Hello Nickie,
Just saw this thread this evening. Glad you enjoyed the series – and typical of you to think of others by posting the link. Thanks for reposting the link Ubu and thanks to Jack & Choirguy for the kind words.
CG, you sat down and read that whole thing straight through? I have to admire anyone who can pull that off. This was issued via our newsletters; the various parts came out over the course of 8-9? months, so folks could take it in little by little. There’s still a final page left to send out. I delayed it because there were some new strings I think may deserve a reference, and they’re still not quite ready. I’d say most folks would want to read all this bit by bit, the way it came out. But yes, it took a lot of work, as you inferred.
That’s why you want to throw your arms up when you get to comments like Mivo’s. It would be much closer to the truth to say none of this is about David Hurd than to say “… a lot of this” was.
Obviously, in spite of the implication by Mivo that he has read this, he has not. No one who had would say something like that. I know some folks just like to add their commentary on whatever issue, and that’s fine – this is a place where people share their perspectives. But it’s also a place people use to gain information. It’s better to least start with “I haven’t read this all myself…” at which point you’ll probably catch yourself before you try to tell others about what’s in something you haven’t read.
At any rate, Jollyboy made good points on the subject of David’s measurements, which are used only as an example in a single link on one page of an 11 part series. Even on the linked page, it is specifically noted his data are examples of one luthiers work (though a very useful reference in that no one else has ever published this sort of data at all). The principles of how an instruments resonance affects sound still apply, however, and a method is given on that same linked page for determining the resonance of your own instrument – the most important thing after all. Mivo has written us numerous times with questions on these general kinds of topics, and we have done our best to answer him, even though he is not a customer. It seems he is somehow fixated on this narrow perspective, to the point he ignores over 90% of the varied topics this series discusses.
So unfortunately, this is one of those instances when good information is not found on a member post. If you do read through the series, it will be obvious.
Which bring me to Rllnk’s post. I totally understand that one. As a matter of fact, friend, if by chance you had kept reading (not that you should have) you would have found a comment supporting your approach in Part 10 – almost at the end. That Part, “Tuning for the Maestro” goes into all sorts of esoterica: Segovia, the Sitar, and an imaginary Leonardo Lozano, before showing how “fine tuning” was accomplished in a bygone era. But this quote towards the end of all that almost paraphrases what you said:
“So is this sort of Fine Tuning for you? Maybe - maybe not; as always, this is a very individual choice. … If you view tuning as a necessary evil in order to get to the practice of playing, then obviously this approach will be frustrating.”
The whole paragraph, I think, is a bit more entertaining – maybe one day you’ll go back and take in some more of it. Parts 3 & 4 are pretty technical and we often lose people there – especially if the technical aspects of tuning accuracy don’t mean much to you, and they don’t have to. But we put those in early on because a lot of folks think electronic tuners are the most accurate way to tune. In those technical chapters we just try to show that there are both good and bad aspects to relying on them. But again, that is a relatively minor aspect of the work as a whole, so just skip over them if they aren't of interest.
The series is not there to tell people how to set up an instrument, but to give them an often more complete perspective into the options the Ukulele offers, both in tuning itself, but also in tuning forms (Linear, Reentrant, etc.) and the different considerations to take into account for things like group play and solo – vocal and instrumental. Then you have a broader foundation to make choices that truly suit your individual requirements.
Thanks again, Nickie, for posting.
