tuning (tuning)

[Verbal n. of tune, v.] The act, proce , or result of adjusting the intonation of a musical instrument. The proce varies with the mechanical construction of the instrument. In stringed instruments, like the pianoforte, violin, harp, etc., it consists in adjusting the tension of the strings by means of tuning-pins or -pegs. In wind-instruments, like the flute, clarinet, trumpet, etc., it consists in adjusting the length of the tube by means of some kind of sliding joint or crook, so that the fundamental tone of the tube shall be correct. In a bell it consists in adjusting the thickne of the sound-bow. In the organ it consists in various adjustments of the effective length of the air column in flue-pipes, or of the vibrating part of the reed in reed-pipes. The intricacy of the proce depends chiefly on the number of separate tones whose intonation is fixed, and is most conspicuous in instruments with a keyboard, like the organ and the pianoforte. On these instruments some system of compromise temperament is a nece ity, if freedom of modulation is desired. Accordingly, great pains is taken to set the temperament in a single central octave, and all other octaves are then adjusted thereto. Tuning is much facilitated by the phenomenon of beats, especially in the case of the organ. See temperament and beat1.-Flat or French flat tuning, one of the methods of tuning a lute: so called because the French pitch was lower than that elsewhere used. - Pythagorean tuning. See Pythagorean.