Hi Jim, I think you read me right, however this can be a very confusing topic. Because modern pianos are designed to be at A-440 in ET, it would seem that the best sound would be to have the average overall pitch be A-440. Ofcourse, in an HT A wouldn't be at 440, so what do we do? If we change A, whole ensembles will have to change as they are used to tuning to A. This is a problem too big for me, perhaps the guild in conjuction with musicians can resolve this. I'm not sure what you mean by "that with HT the relationship takes precedence over the standard." I think the standards of pitch should certainly exist and be adhered to. Ofcourse in ET, A is the only note on 440 and is more than halfway up the scale so the average tuning pitch would likely be flat of theoretical A-440 in ET due to inharmonicity. Concerning these standards, I confess to fudging them abit in professional concerts. I typically tune using a C 523 fork using the A-flat a Major tenth below as the test reference for middle C. I place the fork by my ear to compare as they tell me that putting it on the bridge results in a slightly flatter pitch. This method I use gives me the highest "A-440". I tune this way when the piano is seasonally going flat so I can keep this tuning and improve on it in future concerts. Often the concert piano is creeping flat but still sounds like a great tuning. In this case I pull out my A-440 fork and compare with A and if it's still good I can save and improve that tuning. The flattest extreme is to put the A fork on the bridge and compare directly with A. A further sneakier method is to use additional octave stretch to get A to 440. I consider all these things when I'm tuning and try to anticipate by the time of year whether the piano is going sharp or flat and what method to use. I typically give the concert pianos new tunings about every two to three weeks, all intermediate recitals use the same "improved" tuning. This method does perhaps bend the standard alittle bit, however I feel I get better and clearer tunings by doing so. I believe there is atleast some leeway in what A-440 means, and add to this the problem of stage lights and it becomes even cloudier. I'm curious this is acceptable standards or what you and others think about it. Is A-440 and one forth ok? what about A-440 and one third? -Mike Jorgensen RPT JIMRPT@aol.com wrote: > > Michael; > Is what I hear you, and others, saying is that while ET aims to establish a > standard to strive for as being paramount in establishing relationships among > notes/chords; that with HT the relationship takes precedence over the standard > ? > This is not to say that either can be sloppily done. > examples: ET--A440 absolute standard and computations of relationships are > made from that standard. > HT-- A440 can be standard but deviations from this to satisfy > realtionships are acceptable as the average of deviations will lead back to > A440like character overall. > Am I in the ballpark here? > Jim Bryant (FL)
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