The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-10-09

a manner that none of them shall Of
fend an educated ear: but in SO doing
he will be compelled to tun all to a
certain extent untrue. Now, If many
persons are unable to perceive this dis
crepancy. it Is because their ear is
incapable of detecting slight differ
=, ences of tune.
To hit off this Temperament we'll
is 10 easy matter, and in SO doing
consists the great art OF the tuner.
which fs. moreover, rendered again
less easy, owin.- to various mechanical
difficulties which l snalI SPEAK OF
later. A very few v.fatious 100 many
or two few In any PAL. lculaI note OF
A chord become terrible o.scoIo "heh
that note Is used in another chord
Unfortunately, however, the tunerI
can derive no assistance in this fatls
ing operation, except from his OWL
sense of hearing. This, however, is
not at all times equally trustworthy,'
especially when the nerves of the earl
haye become fatigued, and it may,
therefore easily happen that an 9TH
erwise skilful tuner may, however,
we'll disposed, tun an instrument in-I
differently Or even badly. The OPERA
ton of tuning the first or the SIXTH
piano on the same day is for him a,
very different matter, as far as diff
Guilty is concerned. He will succeed
much less perfectly with the last than
with the first, n that from no fault
Of his own, but because his ear being
fatigued is quite capable OF deceiving
him. Regarded from a purely theo-;
retical point Of view, such is the tun-i
er's task; but he has also to contend
with various practical difficulties.
He begins his work by ,e~seeFtaIning,I
by examination, the condition of the,
instrument-on which he is to work.
as to tOne-i. e., whether it is up to-
concert pitch, and how the lass and
TT bile relatively stand to each other
For in some instruments it will be
found that, whereas, the bass has low
cred in pitch, the treble has risen, and
vic versa. He must ascertain this,
and afterward deal with the instru-|
ment in such a manner as to bring it
into it's normal condition CT pitch. A
piano tuned to the German A will have
much more brilliancy of tOne than one
tuned to the French pitch, the differ
ren amounting to almost half q
tone.
1t is true that tuners do not always
take particular care to keep the in
strumentS intrusted to them UP to
the normal pitch, but rather leave
them where they find them land in
such case the piano becomes lower
in pitch, losing in brilliancy Of tone
every time it is tuned. Then, however,
when the instrument is on some spe-
cial occasion brought up to interna-
national pitch, the strings exhibit a
tiresome aptitude for snapping; and
the sound board or some other portion
of the frame upOn which the increased
strain comes as an unpleasant surprise
displays no hesitation whatever in de-
veloping a glorious crack, to the un-
ted 6iGpl1St of the 0Wnar
That tuners should, as a rule, pre-
fer to adopt the curse above mention
ed is easily ineligible for two reasons
First, a piano which requires to be
raised in pitch necessitates a consider
able amount more Of work, which,
nevertheless, is not paid for; because,
as a rule, tuning is not paid for accord
ing to the length of time expended
Secondly, such an instrument keeps in
tune a much shorter time: because the
tension thus thrown upon the strings
is greater than they have usually
been accustomed to bear, owing to
which they are liable to give. Hence.
it is not with the tuner a mere mat
ter Of time, but also Of reputation; and
this is very natural. for he does not
a bit more than other people-care to
be roundly abused into the bargain
for a piece Of work upon which he
ICApS11oOo ui - 1A2ool1S AWAY
time and labor than in an ordinary
case. The owners of pianos commit an
egregious mistake in their own inter
ests when they-frOm economic con-
Standardization their instruments to
remain unattended to until they are SO
w~retchedly out Of tune as to be un-
playable. They do themselves thereby
more harm than they are aware of;
but the tuner-not unnaturally-de-
c1jroc To- ho hold rocnnnSih1a for that
Let your piano be tuned oftener
and you will not only have better in
struments, but also better tuners, is
an axiom which might p~rofitably be
laid to heart by many owners Of
pianos. The best constructed piano, If
it be allowed to get very much GU. of
tune, will not at once remain in tune
when it has been brought up to con-
cert pitch, a fact which the user has
often observed as soon as the tuner's
back is turned. Is it to be wondered
at then that the tuner is so often
abused? Pianos are in this respect
frequently found to be obstinate and
often consider that lone God turn
deserves another" when they have
been long neglected.
But to return to the tuner, whom
we have left AL this time examining
his instrument. He first OF all tunes
about one and a half octaves in the
center Of the Keyboard as true as he
an; and to do SO he makes use OF
whatever system he prefers, for there
are several different systems Of OBJ
tanning the temperament, and it does
not in the least signify which is en-
ployed, provided always that the re
suits are good. The chief object to be
striven after as that all the chords
within the tempered portion shall be
equally true, and at the same time
equally untrue. No note should lie
dominantly heard, and the eQualiza-
ton of the temperament should be the
same throughout.
This piece Of work is, as I nave al
ready explained, by no means SO easy
n simple as it appears when thus
reduced to language. Moreover, ]
would further remark that to do il
properly requires the undivided atten.
ton of the most skilful tuner. He
must dedicate his whole energies tt
the work. and he must not allow his
attentions to be distracted for one