Musical tuning

“ Acoustical research was his real interest, and to that he devoted all the time and money he could spare from his business. An exhibit which he sent to the London Exhibition of 1862 gained a gold medal, and at the Philadelphia Exposition at 1876 great admiration was expressed for a tonometric apparatus of his manufacture. This consisted of about 670 tuning-forks, of as many different pitches, extending over four octaves, and it afforded a perfect means for testing, by enumeration of the beats, the number of vibrations producing any given note and for accurately tuning any musical instrument. ”

“ The scale of equal temperament obviates all such inconveniences, and continues to be universally accepted with unqualified satisfaction by the most eminent vocalists; and equally so by the most renowned and accomplished performers on stringed instruments, although these instruments are capable of an indefinite variety of intonation. The high development of modern instrumental music would not have been possible, and could not have been acquired, without the manifold advantages of the tempered intonation by equal semitones, and it has, in consequence, long become the established basis of tuning. ”

“ In this day, when piano and organ music is written and played in all the keys, the unequal temperament is, of course, out of the question. But, strange to say, it is only within the last half century that the system of equal temperament has been universally adopted, and some tuners, even now, will try to favor the flat keys because they are used more by the mass of players who play little but popular music, which is mostly written in keys having flats in the signature. ”

“ If so, and the piano is not too much below concert pitch, and bids fair to stand the tension, draw your 3C up to concert pitch and proceed to lay your temperament. If the piano is nearly as low as international pitch, do not try to bring it up at one tuning to concert unless the owner demands it, when you may explain that it will not stand in tune long. The slightest alteration possible, in the pitch of an instrument, insures the best results, so far as standing in tune is concerned. ”

“ Probably the most important essential in piano building is the production of a frame of such strength and stability that the enormous tension of the strings is completely resisted in all parts of the scale. In many of the cheaper pianos of this day, the lack of this essential manifests itself in an annoying degree to the piano tuner. In tuning, the workman "brings up" his temperament in the middle of the instrument; in most cases the temperament stands all right. He next tunes the treble, then the bass ”

“ The presence of overtones determines the quality of the sound produced. If the string vibrates as a whole merely, the tone given out is simple, and seems dull and characterless. If, on the other hand, it vibrates in such a way that overtones are present, the tone given forth is full and rich and the sensation is pleasing. A tuning fork cannot vibrate in more than one way, and hence has no overtones, and its tone, while clear and sweet, is far less pleasing than the same note produced by a violin or piano. ”

“ To become a piano tuner of the highest skill, many things are necessary; but what may be lacking at the outset may be acquired by study and practice. More depends upon the ear than upon anything else; but no person, however talented, has a sufficiently acute perception to tune perfectly without some culture. Some practice in tuning is necessary to bring the ear to that acuteness of perception so indispensable in certain portions of the instrument. ”

“ To sharpen the tone, scrape it at the point, thereby lightening the vibrating end, which will cause a more rapid rate of vibration. When a reed has been scraped or filed so thin at the point that it will bear no more scraping, it can sometimes be sharpened by bending it up and down a few times, which has a tendency to put temper in the metal. Some reeds are curved at the point purposely to secure a certain voice. Do not interfere with the proper curvature when tuning. In tuning organs, the same system and general instruction given for piano tuning will apply ”

“ To raise the pitch, you will, of course, pull the hammer to the right. In order to make a string stand in tune, it is well to draw it very slightly above the pitch at which it is to remain, and settle it back by striking the key repeatedly and strongly, and at the same time bearing gently to the left on the tuning hammer. The exact amount of over-tension must be learned by practice ”

“ In the invaluable privilege of writing for a moderate compass, a song-composer, almost alone of all composers, is provided with a means of reacting gradually upon instrumental music and of tuning anew the ear of our generation, so that it shall no longer find satisfaction in the shrill tones of extreme voice registers and the euphony of strong, easily and comfortably attained middle tones shall again be universally perceived. At the present moment our instrumental art has, in this particular, fallen under the tyranny of piano manufacturers and makers of wind instruments. ”

“ The violin family, the harp, piano, organ, and harmonium, are examples of instruments capable of being tuned. The accordance of the violin, viola, and violoncello, as is well known, is in fifths which are tuned by the player. [1] The harpist also tunes his harp. But the tuning of the piano, organ, and harmonium, is effected by tuners who acquire their art, in the piano especially, by long practice, and adopt tuning, particularly in this country, as an independent calling, having little to do with the mechanical processes of making the instrument. ”

“ With the musical sound given out by these vibrating strings must inevitably be mixed the dull and unmusical sound of the blow that set them vibrating. The trained ear will detect not only the thud of the hammer against the string, but that of the finger against the key, and that of the key itself upon its base. The study of touch and tone upon the piano is the study of the combination and the control of these two elements of sound, the one musical, the other unmusical. ”

“ In the long evolution from the simple to the complex which music shares with everything else we know we may observe two different methods of tone-combination which, working together, have given us the elaborate texture of the modern art. That especially suited to melodic instruments, like those used in the orchestra or the chorus, puts melodies together as an engraver puts together lines, each remaining distinct, standing off clearly from the others, representing a different musical thought, and yet all agreeing, or, as we say, harmonizing. ”

