The FAC method, or any other method, cannot produce perfectly progressing beat rates on a piano with widely scattered
amounts of inharmonicity. The FAC tuning will be as good as one can expect or can achieve by any method given the
scale-design problems inherent in the piano itself. Aural touch up might improve the tuning depending upon where the
scale problems occur and the severity of the problems.
FAC TUNING FROM A0 TO C8
After the stretch numbers have been stored and the tuning created, you are ready to tune. Press the NOTE up once to
have the Accu-Tuner look up the settings for the tuning or use the NOTE and OCTAVE buttons to step to where you
would like to start tuning. For each semitone advanced the SAT will automatically change to show the next note to be
tuned and its cents deviation. Continue stepping and tuning this way for the entire tuning.
When using a tuning from memory you will notice that A4 is not tuned to 0.0 cents as you might assume. The reason for
this is that while the Accu-Tuner is tuning the note A4 on the piano, it is listening to the pitch of A6 (the fourth partial of
A4). Also you might notice that the cents deviation jumps lower four times when tuning the piano, this is where the partial
the Accu-Tuner is set for changes. The partials change between the note B and C of the next octave. The partial that the
Accu-Tuner is listening to is shown in the chart below:
Octave on Piano
Partial Number
Example
1
6
Tuning A1: listening to E4
2
6
Tuning A2: listening to E5
3
4
Tuning A3: listening to A5
4
4
Tuning A4: listening to A6
5
2
Tuning A5: listening to A6
6
1
Tuning A6: listening to A6
7
1
Tuning A7:listening to A7
UNISON TUNING
Unisons may be tuned aurally along with a stretch tuning of the center string, or each string may be tuned individually to
the SAT and the unisons checked later on. The SAT will do an excellent job of tuning unisons when the strings of a given
note are well matched. (They are on most notes.) The fact that some strings are mismatched makes it extremely
important for the tuner to check all unisons aurally when they have been tuned with the SAT. However, do not try to
check the unisons aurally during the course of a stretch tuning if there is more than a few cents pitch raise or drop
involved. Pulling up adjacent strings affects the pitch of already tuned strings. The settling process on a string is not
complete until another octave or so has been tuned.
Aural unison tuners should be aware that pulling in two outside strings to the tuned center string will affect the pitch of the
center string. The amount is roughly equal to one-fifth of the net pitch change. As a result, when there is more than a few
cents pitch change involved, tuning unisons aurally as you go can actually leave them out of tune in the end! To avoid
getting into this situation, give the piano a quick pitch raising (or lowering) before trying to do a fine tuning. If the piano is
more than five to ten cents flat, it will actually save time to do a quick pitch raise before attempting to fine-tune the piano.
THE MEASURE MODE
The MSR (measure) button makes it easy to measure an unknown pitch. If the lights are spinning around, the display can
be stopped by pressing the CENTS buttons; however, the MSR button will do this job for you. Simply hold down MSR
and wait for the LEDs to slow their rotation. Release the MSR button; the cents display will indicate the unknown pitch to
an accuracy of one cent. After releasing the MSR button, the display may still be rotating slowly. For the quickest and
most accurate results, go to within a few tenths of a cent with the MSR button, and then fine tune with the CENTS buttons.
THE MEMORY MODE
The SAT is not restricted to storing or tuning only on the fundamental pitch or a specified partial of each note. The choice
is left to the tuner. This flexibility is necessary to tune all types and kinds of pianos which vary widely in the strength and
audibility of their various partials.
The complete list of storable pitches relative to a given played note is as follows:
Fourth below