CAUT

In order to make 'sound' you have to 'move air' and so the string by itself moves very little air. The soundboard moves orders of magnitude more air. 

Think of the piano as a mechanical-to-acoustic transducer. It transforms mechanical vibration into acoustic waves.

Now think of a microphone as an acoustic-to-electrical transducer. It transforms acoustic waves into electrical signals.

Now think of the PianoSens device. It BYPASSES THE ACOUSTIC DOMAIN. It DIRECTLY transforms mechanical movement (string movement) into electrical signals.

Hence, there is no transformational loss. It is repeatable and accurate.

Think that the soundboard has an infinite number of acoustic responses depending on the position of the mic or the listener. PianoSens removes all that uncertainty. It takes an infinite number of possible transfer functions down into only ONE transfer function.

Try it and you will see. It is 'invariant' by design.

Steven Norsworthy

PianoSens.com

In order to make 'sound' you have to 'move air' and so the string by itself moves very little air. The soundboard moves orders of magnitude more air. 

Think of the piano as a mechanical-to-acoustic transducer. It transforms mechanical vibration into acoustic waves.

Now think of a microphone as an acoustic-to-electrical transducer. It transforms acoustic waves into electrical signals.

Now think of the PianoSens device. It BYPASSES THE ACOUSTIC DOMAIN. It DIRECTLY transforms mechanical movement (string movement) into electrical signals.

Hence, there is no transformational loss. It is repeatable and accurate.

Think that the soundboard has an infinite number of acoustic responses depending on the position of the mic or the listener. PianoSens removes all that uncertainty. It takes an infinite number of possible transfer functions down into only ONE transfer function.

Try it and you will see. It is 'invariant' by design.

Steven Norsworthy

PianoSens.com

The vibrating string exists in a flexing environment, the soundboard/bridge/piano, which exists in a surrounding environment (the piano can transduce sound waves into motion of strings), and all of this is further varied by the energies that are being entered into the piano by whatever strings are vibrating. So, once things are happening, everything is to some degree variable. 

Nevertheless, there is fair argument to begin with the vibrating of a just struck single string or unison.

Assuming a here-to-fore unobtainable accuracy of tuning has been obtained, is it worth asking how long this accuracy will be maintained to a degree that concerned listener can say "Wow!" And how much it will add to the cost of piano maintenance that is becoming more and more a luxury service. Will it help children learn to play better?

Digital technologies offer us this question in many places. At best it is wonderful; scaling and touchweight programs, for example. At some point we must admit that actual reality does not allow easy manipulations to ever finer decimal points. Since I'm currently working with fluorocarbon strung instruments, I don't need to answer this question about PianoSens, but I'll enjoy watching.

In order to make 'sound' you have to 'move air' and so the string by itself moves very little air. The soundboard moves orders of magnitude more air. 

Think of the piano as a mechanical-to-acoustic transducer. It transforms mechanical vibration into acoustic waves.

Now think of a microphone as an acoustic-to-electrical transducer. It transforms acoustic waves into electrical signals.

Now think of the PianoSens device. It BYPASSES THE ACOUSTIC DOMAIN. It DIRECTLY transforms mechanical movement (string movement) into electrical signals.

Hence, there is no transformational loss. It is repeatable and accurate.

Think that the soundboard has an infinite number of acoustic responses depending on the position of the mic or the listener. PianoSens removes all that uncertainty. It takes an infinite number of possible transfer functions down into only ONE transfer function.

Try it and you will see. It is 'invariant' by design.

Steven Norsworthy

PianoSens.com

The vibrating string exists in a flexing environment, the soundboard/bridge/piano, which exists in a surrounding environment (the piano can transduce sound waves into motion of strings), and all of this is further varied by the energies that are being entered into the piano by whatever strings are vibrating. So, once things are happening, everything is to some degree variable. 

Nevertheless, there is fair argument to begin with the vibrating of a just struck single string or unison.

Assuming a here-to-fore unobtainable accuracy of tuning has been obtained, is it worth asking how long this accuracy will be maintained to a degree that concerned listener can say "Wow!" And how much it will add to the cost of piano maintenance that is becoming more and more a luxury service. Will it help children learn to play better?

Digital technologies offer us this question in many places. At best it is wonderful; scaling and touchweight programs, for example. At some point we must admit that actual reality does not allow easy manipulations to ever finer decimal points. Since I'm currently working with fluorocarbon strung instruments, I don't need to answer this question about PianoSens, but I'll enjoy watching.

In order to make 'sound' you have to 'move air' and so the string by itself moves very little air. The soundboard moves orders of magnitude more air. 

