Making a piano tuning lever

[brass monkey]

What can I say? I included a wink, right :D

[ARWadsworth]

He must not have heard it.

I'll get my coat...

[geoff]

In message , Matty F writes

Mine cost £30 and works fine

Normally, the tuning pins are tapered, I don't think that the tuning tool is

The tuning pins are not identical and the tool finds its own level to make good contact. You might find that tapered hole over tapered pin might tend to stick

But are you going to slightly offtune the strings to give a richness of tone?

You never tune all three strings to exactly the same pitch as it creates a very dead sound. Are you aware that you should slightly overtune as the pitch drops a bit when the pressure is released?

What key are you going to tune to?

You'll only be able to play in that and the 5th above and below without it sounding awful

[Matty F]

Perhaps Brian does not have a "Victor Borge" type audible punctuation enabled. I've heard that being blind can make the other senses more sensitive, so maybe having a blind piano tuner would make sense. Just as long as he doesn't try to tune my old telephone exchange or the Cockcroft- Walton nuclear accelerator by mistake, especially when they are both running.

[geoff]

In message , Brian Gaff writes

Rather, not tuning all three strings to exactly the same pitch adds the warmth and colour that a clinically tuned piano would lack

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Even if you tuned them identially, very soon after they would drift slightly and 'beat' - giving that honky tonk sound. I dunno how far apart they are tuned in practice. IIRC, you go for one bang on, one slightly sharp and one slightly flat. Hence the use of the rubber to deaden two of the strings while tuning the third.

[brass monkey]

That's if he can find them :D

[brass monkey]

You sound very knowledgable in this field, Geoff. Do you play?

[Matty F]

What about the lower notes that have only one or two strings? How do I get warmth and colour in those?

[geoff]

In message , brass monkey writes

Piano? Yes ... but I never practice nowadays. I'm a long way off being anywhere near as good as I should be

When it comes to tuning, I (as I said elsewhere) have a friend who is a piano tuner and he has shown me how he tunes pianos, a sort of years experience condensed into minutes, but all good stuff.

[geoff]

In message , Matty F writes

Well, you don't do you?

But its not so important down at those frequencies, the notes are not so bright anyway (they're spirally wound to give them extra mass). Most of the music you play on a piano is in the middle four octaves.

[brass monkey]

I used to play when I was a kid (9), kinda pushed into it by my parents. I bought a Yamaha HS-8 many years back and produced these -

'were the best I could do (~10 years back). I'm amazed by these professionals. Tim Flint for example, terrific, see him if you can.

[brass monkey]

e.g,

> When it comes to tuning, I (as I said elsewhere) have a friend who is a

[Leon Franks]

Couple of points about tuning, regarding some things said in this thread.

• Tuning lever sockets are usually eight-pointed star sockets, not square. = You need to be able to choose the best angle for the tool on the pin to hav= e the fine control tuning requires.

• All the strings in a single note, the unisons, must be tuned identically.= The "dead" sound is a different problem: it comes from not tuning the diff= erent octaves with the proper stretch due to inharmonicity. Using an electr= onic keyboard, for example, to tune every note will give a dead sound on an= acoustic piano.

• Professional tuning levers start at about 5. (Cheaper ones will work O= K for a while but may not hold up or give the best results for someone who = knows how to use it. Super cheap ones are crap that won't work for anyb= ody.) There certainly are 0 tuning levers, though, which some pro tuners= swear by, but certainly not all.

For the details on piano tuning, see

[Matty F]

I have solved the problem of getting it up the steps. Since I intend to fully recondition the piano, I've taken it apart. It's now light enough for two people to carry. I shall make a non-tapered spanner in the forge or maybe with a file. I can't bring myself to pay more than 30 times as much for a spanner as the piano cost.

If you want to be horrified I did investigate making an auto-tuning piano. That's done either by having 300 stepper motors or a heater on each string.

[charles]

The piano in this house has square, tapered, pegs.

"Best results"? The tuning key either turns the peg, or it doesn't. I agree, though, that a poorly made key could damage the pegs or if it sticks on cause the string to detune when removed.

[Matty F]

. You need to be able to choose the best angle for the tool on the pin to h= ave the fine control tuning requires.

I don't believe it is necessary to have eight-pointed star sockets. I think it's better and does less damage to the pins to use a square socket. Which I will make. Perhaps I'm wrong, and I will find that out.

I agree and that is what I will do.

ferent octaves with the proper stretch due to inharmonicity. Using an elect= ronic keyboard, for example, to tune every note will give a dead sound on a= n acoustic piano.

I don't think I want to "stretch". When I play octaves I want them to be in tune.

OK for a while but may not hold up or give the best results for someone wh= o knows how to use it. Super cheap $25 ones are crap that won't work for an= ybody.) There certainly are $700 tuning levers, though, which some pro tune= rs swear by, but certainly not all.

composed for pianos that were not tuned to equal temperament but to one of several other temperaments popular in their time." And that is what I want to do. I have heard recordings of pianos tuned that way and that is what I want.

[Jon Fairbairn]

Not really. The other senses remain just as sensitive (or not) as in a sighted person, but a blind person pays more attention and allocates more brain area to them.

[RobertL]

Bach invented equal temperement so he would have wanted it tuned that way.

Robert

[Paul D Smith]

The January 1979 issue of "Scientific American" contains an article on piano tuning which I think says basically says the same thing. Not sure if you would be able to find it on-line though.

Paul DS.