Jorgenson indicated, in the book, Tuning, that for each "advancement" in temperament there have been losses, so that it seems that "different", rather than "better" would be the appropriate descriptive when describing alternative temperaments. Leslie Bartlett M. Mus Houston Chapter PTG lesbart@juno.com On Mon, 10 Mar 1997 14:56:22 -0700 Horace Greeley <hgreeley@leland.Stanford.EDU> writes: > > >Folks, > >Sorry. > >As Les said in another context, (paraphrased) "what does this mean?" > >I question strongly whether or not pianos necessarily "sound better" >in >well temperaments. > >That they sound different is not in question. That there clearly are >times >when an un-equal temperament _may_ be preferable is not in question. >That >I have used such temperaments for years as a regular part of my work, >I >will stipulate. > >What is in question is the unsubstantiated valued judgment about this >necessarily being "better". > >To be specific as to Arnold's question (and to give away, just in case >there was any question about my _own_ preferred tuning method): > > The two books by Owen Jorgenson are our most complete, >authoritative, > and comprehensible sources for the _aural_ tuning of various >kinds of > temperaments. > >There are many other things written, but these are laid out in ways >that >make them both accesible to the novice tuner (that's novice as to >non-equal >tempermants, not necessarily just "novice") and valuable resources for >those of us who have gone a little deeper. > >I am neither apologetic nor contrite. > >Horace > > > >>On 1997-03-09pianotech said to arnold1@mindspring.com >> >Pianos sound better in well temperaments than they do in equal >> >temperament. >> >One can dismiss this as a question of 'personal taste', but it >> >isn't, really. >> >>So, how do I tune a well temperament? Tell me how to do it aurally, >being >>that I can't use a SAT. But if this temperament is used, aren't >there some >>musical keys that sound really bad? I thought that was the reason >equal >>temperament evolved, to make all keys sound at least reasonable >without >>having to retune the instrument. >>Arnold Schmidt, Raleigh, NC, arnold1@mindspring.com >> >>`[1;34;46mNet-Tamer V 1.05.1 - Test Drive > > > > >Horace Greeley hgreeley@leland.stanford.edu > > "Always forgive your enemies, > nothing annoys them so much. > > - Oscar Wilde > >LiNCS voice: 725-4627 >Stanford University fax: 725-9942 > > >
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