He scoffed “there are some people who do that, but that really only gets you close, and they’d have to finish by ear anyway, especially with the sort of pianos you typically have to work with, since you really need to finesse how the overtones interact with each other, and it’s not guaranteed that the overtones are going to be exactly what they’re supposed to be, given variations in string thickness, stretching, corrosion, dents, the harp flexing, you know… The whole thing is a negotiation with the piano, you can’t just read it its orders and expect it to sound good.”
This seems to be a theme with very exact things—once you reach a certain level of required precision, the most effective approach switches from “have a target value and a way of measuring the value” to “have something to compare with”. See gauge blocks in machining (nice basic explainer video if you like videos).
This seems to be a theme with very exact things—once you reach a certain level of required precision, the most effective approach switches from “have a target value and a way of measuring the value” to “have something to compare with”. See gauge blocks in machining (nice basic explainer video if you like videos).