“ Do not be discouraged on account of failures. No one ever set a correct temperament at the first attempt.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON IX.
Define the terms, "International Pitch," and "Concert Pitch." How would you arrive at the most favorable pitch at which to tune a piano, if the owner did not suggest any certain pitch? What is the advantage in using the continuous mute? Tell what is necessary in the tuning of a string to insure it to stand well? What would result in the major third C-E, if all the fifths, up to E, were tuned perfect? ”

“ It may be that singers cannot sing high, in which case they are better pleased if the piano is tuned to international pitch, while others, especially concert singers, have their pianos at a higher pitch. ”

“ Where a piano is used in the home to practice by, and the singer goes out to various places to sing with other instruments, we have always advised to have the piano tuned as near concert pitch as it would bear, for the reason that if one practices with an instrument tuned to concert pitch he may feel sure of reaching the pitch of any instrument he may be called upon to sing with elsewhere.
The great majority of pianos are left entirely to the tuner's judgment in regard to pitch. ”

“ The brass instruments are provided with a tuning slide and their pitch can be lowered somewhat, but rarely as much as a half-step, while the clarinet should not be varied from its fixed pitch if it can be avoided. It is desirable, then, that all pianos used with orchestra should be tuned to concert pitch if possible. ”

“ Strike the key strongly and hold it down. If the two sounding strings give forth a smooth, unwavering tonea tone that sounds as if it came from one string, the unison is perfect. If you find it so, remove the mute and place it on the other side of the trio of strings. If the piano has been tuned recently by an expert, you may have to continue your search over several keys before you find an imperfect unison; but you will rarely find a piano in such perfect tune that it will not contain some defective unisons. ”

“ The advantage gained by employing an improved system of tuning depends so much on the quality of tone of the instrument, that it is very doubtful whether it would be worth while to adopt the meantone system for the pianoforte. It is only on the modern 'concert-grand' that the defects of equal temperament are felt to any great extent, and it might therefore be well to construct these instruments with a complete meantone scale. ”

“ However, if you do not succeed in finding a defective unison, select a key near the middle of the key-board, place your mute so that but two strings sound, and with your tuning hammer loosen one of the strings very slightly. Now you will notice a throbbing, beating sound, very unlike the tone produced when the strings were [Pg 077] in exact unison. See if you can count the beats. If you have lowered the tension too much, the beats will be too rapid to permit counting. Now with a steady and gradual pull, with the heel of the hand against some stationary part, bring the string up slowly. ”

“ The cycle of movement will then be repeated numerous times per second, with the result that a very pure foundation tone musical note will be produced.
The Diaphone is tuned like ordinary flue pipes and will keep in tune with them; the pressure of wind (and consequently the power of the tone) may be varied without affecting the pitch. The form of the pipe or resonator affects the quality of the tone; it may be flue-like or reedy in character, or even imitate a Pedal Violone, a Hard and Smooth Tuba, an Oboe, or a Clarinet. ”

“ Still, to tune the groundwork of a piano to a carefully measured set of chromatic tuning forks, such as Scheibler formerly provided, would ensure a nearer approach to a perfect equal temperament than the existing system of fourths and fifths, with the slight flattening upwards of fifths and downwards of fourths, to bring all within the perfect octave. But to achieve this, a normal pitch admitting of no variation is a sine quâ non, because no tuner would or could give the time to work by a set of forks making beats with the pitch wanted. ”

“ The cure for the trouble is brought about by the introduction of materials such as carpets, tapestries, and the like, which act as absorbers of sound and reduce the time of reverberation.
When music is played in an auditorium with a prolonged reverberation, the tones following one another blend and produce the same effect as that of a piano when played with the loud pedal in use. A reverberation is more advantageous for music than for speech, since the prolongation and blending of the musical tones is desired, but the mixing of the words in a speech is a distinct disadvantage. ”

“ One great point in favor of the organ is, that it is capable of continuing any tone or chord for any length of time, without diminution, while in the piano, the bass tones may be continued for considerable time, the middle tones a shorter length of time, and the extreme high tones of the treble have but the slightest duration; every tone in the piano gradually grows weaker from the instant of its sounding until it fades into silence. ”

“ It is difficult to realize what extraordinary enrichment in musical resources may spring up under the impetus of new instrumental resources. There will be new treatments of scales and intervals, since the pitch control will be far more flexible than it has been. Perhaps one of the largest innovations will be in the freer use of intonation not built on any particular scale but soaring with the greatest freedom on an instrument as we now hear it, for example, in the singing of Negro spirituals. ”

“ The co-ordination of hand and ear, possessed by a skilled tuner, still prevails, and the difficulty of getting the wire to pass over the bridge, continuously and equally without the governed strain of the tuner's hand, is still to be overcome before a mechanical system can rival a tuner's dexterity.
In considering practical tuning we must at once dismiss the idea that the ear of a musician is capable of distinguishing small fractions of a complete vibration in a second. ”

“ The Vox Humana stop affects the quality of the tone by operating a fan in the rear of the instrument or a contrivance contained in a small box, which produces a tremolo effect. All other stops may be said to affect the power. Stops having such names as Diapason, Melodia, Dulcet, Celeste, Cremona, Echo, Principal, Bourdon, Sub Bass, Piccolo, Flute, Dulciana, etc., etc., open certain sets of reeds supposed to give forth a tone quality similar to the instrument whose name it bears, or the tone of the [Pg 183] pipes of the pipe organ bearing such names. ”