Think of the piano as a mechanical-to-acoustic transducer. It transforms mechanical vibration into acoustic waves.

Now think of a microphone as an acoustic-to-electrical transducer. It transforms acoustic waves into electrical signals.

Now think of the PianoSens device. It BYPASSES THE ACOUSTIC DOMAIN. It DIRECTLY transforms mechanical movement (string movement) into electrical signals.

Hence, there is no transformational loss. It is repeatable and accurate.

Think that the soundboard has an infinite number of acoustic responses depending on the position of the mic or the listener. PianoSens removes all that uncertainty. It takes an infinite number of possible transfer functions down into only ONE transfer function.

Try it and you will see. It is 'invariant' by design.

Steven Norsworthy

PianoSens.com

Steve-I have no argument with the success of your technology at achieving a new extreme of accuracy.

But can it be that we are entering the Clipper Ship Era of piano tuning? 

The vibrating string exists in a flexing environment, the soundboard/bridge/piano, which exists in a surrounding environment (the piano can transduce sound waves into motion of strings), and all of this is further varied by the energies that are being entered into the piano by whatever strings are vibrating. So, once things are happening, everything is to some degree variable. 

Nevertheless, there is fair argument to begin with the vibrating of a just struck single string or unison.

Assuming a here-to-fore unobtainable accuracy of tuning has been obtained, is it worth asking how long this accuracy will be maintained to a degree that concerned listener can say "Wow!" And how much it will add to the cost of piano maintenance that is becoming more and more a luxury service. Will it help children learn to play better?

Digital technologies offer us this question in many places. At best it is wonderful; scaling and touchweight programs, for example. At some point we must admit that actual reality does not allow easy manipulations to ever finer decimal points. Since I'm currently working with fluorocarbon strung instruments, I don't need to answer this question about PianoSens, but I'll enjoy watching.

In order to make 'sound' you have to 'move air' and so the string by itself moves very little air. The soundboard moves orders of magnitude more air. 

Think of the piano as a mechanical-to-acoustic transducer. It transforms mechanical vibration into acoustic waves.

Now think of a microphone as an acoustic-to-electrical transducer. It transforms acoustic waves into electrical signals.

Now think of the PianoSens device. It BYPASSES THE ACOUSTIC DOMAIN. It DIRECTLY transforms mechanical movement (string movement) into electrical signals.

Hence, there is no transformational loss. It is repeatable and accurate.

Think that the soundboard has an infinite number of acoustic responses depending on the position of the mic or the listener. PianoSens removes all that uncertainty. It takes an infinite number of possible transfer functions down into only ONE transfer function.

Try it and you will see. It is 'invariant' by design.

Steven Norsworthy

PianoSens.com

Steve-I have no argument with the success of your technology at achieving a new extreme of accuracy.

But can it be that we are entering the Clipper Ship Era of piano tuning? 

The vibrating string exists in a flexing environment, the soundboard/bridge/piano, which exists in a surrounding environment (the piano can transduce sound waves into motion of strings), and all of this is further varied by the energies that are being entered into the piano by whatever strings are vibrating. So, once things are happening, everything is to some degree variable. 

Nevertheless, there is fair argument to begin with the vibrating of a just struck single string or unison.

Assuming a here-to-fore unobtainable accuracy of tuning has been obtained, is it worth asking how long this accuracy will be maintained to a degree that concerned listener can say "Wow!" And how much it will add to the cost of piano maintenance that is becoming more and more a luxury service. Will it help children learn to play better?

Digital technologies offer us this question in many places. At best it is wonderful; scaling and touchweight programs, for example. At some point we must admit that actual reality does not allow easy manipulations to ever finer decimal points. Since I'm currently working with fluorocarbon strung instruments, I don't need to answer this question about PianoSens, but I'll enjoy watching.

In order to make 'sound' you have to 'move air' and so the string by itself moves very little air. The soundboard moves orders of magnitude more air. 

Think of the piano as a mechanical-to-acoustic transducer. It transforms mechanical vibration into acoustic waves.

Now think of a microphone as an acoustic-to-electrical transducer. It transforms acoustic waves into electrical signals.

Now think of the PianoSens device. It BYPASSES THE ACOUSTIC DOMAIN. It DIRECTLY transforms mechanical movement (string movement) into electrical signals.

Hence, there is no transformational loss. It is repeatable and accurate.

Think that the soundboard has an infinite number of acoustic responses depending on the position of the mic or the listener. PianoSens removes all that uncertainty. It takes an infinite number of possible transfer functions down into only ONE transfer function.

Try it and you will see. It is 'invariant' by design.

