The Craft Of Piano Tuning

This text book combines in one volume four major facets of the practical art and theory of piano tuning that students of the art must approach in formal training, and explains techniques that typically develop later in professional practice. These facets are the traditional model, the art itself, contemporary scientific descriptions, and the concept of musical temperament. Today, the 19th century traditional model of piano tuning still functions as a very basic map for the acoustical territory in which piano tuners work, but remains elementary and idealised. Modern acoustics can go much further in its descriptions than the 19th century model and is used in this book to elucidate the practical art, whilst carefully avoiding scientism. The book serves as an instruction and reference manual to advanced level on the practical art and its associated theory, and answers common questions raised by students about the actual soundscapes that are encountered in practice

The Art of Tuning is the first comprehensive text on piano tuning, construction, and repair ever written. Filled with historical details concerning the pianos of the mid-19th century, The Art of Tuning documents the technology, tools, and techniques used during the most vibrant period in the development of the pianoforte. This translation masterfully preserves the direct and approachable style of the original.

The new edition of the leading textbook and most comprehensive source available for both practicing piano tuners and academic researchers, on the theory and practice of piano tuning. By the former Royal National College lecturer in Piano Technology and Tuning Theory. 680 pages, with over 300 illustrations and tables. The book covers in-depth theory and practice from elementary to advanced level. It answers common questions raised by students of piano tuning about the actual soundscapes and behaviour of piano tone that are encountered in tuning practice. It is suitable for both students and professionals of piano tuning, general readers, and academics with interdisciplinary interests in the subject. Includes: Why we need skilled piano tuners Intonation and tone The distance between theory and the art Theory of sound Temperament theory Elementary "traditional" tuning and beat rate theory What contemporary acoustics reveals What attenuation is, and why it is so important Beyond the 19th century model - How "beating" and "beat rates" really work Beyond the 19th century model - How tempered intervals really behave in fine tuning False beat phenomenon and its influence The effects of bridge coupling How real tone- envelopes behave in fine tuning Inharmonicity and small piano syndrome What octave stretching is, why, and how it works Setting the pin - the theory behind it and how to practice it Scale plasticity, logic, and tuning technique Psychoacoustics and how to listen Contents: Acknowledgments Piano tuning and this book Part 1 - Background Theory The invisible art and science The essential ideas Sound Temperament Theory "Traditional" piano tuning theory and elementary practice The soundscape, spectrum and tone Partial decay patterns Part 2 - Fine Tuning Practice Unison Tuning Tuning the Scale Octave tuning Setting the Pin Setting the pitch Small piano syndrome Hearing The Kirk Experiment Part 3 - Advanced Theory The single piano string in one plane The Weinreich Model Two strings, two planes The Trichord Further comments on false partials Inharmonicity Glossary of key concepts Select bibliography

Provides all the information needed for restoring and maintaining pianos, both for professionals and amateurs.

This book is an introduction to the art of piano tuning, a handy and interesting skill to have. You can use this skill to make pocket money, or a full-time income. However, to be a bad piano tuner is a sacrilege. As professionals we strive to not only be good at what we do, but educate the public as well. To tune a piano poorly in order to make "a quick buck" is not only cheating the customer out of their money, but also robbing them of the experience of having a properly tuned instrument. This can cause students to lose interest, owners to lose trust, and fellow tuners to lose respect. To be a Professional Piano Tuner, you must strive to be as skilled, honest, and informative as possible. Included in this volume is an overview of how music itself works - a guide to going about learning enough about music so that it can add to the skill set needed to be a good piano tuner! Among the topics covered in this book are: The Mechanics of Tuning Hammer Technique The Temperment The Keyboard Intervals Temperment Patterns The Harmonic Sequence The Stretch Octave Tuning Unison Tuning Pitch Raising and Lowering Keyboard Technique Learning Music as a Second Language Keyboard Training Exercises Ear Training What is Perfect Pitch?

A treatise on how player pianos function, and how to get them back into top playing condition if they don't work. For beginners and experienced technicians alike.

Few music lovers realize that the arrangement of notes on today’s pianos was once regarded as a crime against God and nature, or that such legendary thinkers as Pythagoras, Plato, da Vinci, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and Rousseau played a role in the controversy. Indeed, from the time of the Ancient Greeks through the eras of Renaissance scientists and Enlightenment philosophers, the relationship between the notes of the musical scale was seen as a key to the very nature of the universe. In this engaging and accessible account, Stuart Isacoff leads us through the battles over that scale, placing them in the context of quarrels in the worlds of art, philosophy, religion, politics and science. The contentious adoption of the modern tuning system known as equal temperament called into question beliefs that had lasted nearly two millenia–and also made possible the music of Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, and all who followed. Filled with original insights, fascinating anecdotes, and portraits of some of the greatest geniuses of all time, Temperament is that rare book that will delight the novice and expert alike.