Greetings, Carl writes: > I would be interested in knowing how tuners who tune historical >temperaments deal with the the issue of determining how an oddly scaled >piano will affect beat rates of all or just some intervals. An odd scale's inequality is more easily hidden in the graduated dissonances of a well temperament than it is out on the rigid grid of ET. The effect from a set of chromatic chords played on ET can be damaged if there is a more highly tempered step in there. (<now beginning to stretch analogies until they disappear> a pebble is more evident on a paved driveway than a gravel one, a slighty askew brick stands out more if the wall is completely regular, etc) Whereas it is easy to discern the wide third in ET, when there is a whole range of widths,(as in a HT) it becomes difficult to hear the slight deviations from theory. They fall below the "sonar screen", and as such, have virtually no bearing on the music's effect. Carl again: >I guess I am concerned that this interest in historical temperaments in >the last few years could lead to newcomers to our profession deciding >that the ability to set an equal temperament by aurally measuring each >piano's inharmonicity is not really important. Just invent your own >modern historical temperament and off you go. No one will notice. I gotta say that this is an alarming tangent. The revival of HT's is occuring because of the machine's easy use of the ET as a point of deviation. ET will increasingly be seen as the standard tuning from which to deviate, not the only thing available. If a tuner can succeed by "inventing his own modern historical temperament", then that just means there is no competition nearby. With more educated tuners around, this is a self-leveling situation. The benifits of multi-temperament ability are far more valuable than the slight risks that are encountered. This is going to be a fair part of the HT class in KC this year. I welcome all comments and opinions on the whole subject, since a working, viable dialogue is the first step in broadening the knowledge. Regards, Ed Foote
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