In a recent MMD, John Tuttle asked:

> Hi All,  In my on-going pursuit of knowledge, I ask that anyone
> possessing any scientific studies on the factors that effect the
> stability of a piano tuning, please forward those studies to me
> or tell me where to find them.
>
> Any references are acceptable as long as they are from a controlled
> study, the results of which have been published by a major university,
> piano company or well-known and/or respected author.


I went to the library and pulled up a list of articles from the Music
Index on piano tuning, which included some on stability.  All of the
articles were printed in the Piano Technicians Journal the last ten
years.  I have forwarded this list to John.  The list is too lengthy
to send to the MMD, but if any of you would like a copy, please email
me at brite@ksu.edu or exchange@foxtail.com.

I also checked the Science and Engineering indexes for articles on
piano tuning and came up with zero hits.  I then checked for (scien-
tific) articles on pianos and found a few dozen in publications such
as the Journal of Sound and Vibration and the Journal of the Acoustical
Society of America, but none dealing with the subject John requested.

Scientific research at universities and other institutions is often
funded by outside sources.  It is possible that no agency, foundation,
corporation, etc. has offered funding for such a study, or, no re-
searcher has applied for funding to study the topic of stability of
piano tuning.

Any ideas how we can get researchers and funding sources interested
in such a study?

Joyce Brite
Player Piano and Mechanical Music Exchange
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Exchange/