Tuning

“ The tuner should hear but two strings at once while setting a temperament; the one he is tuning by and the one he is tuning. A continuous mute is a strip of muting felt of the proper thickness to be pushed in between the trios of strings. Simply lay it across a portion of the strings and with a screwdriver push it in between the trios just above where the hammers strike. In the square piano, which has but two strings to a key, the continuous mute cannot be used and you will be obliged to tune both strings in unison before leaving to tune another interval. ”

“ Tuning the Bass. In tuning the bass, listen for the beats only, in bringing up the octaves. It is sometimes well to try the string tuned, with its fifth, but the octave in the bass should suffice, as the vibrations are so much slower here that if you listen acutely the octave beats will guide you.
It is not necessary to pull the strings higher than the pitch at which they are to stand. Learn to pull them up gradually and in a way that will "render" the string over the bridges, which is an easy thing to do, the strings being so much heavier here than elsewhere. ”

“ The tuning slides (Fr. coulisses; Ger. Stimmbogen) consist of a pair of sliding U-shaped tubes fitting tightly into each other, by means of which the instrument can be brought strictly into tune, and which also act as compensators with the crooks. On these tuning slides, placed across the ring formed by the coils of the valve-horn, are fixed the pistons with their extra lengths of tubing; as the connexion of the pistons with the body of the horn is made through the slides, the value of the latter as compensators will be readily understood. ”

“ Musical colleges in which tuning is taught are few and far between; piano factories are built for the purpose of producing pianos and not tuners, for mechanics and laborers and not for teachers and pupils; furthermore, very little fine tuning is done in the factory; rough tuning is the bulk of the work there, and a long apprenticeship in the factory, with its meager advantages, is rarely sufficient to meet the demands of the would-be-thorough tuner. ”

“ As for tuning, just as changing the length and the thickness of the prongs of a tuning fork varies the frequency with which it vibrates and, hence, the length of the waves it sends out, so, too, by varying the capacitance of the condenser and the inductance of the tuning coil of the transmitter the frequency of the electric oscillations set up in the circuit may be changed and, consequently, the length of the electric waves they send out. ”

“ Or, if the same plate be moved in contact with two tuning-forks, we shall, by comparing the number of sinuosities in the one trace with that in the other, be enabled to assign the ratio of the corresponding numbers of vibrations per second. Thus, if the one note be an octave higher than the other, it will give double the number of waves in the same distance. The motion of the plate may be simply produced by dropping it between two vertical grooves, the tuning-forks being properly fixed to a frame above. ”

“ Electro Tuning Forks and their Uses.—On a former occasion I described an instrument to which, in 1873, I gave the name Electro-Tuning Fork, and which is nothing else than a tuning fork whose motion is kept up electrically in such a way as to last indefinitely, provided that the elements of the pile are renewed gradually, and that from time to time the metallic contact is changed, which causes, at every oscillation, the current to pass from the pile into the magnet, which keeps up the vibration. ”

“ The idea with which we desire to impress the student by the foregoing remarks is, that while the piano is a superior instrument, and the art of tuning the piano is a much deeper study from the general tuner's [Pg 180] standpoint than that of doing the various things the tuner is called to do on the organ, he should not consider the reed organ of minor importance, or slight the organ when called upon to put it in order. The fact is, persons having organs in their homes cherish them as much as others do their pianos, and there is no reason why they should not have as good service. ”

“ If two vibrating tuning-forks, differing in pitch, be held over a closed tube, furnished with a moveable piston, either sound may be made to predominate, by so altering the piston as to obtain the exact column of air which will reciprocate the required sound. ”

“ When a tuning-fork receives a blow and is made to rest upon a piano-forte during its vibration, every string which, either by its natural length or by its spontaneous subdivisions, is capable of executing corresponding vibrations, responds in a sympathetic note. ”

“ Operating delicately, we might even determine from the hum of an insect the number of times it flaps its wings in a second. I will illustrate the subject by determining in your presence a tuning-fork’s rapidity of vibration. From the acoustic102 bellows I urge the air through the siren, and, at the same time, draw my bow across the fork. Both now sound together, the tuning-fork yielding at present the highest note. But the pitch of the siren gradually rises, and at length you hear the “beats” so well known to musicians, which indicate that the two notes are not wide apart in pitch. ”

“ That the source of a sustained sound is an elastic body in a state of vibration is a fact of which, in most cases, we are easily made aware by the evidence of sight and touch; as a bell, a violoncello string, a pianoforte wire, or a tuning-fork. On p. 656 is described a simple method by which a tuning-fork may be made to write down its own vibrations, and the more exact plan of recording them on the surface of blackened paper on a revolving and advancing cylinder has also been referred to. By the intervention of appropriate apparatus, a similar record may be obtained from all sounding bodies. ”

“ For instance, after tuning your first string beyond the temperament, 3C♯, test it as a fifth to 2F♯. If you are yet uncertain, try it as a major third in the chord of A. The beats will serve you as a guide in testing by fifths, up to about an octave and a half above the highest tone of the temperament; but beyond this point they become so rapid as to be only discernible as degrees of roughness. The beats will serve as a guide in tuning octaves higher in the treble than the point at which the beats of the fifth become unavailable ”

