Best tuning and stretch for a "typical" upright - [TuneLab]

[pinkfloydhomer]

Hello brilliant people

I am an amateur who is trying to learn to tune my own Nordiska 120 upright. I have been practicing for about 4 months now using TuneLab for Android, slowly getting better.

So far, I have just used the standard settings for tuning curve, deviation curve, bass and treble partial intervals (4:1, 6:3 etc) and default equal temperament.

I am considering trying EBVT III and maybe tinkering with the tuning curve by using something other than the default 4:1, 6:3 octaves.

In your experience, can EBVT III or some other non-equal temperament be recommended specifically for tuning an upright (rather than a grand)?

In your experience, can some specific octaves (for example 8:1 in the bass, 4:2 in the treble) be recommended specifically for tuning an upright (rather than a grand)?

What kind of difference does 8:1 vs 6:3 in the bass do to the tuning? How is the difference perceived by the listener?

[justharmony]

You're asking a lot of technical questions, which I admire, but if I may, I might suggest backing up a bit and bringing your ear and heart into the equation a bit more.  Every piano is different, every piano player is different, and ultimately what tuning "works" is not just about precision, but about what works for the piano and the player (and the music that they are playing), which is not necessarily something that can be quantified all the time.  I'm not saying that someone else won't or can't give you a more specific answer than that, but I will say that the best tuner I ever had had tuned for many many years and tuned by ear and experience- not with computers, measurements or anything else.  It was a pleasure to listen to him tune, and a pleasure to play after he was done.
For what it's worth. 

Best to you.
JH

[hfmadopter]

I use a simple meter that can read about 3 or 4 octaves of notes and tune by ear from there. What I can tell you from my experience is that a good tuning will leave octaves sounding clear and have 3rds and 5ths that sing throughout the keyboard. Harmony will be pleasing to listen to. That's to my ear, you may hear something different, I don't know.

One or two strings throughout the entire register being off tune can tend to wreck the tuning overall, sometimes it's tough finding just which ones those are by ear, it's nice if they can be metered for clarity within a unison. My grand has a rough spot to tune in the bass, I always struggle with the fifths in this one octave range of my keyboard. My tuner I had years ago had trouble with the same octave range so I don't feel so bad about this !