I ran into this when I played the piano for "Big Nose Kate's" saloon
in Tombstone, Arizona.  They had an old 1903 "Royal" upright, made by
the Krell Company.  It was a wreck so I set about doing something about
it.  I then tuned it, just to be told that it didn't sound like a
"saloon piano", and the manager asked that I do something about it.

I think the term "annotation" is a better term than "out of tune".
When people hear a piano playing there are many unconscious things that
are felt and heard.  This could be a subject within itself, but I'll
leave that for those more experienced in human psyche.

In the time far past (with the exception of the bigger cities) piano
tuners were a rarity, especially in the 'Old West'.  There were no
records, no radio, and there were many people including self-taught
pianists who never had heard a properly tuned piano.  When the new
upright was unloaded from the train and un-crated, there is no doubt
in my mind the piano was already out of tune due to bouncing over
1000+ miles of railroad rails.

So people assumed that this was the way a piano was supposed to sound.
Hence, the term "honky-tonk piano" was born.  As the pianos tuning
sank further over the years, many never noticed (or cared) as long as
the tune being played was recognizable.

To tune a piano for annotation is not hard, but care must be taken, as
it's easy to overcompensate and end up with a piano that's unpleasing
and unmusical.  First of all, never mess with the basic temperament.
Tune the piano as normal and progressively stretch the upper octaves
sharp, starting at the C above Middle C, ending up with C88 no more
than 2 cents sharp.  Then from Middle C downward you progressively go
flat, but never more than 2 cents flat at the bass end.  This change is
very subtle.  Leave the double wound unisons in tune with each other,
or you will get some very unpleasant effects.

The last step depends on the piano.  Bring the tenor strings flat
(usually the top row of pins) enough to introduce some beats, but never
enough to be harsh.  Some pianos sound better by bringing every third
string sharp, rather than flat (this was the case with the Krell
"Royal" piano).

Some pianos played and tuned for honky-tonk sound can be brightened up
by applying liquid lacquer to the _sides_ of the hammers, but never to
the striking point.

Andrew Taylor