[CAUT] tuning paradigm (was P12ths)

[Fred Sturm]

On Oct 18, 2008, at 3:48 PM, Tim Coates wrote:

> Fred,
>
> I think I understand what you are saying here.  It is not up to  
> technicians to decide what is a correct tuning?  That is my  
> philosophy.  As I commented earlier when talking about Fernando  
> Ortega, recording artists prefer tunings that have very narrow  
> octaves.  From what I can tell it is because of how the octaves  
> interact making the unisons sound out of tune.  It is not for me to  
> tell Fernando or Jim Brickman what they should prefer.  A piano used  
> for accompanying a choir seems to work better tuned very narrow.   
> Now Olga Kern sounds better with a quite wide tuning.   My job is to  
> make the artist happy.
>
> Tim Coates


I guess that in essence I am saying that piano tuning (and other  
musical tuning) is very malleable depending on context. The only  
constant for the piano is the unison, and even it may occasionally be  
"massaged" for some purpose. I think it is wise to be very well  
educated about the possibilities and the theories, but not doctrinaire  
in application.
	I agree 100% with your last sentence. It certainly isn't about me the  
tuner. It is about the customer (or the artist and public in the case  
of concert work). But I have to be willing and able to make the  
decisions (and live with the consequences) if I am provided with no  
guidance. So I have to have more or less made up my own mind and come  
to my own style as a starting point. Presumably I have arrived there  
by working with various customers over the years, and by discussing  
and listening to the work of my colleagues to the extent possible.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu