What's next? A self-tuning banjo?!


Self-Tuning Piano Set to Make Sweet Music
Thu December 5, 2002 11:21 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - An inventor has developed a piano that can tune itself in 40 seconds and which will hit the market next year.
Conventionally, pianos are tuned by manually adjusting the tension of the strings struck when a piano key is pressed.

But Don Gilmore's invention warms the strings using an electric current to reduce an excess of tension deliberately built in when the piano leaves the factory.

"Gilmore's system will go on sale in some grand pianos made by American piano maker Story and Clark by the end of next year," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

"The system...tunes the piano using a warming current to ease the tension of the strings," the magazine explained.

A frequency analyzer, microcomputer and power transistor are incorporated into the system to tune the string to the correct frequency.

Gilmore, who is based in Kansas City, Missouri, trained as a classical pianist before becoming a mechanical engineer and inventor.

The company planning to use the invention in their pianos said it was too early to say exactly how much it would add to the price of their instruments.