Re: [Harp-L] Steve Baker - clarification requested re tuning 5 hole draw

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

captron100@xxxxxxx wrote:
<Sorry I forget the name of the thread, but on Aug. 15, Steve Baker wrote: 
<If you want to retune Crossovers to Country Tuning I suggest you tune 5-draw up one semitone until it gives you a reading of +2 cents relative to 3-<draw. 5-draw in CT is a fifth above 3-draw and I always tune a relative fifth 2 cents higher than the root. Everything else can stay just as is.  
<
<Steve, is this a typo? Did u mean relative to 2 hole draw, not 3 hole draw, since the root note in 2nd position is 2 hole draw?

I'm not Steve Baker, and I don't play him on TV, but I did make my living tuning pianos for several years, and I'm willing to bet whatever sum you name that what Steve said is what he meant.

3-draw and 5-draw (when the 5-draw is tuned up 1/2 step) give you an interval of a perfect 5th.  A perfect fifth can easily be tuned in the manner Steve describes to produce a musically meaningful result.  A very skilled tuner would be able to do it by ear and by counting the beats produced by the +2 cents.

On the other hand, 2-hole draw and 5-draw (when the 5-draw is tuned up 1/2 step) give you an interval of a major 7th; tuning to that interval is a hell of a lot harder for anyone, and I would never have attempted it when tuning was my job.

So do what Steve says, and you'll be glad you did.  As usual.

Regards, RH