“ Tuning fork (Mus.) , a steel instrument consisting of two prongs and a handle, which, being struck, gives a certain fixed tone. It is used for tuning instruments, or for ascertaining the pitch of tunes.
Tunk (?) , n. A sharp blow; a thump. [Prov. Eng. or Colloq. U. S.]
Tun"ker (?) , n. (Eccl.) Same as Dunker.
Tun"nage (?; 48) , n. [From Tun; cf. Tonnage.] See Tonnage.
Tun"nel (?) , n. . [F. tonnelle a semicircular, wagon-headed vault, a tunnel net, an arbor, OF. also tonnel; dim. of tonne a tun; — so named from its resemblance to a tun in shape. See Ton.] 1. ”

“ As I make the wheel turn faster and faster, the pitch of the note gradually rises, and it would, if I could only turn fast enough, give so high a note that we should not be able to hear it. A tuning-fork vibrates at a certain definite rate, and therefore gives a definite note. ”

“ These have reduced the compass of the temperament to the twelve semi-tones from middle C to B above; or from F below, to E above middle C. [Pg 164] This system requires the tuner to make use of both fourths and fifths. Not only does he have to use these two kinds of intervals in tuning, but he has to tune by fourths up and fourths down, and, likewise, by fifths up and fifths down. When tuning a fifth upward, he flattens it; and when tuning a fifth downward he sharpens the lower tone; when tuning a fourth upward, he sharpens it; when tuning a fourth downward, he flattens the lower tone. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Any regulating or repairing of the action should be attended to before tuning the instrument; the latter should be the final operation. As a thorough knowledge of regulating and repairing is practically indispensable to the professional tuner, the author has spared neither means, labor nor research to make this part of the lessons very complete, and feels sure that it will meet with the hearty approval of most, if not all, students. The piano tuner who knows nothing of regulating and repairing will miss many an opportunity to earn extra money. ”

“ Where an oscillation arc or a vacuum tube is used the condenser is charged as rapidly as it is discharged and the result is the oscillations are sustained as shown at D.
About Mechanical Tuning.--A tuning fork is better than a spring or a straight steel bar for setting up mechanical vibrations. As a matter of fact a tuning fork is simply a steel bar bent in the middle so that the two ends are parallel. ”

“ Jack began carefully sliding a small block connected to the instruments up and down the coiled wire which formed the tuning apparatus, and brought the sending and receiving ends into harmony just as if they had been two musical instruments. ”

“ Now if the motor be thrown out of synchrony with the tuning-fork, even if it makes only 39 or 41 instead of 40 revolutions per second, the disturbance is shown instantly, because looking at the illuminated tuning-fork one observes it jumping spasmodically. ”

“ It is well for the student to practice temperament setting and regular tuning now if he can do so. After getting a good temperament, proceed to tune by octaves upward, always testing the tone tuned as a fifth and third until his ear becomes sufficiently true on the octave that testing otherwise is unnecessary. Tune the overstrung bass last and your work is finished. If your first efforts are at all satisfactory you should be greatly encouraged and feel assured that accuracy will reward continued practice. ”

“ The more modern method of tuning is to make the natural rate of vibration of the reed tongue, that is, the rate at which it naturally vibrates when not striking the gongs, such as to accurately correspond to the rate of vibration at which the bells are to be operated—that is, the natural rate of vibration of the reed tongues is made the same as the operative rate. ”

“ Therein lies the secret of tuning. To obtain the most satisfactory results it is, however, necessary to resort to electrical vibrations of low pitch. The Hertzian spark apparatus, used generally by experimenters, which produces oscillations of a very high rate, permits no effective tuning, and slight disturbances are sufficient to render an exchange of messages impracticable. ”

“ It is as follows:
and is also the groundwork for tuning the harmonium.
The organ no longer remains with the groundwork of fifths and octaves; the modern tuners use fourths and fifths in the treble C—C, of the Principal; entirely disregarding the thirds. Like the harmonium the organ is tuned entirely by beats. Organ pipes are tuned by cutting them down shorter, or piecing them out longer, when much alteration has to be made. ”

“ There is yet another advantage to be gained by studying the different kinds of tuning. We have seen that even in those parts of the world where equal temperament has been established as the trade usage, other systems are also employed. Many countries possess a popular or natural music, which exists independently of the conventional or fashionable style, and does not borrow its system of intonation from our tempered instruments. ”

“ Equal Temperament.—An early difficulty in the case of keyed instruments was the matter of tuning, caused by the fact that it was found scientifically impossible to tune all the intervals of the scale at the same time to the true pitch; that is, the pitch demanded by the natural overtones of the fundamental note of the scale. ”

“ You will occasionally find pianos in which the tuning pins have become so loose that they will not resist the pull of the strings. If many of them are in this condition it is better, before you begin to tune, to take a hammer of considerable weight and drive them a little. ”

“ 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 spite of any instruction that can be given, the beginner in piano tuning will not be able to take hold of his work with the ease and the grace of the veteran, nor will he ever be able to work with great accuracy and expedition unless he has a systematic method of doing the various things incident to his profession. ”

“ Various other means may be employed to throw the air into a state of periodic motion. A stretched string pulled aside and suddenly liberated imparts vibrations to the air which succeed each other in perfectly regular intervals. A tuning-fork does the same. When a bow is drawn across the prongs of this tuning-fork, Fig. 20, the resin of the bow enables the hairs to grip the prong, which is thus pulled aside. ”

“ 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. ”