Jazz tuning style? ET, of course

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 4/2/99 2:41:58 PM Central Standard Time, 
severanc@mail.wsu.edu writes:

<< So a what constitues a good tuning for me in order of importance are
 solid unisons, clean octaves and at the risk of being flamed off my piano
 stool a well executed ET.
 
 David Severance >>

No, I'm not going to flame you.  I, myself thought the same as you for years 
and others have expressed the same ideas here before.  The harmonies found in 
Jazz are far more complex than in any pre-20th Century music, that's true.  
So, then *wouldn't* that *require* ET?

I does seem logical just like the whole concept of ET seems logical.  It's 
not that ET doesn't work for Jazz or any other kind of music.  Of course, it 
does.  But, I have been a practitioner of HT's or Cycle of 5ths based 
temperaments now for over 10 years, most of that time never tuning ET.  I 
have heard Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Rock & Roll, Country, New Age, Pop and even 
Bubble Gum in other temperaments than ET and I can tell you from experience 
that all of these forms can work well in something else.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have even heard Jazz in one of the most 
extreme HT's, 1/4 Comma Meantone and the harmonies its serves up are 
completely compatible with many Jazz and other contemporary styles.

I have often heard people suggest the Marpug I Quasi Equal Temperament 
because it has a "cleaner" sound.  The Equal Beating Victorian Temperament 
that I most often tune works very well too.  I'm reasonably sure that even 
with the opinion you have, if you tried your music on a piano tuned that way, 
you would not find that it interfered in any way with it but rather did, in 
fact, enhance the overall sound.  Using an HT can, in fact, help a pianist 
express the so-called "Blue Note" that is important to Jazz, Blues, Gospel 
and Rock & Roll.  You can't have it with ET.

There is a technician here in Madison who regularly hosts both classical and 
Jazz performers in his piano showroom.  His favorite temperament is 1/7 Comma 
Meantone.  He has had Dave McKenna who plays a smooth ballad style with many 
extended voicings perform there many times in 1/7 Comma Meantone.  Dave has 
never discussed "temperament" or any other aspect of piano preparation with 
that technician.  He just enjoys playing on magnificent pianos that are 
prepped to the hilt and tuned with great precision and stability.  He has 
never voiced one complaint or negative remark but returns time and again 
because he feels welcome and comfortable.

As for Jim's comment, I have heard many Jazz recordings made with out-of-tune 
pianos.  I can hardly stand to listen to them.  I have heard that there just 
was not the budget or even the perception of need for the kind of precision 
that Ed Foote talks about where he works in Nashville these days.  The 
phrase, "close enough for Jazz", I believe, is an outgrowth of this lack of a 
minimum professional standard during those times. 

 Even Jerry Lee Lewis's famous hit record, "Great Balls 'o Fire" was made on 
a poorly tuned piano.  You wouldn't hear that today.  I have seen him perform 
on a Bösendorfer on HBO.  If there ever were a Rock & Roll artist I'd like to 
tune for, it is him.  His style is so unique and individual, not to mention 
enjoyable and even thrilling to watch and hear.  You'd need to be able to 
tune the most solid and clean sounding 7th octave to be worthy to work for 
him.  I know what I would do but I wonder how many people who tune pianos 
have a clear concept of what it would take?

My response to this post was meant to be somewhat April Foolish.  I'm not 
really sure what that person may have meant by a "Jazz Tuning Style".  I'm 
sure that the tuners in the recordings that Jim speaks of thought in terms of 
ET and may have or may not have really tuned ET.  Some may have, in fact, 
made the Reverse Well error to some degree or another but what Jim is hearing 
and what I have heard and object to is nothing more than the sound of a piano 
which has gone out of tune, whether it was the tuner's fault or not.

There have been plenty of arguments and discussions about temperament and 
octaves in recent years but a bad unison seems to be unacceptable to all but 
a very few.  I don't hear anyone these days ever advocating anything but the 
purest unisons possible.

Sincerely,
Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin