Pianotech

  • 1.  Tuning four string Bluthners - is there a right way or is there a traditional way?

    Posted 11-28-2021 18:58
    A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of tuning my first 4 string Aliquot Bluthner. I took a long time over it learning about how it behaved acoustically and the owner of the instrument was delighted at the result.

    Today I was contacted by someone else also with an interest in these instruments and between us we're not wholly sure how they behave and how they were intended to do so.

    Does one tune the 4th string to the 2nd partial of the note one's tuning the three strings or does one go up to the next octave, tune that and then tune the aliquot string of the octave below to it? Is there an established "good" methodology to tune these instruments?

    Best wishes

    David P

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    David Pinnegar BSc ARCS
    Hammerwood Park, East Grinstead, Sussex, UK
    +44 1342 850594
    "High Definition" Tuning
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  • 2.  RE: Tuning four string Bluthners - is there a right way or is there a traditional way?

    Posted 11-28-2021 20:09
    Thanks for asking the question David. I've tuned a couple of these. The first one I didn't really do anything with them. The second one, just a couple of weeks ago, I plucked them and got them in tune with the other three, at least pretty close. In both cases it didn't seem to me that the 4th string made any difference.

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    "That Tuning Guy"
    Scott Kerns
    Lincoln, Nebraska
    www.thattuningguy.com
    PianoMeter, TuneLab, OnlyPure, PianoScope & PiaTune user
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  • 3.  RE: Tuning four string Bluthners - is there a right way or is there a traditional way?

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 11-28-2021 23:27
    It's been a while but if I recall correctly, (according to Helga and Kyril Kasimoff of Kasimoff Bluthner Pianos here in Los Angeles), the drone strings in the middle section get tuned an octave high and the drone strings in the notes above the treble break get tuned as a unison. Plucking really is the only way because the fourth string doesn't actually get "played". Because it also has its own dedicated damper it can get tricky.

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    Geoff Sykes, RPT
    Los Angeles CA
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  • 4.  RE: Tuning four string Bluthners - is there a right way or is there a traditional way?

    Posted 11-29-2021 06:25
    Yes - thanks to all. It's actually what one tunes them to and the sequence of doing it. Yes they are an octave up, but inharmonicity throws questions into the mix and the exact tuning may be of importance to the achievement of their intended effect.

    I'm posing this question as someone else who's also interested contacted me probably having seen my documenting the learning curve on 

    Best wishes

    David P



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    David Pinnegar, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.
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    +44 1342 850594