Joseph Spencer
>
> You wrote:
>
> >
> >I like tuning my clavichord too, but hate straining my ears to hear the
> >fluctuations in the harmonics (With this instruments, it's 1 sec. and
> >they're gone.)
> >To repeat: I love my mac program, master tuner
> >(all temperaments I can think of, and digitized sound if I need it.
> >Maarten Boers
> >
> >
> Clavichords are a separate issue, tough to tune and hard to hear.
> Fortunately most are quite stable and seldom need much attention.
>
> Toughest clavichord job I ever had was tuning one for Oscar Peterson in
> a recording of songs from Porgy & Bess with guitarist Joe Pass. (It's
> still in the Pablo catalog.)  Oscar had bought a Morley clavichord out
> of a shop window in London because he liked its looks, and didn't have a
> clue or a care about clavv. technique.  His technique was simply to mash
> the key until it rested on something solid, i.e. the bottom board. (He's
> got big hands.) I had to retune after every take, and was frequently
> wincing by the end of the first chorus. But it was fun, and we got the
> job done.
 
Great story!
 
I used to tune my clavichord all the time -- it goes out of tune with
relatively small variations in temperature (~20 degrees F).  On a hot day it
would be really out of tune.  Eventually I discovered that it went back in tune
when conditions returned to what they were when I tuned it.  From this I
learned a couple of lessons: first, it is important to tune during the right
conditions of temperature and humidity (basically the average conditions for
when I play), and second, I have come to find the changes somewhat interesting
-- the instrument is so quiet that it is hard to detect nuances of tuning
anyway, and as long as the temperature swings aren't too extreme I think it
adds a bit of spice.  But on really hot days it isn't worth trying to
play -- if I retune it I will just have to retune it in the evening.
 
(Hot days are the problem, because we have heat but no air conditioning.)