In the past year I have developed a method that allows me to strike the keys with more force without damaging my fingers. I call this method "Dura-Tune". Striking the keys with a light blow does not lead to a very stable tuning in my opinion.

TEMPERAMENT FACTS

Tuners tune today primarily with Equal Temperament which is a mathematical type temperament. A temperament consists of the first 12 notes that are tuned. They lay the basis for the rest of the tuning. There are several problems with Equal Temperament. One is that there are no differences in tone color from one key to the next. One more practical problem is with the C-E major 3rd in octave 4 which is middle C and the E above. The problem with that 3rd is that it beats very fast and a slower beating 3rd sounds much better. Most beginning students use that interval a lot and it makes sense to me to make it sound less busy and more on the pure side. This can be done by by raising the C slightly or lowering the E. Then some of the other notes in the temperament are also offset slightly to accommodate this change. I doubt if anyone can tell the difference in the other offsets, but may appreciate the purer sounding 3rd. I also sometimes tune the F to A 3rd in octave 3 slightly slower and the F# to A# 3rd slightly faster. These additional changes will add some tone color differences. In the 19th century and earlier tuners tuned with Unequal Temperament.   The following are the basic types of unequal temperaments.  Pythagorean (14th century), meantone (16th century), modified meantone 17th cent.), well temperaments (18th cent.), quasi equal temperaments (19th cent.) and equal temperament (20th to present day). Information that I have about temperaments comes from Owen Jorgensen's book on tuning. There were many different varieties of well temperament in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Owen says that there were as many varieties as there were tuners.  There were differences of tone color which is unlike Equal temperament which is strictly a mathematical approach.  I have been enjoying using one of the Victorian temperaments which is in the Well tempered class.  There are none of the "wolf tones" that are present with Pythagorean and to a lesser extent with Mean Tone.

Temperaments are kind of like fonts in word processing. You can design your own font and then apply the same characteristics to all the letters of the alphabet or you select fonts that someone else designed. The same applies to temperaments except that a temperament is determined by 12 notes and then they are extended out by octaves to the rest of the keyboard.