I think we need to be careful in this discussion not to devolve into a discussion about "my ETD vs yours". Who is going to be the one, or what committee would be involved in evaluating all the options out there? Would it be an aural evaluation? All of these ETD's and apps are "black boxes" for almost all of the tuning community. Nobody knows exactly how they are built, what the algorithms are or how they work. Who is going to say which one, or ones, are better? We have Consumer Reports which evaluates many products, making judgments about their quality, reliability, etc. We don't have that in our Guild. And I'm not sure it would be allowed. If we were to have various tools, ETD's, apps or other materials under scrutiny, if something is proven to not work as advertised, or is fraudulently promoted, that could be grounds to have that product or advertiser banned from the Guild by the Ethics committee. But as far as I know, all of the tuning apps work, some perhaps better than others, with more or less added features. I agree that if we make a choice to purchase a particular app, wer'e not going to be inclined to look at something else, as we've already made the choice to invest in it. But if we do find something better, with more accuracy, that's easier to use, makes tuning faster, there's no harm in promoting it. In fact, I encourage everyone to keep an open mind if something comes along that helps improve one's performance. But if someone is going to give a negative opinion of some product, it could be construed as an offense to that company, and get the Guild in trouble for allowing it. I honestly don't know. But in our tightly connected organization, we have to be extremely careful about posting negative comments about any product we are using.
Having said that, I believe that we should share our experiences using these devices, to see how they could be improved, how we could use the extra features that we don't know about or use, understand what they are doing "under the hood", etc. I have many things I could share, most specifically using my ETD's, but that could inspire someone else who uses a different one.
For example, there is a new device which can be used with any ETD that will improve the measurement of pitch and inharmonicity. It's called Pianosens, and it takes the place of a built-in microphone in your smart device. It's acoustically deaf, and only picks up the vibration of the string, not any other vibration from anywhere else inside or outside of the piano. Only the pure "sound" of the string vibration is sent to your device, which enables your ETD to make a better calculation. Even aural tuners can use it by using headphones to listen to the pure string sound. I've been Beta-testing this device since the beginning about a year ago, and it has been very helpful in my tuning accuracy and steadiness of my ETD display.
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Paul McCloud, RPT
Accutone Piano Service
www.AccutonePianoService.compavadasa@gmail.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 12-10-2023 00:36
From: Steven Norsworthy
Subject: Independent Reviews Needed
Paul,
I salute you for starting this community group!
Coming from the commercial electronics profession, 'independent peer reviews' are the most professional way to have objective discourse. Unfortunately, everyone buys a product and because of the investment they don't want to see objective independent reviews, but we somehow need to get over this in the PTG. In the end, it will drive every product to a higher level of performance and create a more satisfied experience for the pro tuners. For example, how does the consumer know without better education and unbiased review that their methods are up to some standard? The PTG needs a 'standards body' and ultimately it would result in constant improvement in the devices we use. Transparency and honesty are the hallmarks that will earn respect. Let's all opine with real substantive data as objectively as we can.
Respectfully,
Steven Norsworthy
Professional Engineer, Professional Musician/Pianist
PianoSens.com
steven@rf2bits.com
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Steven Norsworthy
Cardiff By The Sea CA
(619) 964-0101
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