Way to go Avery!!! This is what I meant last year when I said that techs must be the agent of change. If we don't do the HT education, it won't get done! Avery writes: << Two questions I'd like to ask those of you with experience doing this in orchestral situations. Pertaining to intonation, I've read that singers and string players tend to gravitate away from ET anyway, left to their own devices. What about wind players? Do they also? Is it harder for them to adjust to an HT than it would be for string players? Wouldn't their instruments be designed and built to play in ET?<< Orchestral instruments of the string persuasion are not built into any temperament, the brass and woodwinds all demand compromises to play in a variety of keys, good performers instinctively do this, and the use of HT is not a problem. It is all dependant on the players sense of intonation, and I have found that getting away from ET helps them, even if they have no experience with it. The vibrato used on string playing is wider than the Young deviation from ET, so don't worry about it. My experience with Youth Orchestras is that the intonation is better when the concerto piano is in a HT. > The second question is informing people about it. I wouldn't say a word about it for the first time, to make a big deal about the difference is to place a variable in the orchestras mind, and unless they are perfect tobegin with, all blame for intonation will land on the technician that brought this "change" into the venue. Let them perform with it a few times before it becomes a "thing" that the audience is given. >>The other alternative is for the conductor, me, or whoever to say something very short about HT's, either at the beginning of the concert or right before the piece is played.<< If the performers are not comfortable, they will not play well. To toss them a new parameter will cause them to search for the differences, thus losing the true value of musical sense. Let them get acquainted with the HT's musically before you try to get them to grasp it intellectually! From the foggy side of San Francisco, Regards to all Ed Foote
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