Jeff writes: << In the 20th and now 21st century, professional piano technicians absolutely must take the practical route unless you plan to be on hand for every concert, every rehearsal, every composition sitting, etc. Anyone who "prefers something besides ET" must be prepared to play a limited repertoire. Today's pianist is expected to be able to perform in every key, as if each were the same. << I wonder if your are unfamiliar with the characteristics of WT. The statement would be true for meantone, a restrictive tuning, but is totally invalid for many of the WT's that I, and others use. >>My number one and most important rejection of the idea of the implementation of historical temperaments is that it is completely beyond the scope of reality of expectation to impose that piano tuners should be expected to be experts in the realm of temperament history as it relates to musical composition. It simply isn't our call. << That is the beauty of our trade, we get to make our own call. I choose not to limit myself to one way of tuning, since I tune for such a variety of customers. And if tuners are not to be experts in the history of their craft/trade/obsession, then who will? >>And CAUTs in particular, will never be paid well enough to be held responsible for this kind of knowledge. Imposing it on ourselves would be like Daniel throwing himself into the lion's den.<< I can't speak for others, but my introduction of the temperaments in the academic settings that I work has had a tremendous effect on the faculty's regard for my abilities. There ain't nothing like providing epiphanies to make people take notice of you. >>If we could tune a piano or any other other fixed pitch keyboard instrument so that all intervals could be just, that would end all of this. It simply is not possible. Non-ET tunings exist only for this reason. << I disagree, non-ET tunings provide a tonal palette. Music of completely just intervals gets boring, real fast. >>ET, or the closest we can come to achieving it, is the best compromise. >> Not for me, and many others. All temperaments are compromises, but their worth depends on how they are used. I simply cannot find a way to make ignorance an asset for the clientele I work for, either jazz artists, classical artists, song-writers, arrangers, and home-based amateurs. A relatively small investment in time and effort has produced huge returns, as well as a growing degree of employment security. Ed Foote RPT http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html <BR><BR><BR>**************<BR>A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1215855013x1201028747/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26h mpgID=62%26bcd=DecemailfooterNO62)</HTML>
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