Then the polishers rub down the sides, the smaller parts being already polished as noted before, and give to the instrument its glossy and mirror-like finish. The “setter-up” then puts the various cabinet work parts together and the “fine-tuner” gives the final tuning. Lastly, the superintendent looks over the whole work, and woe betide the unlucky wight who has slurred or skimped his part.
The details listed above are, of course, subject to variations in the order in which they are performed. The variations are according to the practice of individual shops. Of course, it may at any time be required to give more tunings, especially if the pianoforte is left on the floor of the factory very long. But there should never be less than four or five.
When the instrument is sent to the wareroom or shipped to the dealer extra tunings are given according to the caprice or knowledge of both.
CHAPTER XIV.
TUNING AND TONE REGULATION OF THE PIANOFORTE.
The art of tuning the pianoforte is one of considerable complexity and obscurity. During all the time that has elapsed since the key-board instrument first came into being, controversies innumerable have raged over the multifarious questions that the practice of the art implies. This distressing state of affairs is primarily due to the fact that a system of “tempering” the sounds produced by key-board instruments is necessary, in order that playing in more than one key may be possible.
The whole matter of musical intonation was treated with some completeness in the early part of this work, and the reader may be expected to comprehend the principles of the Equal Temperament upon which the tuning of the pianoforte and of all other fixed tone instruments is now universally based. It is not within our province, in the course of a treatise upon the principles of pianoforte construction, to venture too deeply into the quagmires that surround the aspirant for the honors of the tuner. The discussion of musical intonation and the Equal Temperament was made for the principal purpose of acquainting the student with the reason for the peculiar construction of scales, as to their string lengths, and to make clear the raison d’etre of the frequent divergences from theoretical proportions of strings and tones that we have been obliged to note.
The scale designer is better equipped for his task, however, if he possess a working knowledge of the principles upon which the science and art of tuning are based. This is the justification for the space and time devoted to the exhibition of certain of these principles in the earlier portion of this book. As a further contribution to this useful body of knowledge, we shall point out here the general scheme whereby the tuner proceeds to the execution of his important, indeed essential, portion of the whole work.