Perfect Pitch...Matthew

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 12/15/99 5:53:35 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
btrout@desupernet.net (Brian Trout) writes:

<< Although I don't play nearly as much as I used to, I never did find any
 particular key intimidating.  Not only do I play in the typical C, F, & G...
 I also really enjoy playing in F#, C#, & B.   (One of my personal favorites
 in F# is an arrangement of Silent Night, >>

I don't mean at all to be disrespectful and I know that Brian has expressed 
his preference for and dislike of HT's but if it is *really* ET, how could F# 
be any different from F, except for the pitch?  You can tune a temperament 
that would pass the PTG RPT Tuning Exam with all scores above 90, which would 
be considered to be of the highest recognized caliber and still tune a 
Reverse Well Temperament.  I wonder if you like Silent Night in this key 
because in fact, it has a milder, gentler nature than the key of F but you 
are not consciously aware of it?

<<What a relief!  I thought I was imagining things since certain frequent 
proponents of HT announced there was no color to ET.  I have perfect pitch (a 
not particularly strong form) and I here different colors for each key in ET.

Andrew Remillard>>

<<If, for example, you've listened to
nothing but a well-tuned, equal-tempered piano your whole life, then
your "perfect pitch" will consist of stretched octaves and smoothly
progressing thirds, sixths and tenths, and other instruments and
temperaments might sound out of tune to you.
-- 
Thomas A. Cole, RPT
Santa Cruz, CA>>

<>

I greatly respect all of the above people who are quoted here.  There most 
surely are ways to achieve tone "color" from the piano by the way you play it 
that is not attributable to the way it is tuned, i.e. legato/stacatto, they 
way you "punch" or gently press the keys, use of the pedal, manipulation of 
the rhythm, etc.  Also, different pianos do have their own "voice" or "color" 
and it can be changed through voicing, regulation and tuning.

The "color" spoken of in Temperament Tuning has only to do with the exact 
combinations of Slowly Beating Intervals (SBI) and Rapidly Beating Intervals 
(RBI).  As Newton pointed out, this is very real and usually perceptible by 
the listener.  Piano Technicians who have mastered ET and have never used 
anything else as a regular part of their practice are sometimes shocked by 
any temperament that varies from ET by any more than the very slightest 
amount.  This is understandable and I consider it to be a matter of personal 
preference, something to which everyone has a right, just as they do an 
opinion.

However, some piano technicians habitually tune a near ET, one which is 
within the parameters of professional acceptance and which does have some 
variety within it but that variance goes unrecognized for what it is.  There 
is a very mild form of "color", analogous to that of the HT's that is in 
their temperaments.  People get used to that kind of sound too and prefer it.

I know of three very respected local technicians who always do this but who 
are unaware of the non-ET nature of their work.  I know of a Jazz pianist who 
likes one of these technician's tunings but does not like mine.  He claims, 
as Brian does, that he likes to play this technician's tunings "in the black 
keys".  He says I make the piano "pop" in the keys he likes while his tuner 
tunes "smooth and mellow". 

Of course, he blames it on the known fact that I do something other than ET 
while *his* tuner does it the right way, the only way, ET.  Trying to explain 
what Reverse Well is to him and that it is what he really is experiencing 
would be in no one's best interest, so I just let him believe what he wants 
to believe.

So, in my opinion, anytime someone claims that they hear some kind of 
distinction between keys in ET, where by definition, there is none, this is 
what I suspect first of all.  It is not really ET they are talking about.  
There is another possibility, however.  Just as a black & white photo has all 
of the colors we expect to see altered and made into shades of gray, we still 
recognize the image for what it is.  We don't see the natural colors but our 
mind can imagine them as if they were there, even if we don't do it 
consciously.

Therefore, I think that some people who tune a true ET or have their piano 
tuned in a true ET have learned to like it best that way.  There are many 
photographers incidentally who prefer to work in Black & White.  The people 
who like a true ET have learned to appreciate that lack of contrast and their 
perception of it is able to imagine a difference in texture simply by 
changing the place on the keyboard where the harmony is played.  They don't 
want their temperament "colorized" any more than they want to see one of Ted 
Turner's colorized classic films.

Now, if anyone else can explain how "color" can be heard when there clearly, 
by design and intention can be no distinction, I am open to reading an 
explanation of it. 

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin