So I guess to sum up my position, the PTG teaches their techs to stretch octaves based on a BELIEF. The belief that stretching is necessary because of the very real and quantifiable phenemenon of enharmonicity. The math makes sense in the context in which it's discussed, but it simply doesn't address all of the issues at play in a piano, or in the human ear for that matter. So maybe it's a preference and maybe some pianos sound better with a stretch than without. But to simply say you MUST do it, ALL of the time to some degree on every piano is plainly and simply ridiculous. It should be taught as a viable concept and solution to certain kinds of problems encountered when trying to make a piano sound good. When identified that way, I wouldn't even consider a discussion about it. But because of the PTG's belief based ways, I can't find a piano tuner who can put a good temperment on my piano because the only one they know has stretch built into it. That's all I'm saying. I have good ears. I grew up in a family where the inaccurate speed of radio stations' turntables was dinner table conversation. Heck, my dad started pulling note names out of the air at age 3 with 100% accuracy (according to his mom) and my mother knows every song in a movie score by the time it's over...and remembers it. I tested out of ear training...all 4 years...at north texas when I was 18 years old without ever having taken an ear training or theory class. (so why do I get asked to teach ear training all the time...I don't know how to learn it OR teach it...) So I feel very well justified in demanding that my piano be tuned the way I want it. Why should I have to accept anything less, just because my piano tuner BELIEVES that his way is better? Short sighted is what it is. Granted, it is my BELIEF that stretching doesn't sound good. And I'm not trying to tell anyone to change their own opinion on it. I'm 110% confident I know what I'm hearing, though. And to that end, my belief is my business. I want my piano tuned without a stretch. Who is the PTG to tell me I can't have that because of an ideological difference?
Of course the majority of piano tuners wouldn't have a chance in this argument...and that's even harder to take. They're doing it for no reason other than they've been told to. If I ask them to tune it without a stretch, they try to tell me the high end will sound flat. Phooey. It doesn't. That's not even the real argument that educated people are maintaining. I guess the VAST majority of tunings they do are for high schools or amatures or people who simply own a piano for the look of it and get it tuned once a year. But the customer base is much more diverse than that. Why must the PTG choose one method? What ever happened to customer service? Or consciensously establishing what service is actually necessary? Look, piano designers abhor enharmonicity. They don't design pianos to emphasize it. If your car's engine is designed to use 10W-30 synthetic oil and is properly maintained, your mechanic shouldn't put straight 50 weight in because he has some theory about it taking up some of the wear in your bearings. Now if ASE or some other organization like it started teaching that kind of thinking, they'd soon be rightly sued for damages resulting from engines burning up due to oil pump seals blowing out from too muh pressure and other related issues. In an old big block Chevy in 110 degree weather maybe it makes sense. Maybe there aren't "damages" that apply in this case, but it surely doesn't change the fact that they've chosen an opinion and scrounged for math to back it up. And the math explains the physics behind why it yields a desireable result sometimes. But that's all it does. Depending on the nature of the problem that's making the piano sound a way that you don't want it to, stretching might be a solution. It's not always the right thing to do.
I don't follow why you would be ducking out here... I thought this was a pretty level-headed discussion. ??
