•[ Bruce Newman wrote in 120120 MMDigest: > Most people don't realize that you can tune not only the > fundamental tone but also the overtones. This is one area > that separates xylophones from marimbas. Wow! Thanks, Bruce, I've been working on these things for over 40 years, and I never knew that! ...

•A minor but important correction to Bruce Newman's contribution in 120120 MMDigest. In a marimba, the first overtone is tuned _two_ octaves above the fundamental tone, thus giving the mellow timbre associated with marimbas (as well as Vibraharps). Bill Flynt Dallas, Texas

•I have really enjoyed the posts on tuning a xylophone; thanks to all who contributed. Does anyone have comments on this kind of tuning when the instrument has metal bars? Sooner or later, I am going to have to tune a harp with metal bars and fiber hammers. Any differences here compared with wooden ...

•I hate to tune pianos, as many of the videos on my YouTube channel, AeolianHall1, will attest to. I use the Korg LCA 120 tuning machine, which is about the size of a pack of cigarettes, and it is a miraculous machine. Google it. For $70 or so, this is the best tuning machine in my opinion. I wanted...

•Hi Randolph, For someone who does not tune often, I think it makes sense to use a good electronic device. I would also check by ear to verify the machine is doing the "right thing." Simple tests, such as octaves, double octaves and arpeggios should be fine for most situations. I often use my finger...

•Hi All, Regarding Randolph Herr's method of tuning a piano (or player piano), the one major flaw is that it's impossible to "set the pin" if you only pluck the strings with a toothpick, or any other such implement. In truth, 'setting the pin' is one of the physically harder aspects of tuning becaus...

•With all respect to instrument owners who work on their beloved machines and love them dearly: pianos simply cannot be tuned using the method described in 120229 MMDigest using a $70 chromatic tuner and a toothpick. Proper tuning devices have recently come down in price from four figures to several...

•I have never seen anyone using the pin/string setting technique that I am about to describe used by anyone other than one person who tuned my piano. I have copied his method and find that it works very well. In addition to playing the key for the shard being tuned very hard while operating the tuni...

•I've been reading these posts with interest. Yes, I am a RPT [Registered Piano Technician] so I've been around pianos a bit, although currently my "day job" is a museum curator and performing arts center manager (and I'm tuning one of its pianos tomorrow!). What we call "setting the pin" is actuall...

•Hi all, Just a quick addition to this thread. Personally speaking, I've never been able to strike a key with enough force to set the pin using only one finger. I've tried it many times, and my finger gets really sore in a hurry. So, I use a 'three-finger' technique that I read about in E. J. McMorr...

•I am not a piano tuner but have worked alongside a couple of them. One tuner uses a piano hammer to forcibly strike the note so his finger(s) don't get fatigued. That would seem like the best tool for setting the pins (rather than two or more fingers). Rich Ingram

•A new book, "The Art of Piano Tuning," by Dan Levitan, is a complete guide to the craft of piano tuning, covering both its aural and manual aspects. At the heart of each of the book's two parts, "The Tuner's Ear" and "The Tuner's Hand," is an essay explaining in detail the standard practices of pia...

•Recent postings to this topic could leave a lay person to believe that a tuning pin can be set by vigorous pounding on the keys, with three fingers or some kind of a pounder tool. A strong blow is usually needed to vibrate the string across its terminations to help equalize and tension differences ...

•Have been reading all of the comments on how to tune player piano with a combination of humor and astonishment. My sad feeling is that tuning is a dying trade. Apparently too many are being trained "by guess and by God." I've been in the trade since 1952, when I was trained by my father who maintai...

•I recently tuned my Weber Unika for a visiting group from MBSI. My tuner was moving his piano shop into a new building and couldn't spare the time to come do it. I normally do all my repairs and re-stringing, etc., and bring the pianos up to pitch. But then after I tune them, I call in the pro and ...

•Hi All, Just in case my posting about the '3-finger technique' was misunderstood, let me clarify one thing. (I should have made this point more clear in my initial posting.) As when tuning any string, the tuning hammer is on the tuning pin and varying amounts of pressure are being applied to the ha...

•Assuming the pins are tight, I have always tried to 'set' the pins and deliver a reasonable 'blow' to the respective key. Setting the pins is to raise the string pitch slightly higher then ease the pin to the correct pitch. This takes the unwanted torsion from the pin shafting which can be on the v...

•Pin setting and string equalization is two different things. For years I was doing it wrong. I could not understand why, during a pitch raise, I was ending up with each octave flatter and flatter as I went up the scale. I was tuning the piano to itself after setting the temperament with an electron...

•Dear MMDers, I know little about tuning a piano. However, I am astonished to read in recent postings that, as a means of setting the pins, each note should be struck very hard, even with a hammer or a karate chop. Is there any risk of breaking the key or any other part of the action? I have noticed...

•Randy Hayno asks for advice about tuning his Unika piano and the difficulty of tuning it without the use of a keyboard. My own experience is this. Firstly it is imperative that you employ a really competent and experienced piano tuner. Mine is well used to tuning a wide variety of unusual pianos in...