| GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW) | | French term or phrase: | effectuer un pinçage | | English translation: | to carry out a pitch raise/change | | Entered by: | catpfam |
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French to English translations [PRO]
Music / Piano tuning | | French term or phrase: effectuer un pinçage | | This occurs in the job description of a piano technician and seems to refer to a preliminary procedure carried out before tuning. I have not been able to find an equivalent term in English. |
| catpfamKudoZ activityQuestions: 2 (none open) Answers: 1
Australia
| Local time: 01:13
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| | to do a pitch raise/change | Explanation:
This isn't an online resource but is straight from the horse's mouth - my brother is a piano technician in London and I emailed him about this query.
"Normally I'd refer to this as a pitch raise. The more general term would be a pitch change, but for a piano that is very out of tune it is far more likely to be flat, and so a pitch raise is needed. I do loads of these: pianos that have not been tuned for a couple of years generally need them. The technique is to tune all the strings to roughly the right pitch as quickly as possible, to minimise the time that the frame is under uneven tension. While this is done, the strings will tend towards their previous tension, and our rule of thumb is to account for this by tuning the strings a third of the distance the instrument is away from concert pitch in the other direction.
I'm sure that's too much information but the term I'd go for is a pitch raise or a pitch change. Pitch adjustment isn't really correct, a pitch change is more drastic than the word adjustment implies."
Thanks go to the asker, who has inspired me to get said brother to come and visit, and tune my piano! |
| Selected response from:
  Angela Dickson
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:13
| Grading comment Thanks Angela for pulling together all of the strings (hah! - sorry!) the others suggested.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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3 hrs confidence:   peer agreement (net): +1 11 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +2 | to do a pitch raise/change
Explanation:
This isn't an online resource but is straight from the horse's mouth - my brother is a piano technician in London and I emailed him about this query.
"Normally I'd refer to this as a pitch raise. The more general term would be a pitch change, but for a piano that is very out of tune it is far more likely to be flat, and so a pitch raise is needed. I do loads of these: pianos that have not been tuned for a couple of years generally need them. The technique is to tune all the strings to roughly the right pitch as quickly as possible, to minimise the time that the frame is under uneven tension. While this is done, the strings will tend towards their previous tension, and our rule of thumb is to account for this by tuning the strings a third of the distance the instrument is away from concert pitch in the other direction.
I'm sure that's too much information but the term I'd go for is a pitch raise or a pitch change. Pitch adjustment isn't really correct, a pitch change is more drastic than the word adjustment implies."
Thanks go to the asker, who has inspired me to get said brother to come and visit, and tune my piano!
Reference: http://www.gumtree.com/london/30/42263430.html
| Angela Dickson
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:13
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:  English
PRO pts in category: 24
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| | Grading comment | Thanks Angela for pulling together all of the strings (hah! - sorry!) the others suggested. |
| Notes to answerer
Asker: It's Catherine ;-)
Thank you very much for digging around further on this one. I've done a bit more research tonight and, yes, everything seems to be pointing in the direction of pitch-raising!
I found the following site quite helpful for comparing with French descriptions of different actions, tools, etc.
http://billcalhounpiano.110mb.com/glossary.html
Enjoy your piano (and your brother's visit!)
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22 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1 | pitch adjustment, rough tuning
Explanation:
If the piano is really badly out of tune.. according to the reference given. Interestingly "poncage" and not pincage" means sanding..
and the writer of the article finds a similarity with a rough sanding of a surface and the rough tuning of a piano...
I get carried away!...
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Note added at 23 mins (2009-10-21 04:08:13 GMT)
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Example: Finely tuning a piano is like creating a mirror-smooth wood coffee table from a rough unfinished or worn/scratched table. First: sand it with rough sandpaper to get everything in the same range. Then sand with progressively finer paper until the surface is mirror-like. If the table is not bad at the beginning, sand with fine paper.
If your piano is badly out-of-tune, or the pitch is too low, a rough tuning is required (often called a “pitch adjustment” or “pitch raise”) to get all notes in the same range (fairly close to their target pitches), followed by a fine tuning. If your piano is not badly out-of-tune, fine tune it.
Things that affect your piano’s tuning stability the most are: humidity changes, heavy use, the newness of the piano or strings (strings stretch significantly for the first few years). Open windows and doors around or near the piano will cause it to react to the weather changes as if the piano was put outside. During rainy periods using the heat in your house will help keep the humidity constant in your house.
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Note added at 1 day18 mins (2009-10-22 04:03:13 GMT) Post-grading
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You are most welcome, Catherine. Glad to have been of help.
Reference: http://www.fredricksonpiano.com/services.html
| Zareh Darakjian Ph.D.
United States
Local time: 09:13
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:  English, Armenian
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| | Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Zareh, you definitely put me on the right track.
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| Reference: Suggestion
Reference information:
This site is an explanation of the piano tuning process, which contains a definition of your term. As Zareh suggests, it's the rough tuning process that's initially done for pianos that are *really* out of tune.
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Note added at 9 hrs (2009-10-21 12:46:10 GMT)
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Hello (sorry I can't address you by name)
I can't think of any offhand, but I'll ask my brother, who is a piano technician ;)
Reference: http://www.prevalet-musique.com/accords.php
| Angela Dickson
United Kingdom
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 24
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| Note to reference poster
Asker: Thank you for your comments, Angela, they provided a helpful insight into the others' suggestions. The article you recommend does indeed offer a thorough description of the tuning process. I had researched several similar articles in French, but what I've found in English tends to be more like the wikihow article and I don't feel satisfied with the level of language/professional terms. Would you know of a similarly good resource in English? Many thanks.
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