Steven Norsworthy

PianoSens.com

We are asking the question, "Will this new technology make a difference to our clients?  Will they be able to tell that you have done a better job?"  Or, another question is, "Is it worth my time to create a better tuning, if I have to increase my skills and invest more effort to achieve it?"  When I started using a sensor and Pianoscope, I started getting unsolicited emails and messages commenting on how nice the piano sounded than before.  One comment from a touring artist said she just couldn't stop playing her piano (Ste.B).  People do notice the difference, and that translates to more referrals and builds your reputation. 

My main focus in tuning has always been to create as perfect unisons as I possibly can.  It's like the "holy grail", and part of my motivation to achieve it.  I know there are some, perhaps many, that advocate for a more "blended" type of unison and believe that is more interesting and desirable.  It is a choice, perhaps an artistic choice, to create a type of "piano vibrato",  Or, it could be seen as a "sour grapes" scenario, where unisons are going to go out anyway in a short time, so don't obsess about making them perfect.  If blended unisons are acceptable, then why do we have unison tuning as part of our exam?  And if this unison matching technique is preferable, exactly how far off is acceptable? 

As far as the overall tuning with an ETD, if we now know that there can be 1 cent errors due to microphone placement and errors due to unwanted resonances, is that really better than tuning by ear?  And how accurate are some ETD's that use a single partial, vs others that use multiple partials?  Many years ago, using my Accutuner, I couldn't understand why the other ETD apps did not agree with my machine.  I still wonder, but understand the differences in stretch, tuning styles, etc.  We still use our ears as a final arbiter, even if our device insists that it's perfect.  False beats and mismatched strings are still the bugaboo of piano tuning, no matter whether you use your ears or an ETD.  The ETD makers are well aware of this, but working on it.. 

As far as myself, using the latest tools, I have had to increase my skills to be able to achieve almost perfect unisons, heretofore unattainable without them.  I'm very pleased to play intervals across the piano that are more clean than ever, and proud that I did my best job.  Now that I've gone this far, I can't stand to hear the slightest beat in a unison, and it's nice to know that I can use my tools to check each individual string if necessary with my ETD to correct it, rather than doing it by ear to figure out which string is off.  If blending your unisons is your choice, at least we can agree that one string should be dead-on, and the others matched to it, however you want to do that. 

My final thought is, piano tuning by aural methods has been going on for centuries, and for the most part accurate enough to satisfy artists and audiences for all those years.  Then came the Strobotuner, which still required aural skills.  The Sight-0-Tuner, Accutuner, and all the apps now available have made it easier and perhaps faster and more accurate, but has it really made a difference to the piano public?  It's a matter of perception.  If they don't hear it, does it matter to them?  I hope they do hear that it's better, and recognize that they've never heard their piano sound like that before.  That's the perception I want.

Steve-I have no argument with the success of your technology at achieving a new extreme of accuracy.

But can it be that we are entering the Clipper Ship Era of piano tuning? 

The vibrating string exists in a flexing environment, the soundboard/bridge/piano, which exists in a surrounding environment (the piano can transduce sound waves into motion of strings), and all of this is further varied by the energies that are being entered into the piano by whatever strings are vibrating. So, once things are happening, everything is to some degree variable. 

Nevertheless, there is fair argument to begin with the vibrating of a just struck single string or unison.

Assuming a here-to-fore unobtainable accuracy of tuning has been obtained, is it worth asking how long this accuracy will be maintained to a degree that concerned listener can say "Wow!" And how much it will add to the cost of piano maintenance that is becoming more and more a luxury service. Will it help children learn to play better?

Digital technologies offer us this question in many places. At best it is wonderful; scaling and touchweight programs, for example. At some point we must admit that actual reality does not allow easy manipulations to ever finer decimal points. Since I'm currently working with fluorocarbon strung instruments, I don't need to answer this question about PianoSens, but I'll enjoy watching.

In order to make 'sound' you have to 'move air' and so the string by itself moves very little air. The soundboard moves orders of magnitude more air. 

Think of the piano as a mechanical-to-acoustic transducer. It transforms mechanical vibration into acoustic waves.

Now think of a microphone as an acoustic-to-electrical transducer. It transforms acoustic waves into electrical signals.

Now think of the PianoSens device. It BYPASSES THE ACOUSTIC DOMAIN. It DIRECTLY transforms mechanical movement (string movement) into electrical signals.

Hence, there is no transformational loss. It is repeatable and accurate.

Think that the soundboard has an infinite number of acoustic responses depending on the position of the mic or the listener. PianoSens removes all that uncertainty. It takes an infinite number of possible transfer functions down into only ONE transfer function.

Try it and you will see. It is 'invariant' by design.

Steven Norsworthy

PianoSens.com