In a message dated 3/9/99 12:27:48 PM Central Standard Time, dharnett@MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA writes: << Friends, Some people here have expressed an interest in historical temperaments but are reluctant to take the plunge without hearing some first. I have passed around a copy of "Beethoven in the Temperaments", but I am wondering if anyone knows of other recordings in non-equal temperaments. For instance, what temperament does Malcolm Bilson, or any of the frequently recorded early music groups use? Are there other disks like the Beethoven one mentioned above, where a contemporary instrument is tuned to a temperament other than equal? I know temperaments are a great source of discussion, but my intention is only to find sources for discovering their qualities for musicians. Thanks for any help you can give. Deryck Harnett >> Since no one else *dared* to answer this post, I will, having thoroughly accustomed myself to the consequences. There are very few, if any, examples of classical or other music where there is a piano or other keyboard tuned in anything but what is meant to be Equal Temperament (ET). You can find a few harpsichord and/or fortepiano recordings on some of the less popular, more esoteric labels. These are probably not what you are interested in. Some pipe organ recordings will also be in non-ET's. There is also Walter Carlos' "Switched On Bach 2000" where his electronic keyboards are tuned in a variety of ways. Again, not a very good example. Other than Ed Foote's groundbreaking Beethoven recording, which is still only talked about by word of mouth, not promoted commercially or discussed in any way in the popular media, there is virtually *nothing*. Why? Largely because of fear, prejudice and bigotry by those who could be making such things available. The people at Steinway, for example, will immediately brush the idea off saying, "No artist ever asked for it. If they start asking for it, we'll do it." What they don't tell you is that they virtually *never* discuss such options with any artist because they do no want to get involved with something they do not understand and have no knowledge or experience with. They claim that they *must* tune every piano the same way, not because of the music that will be played today, but because of the music which *may* be played tomorrow. The reasoning is always the fear of the unknown. What would happen if tomorrow's tuner came to the piano and found it all "unequal"???!!! There is just no room or time in today's society to worry about whether somebody who uses the piano *next* might find the piano in a less than favorable way. The Concert and Artist departments at Yamaha and virtually anywhere else operate under the same irrational fears. The single greatest impediment to tuning in a more musically productive way is the irrationally perceived *requirement* that the piano will have to be tuned ***BACK*** to ET afterwards (and probably without pay). This usually kills the idea right off. In the early part of this century, people like Dr. William Braide White, who took the research done earlier by Helmholz, were able to convince piano tuner- technicians and musicians alike that the *ultimate* compromise, the solution to *all* debate in tuning, was ET. Since the time of White's publication, the art of tuning has been taught with the idea that there is only one right way and that way is ET and ET only. If someone who studies tuning should even become aware that there are other alternatives, they are taught that any of those old *mean* tone tunings are just that, they make the piano sound just *terrible*. That was the way they *used* to tune before the glorious, almighty and invincible ET was discovered. We are taught that in ET, you can play *anything* in *all* keys. You have complete "freedom" to modulate anywhere and anyhow you might ever want to modulate. You are lead to believe that if you try to do virtually *anything* else, the deepest, darkest, most godforsaken consequences will occur. Steinway Hall has absolute control over the Julliard School of Music, the most prestigious in the nation and perhaps the world. Young artists there learn to accept what they are force fed and so are the instructors. They exit into the performing arts circuits thoroughly conditioned to accept one kind of sound and one only. If someone proposes or tries something else, the immediate reference is made back to Julliard and Steinway as the authority in this regard. No one wants to take any chances with their concert performance or recording. They all want to play safe and go with something they already are familiar with. We therefore have as a consequence, countless recordings of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Music on modern pianos in ET. No one yet has ever heard the way this music was *intended* to sound. Even the highly esteemed Wanda Landowska recorded both books of this music on a harpsichord tuned with a strobe tuner. I often hear of how great an artist she was but if I am permitted to give my opinion of these recordings, they are *un*listenable and extremely boring. We piano technicians are the only people who can break the hold and restraint that total devotion to ET has on the musical community at large. It has to start with the children in their homes and at their schools and on their piano teachers pianos. It can also be done with lesser performing artists who by their circumstances, must play on pianos which are not perfectly tuned most of the time. These people are more receptive to the different kinds of sounds that the piano is capable of. In time, with perseverence, the hold can be broken. If someone like George Winston, for example, feels it necessary to publish a long list of specifications on how his piano is to be tuned and prepared and even has his own ideas about octave stretching, it demonstrates that an itinerate performer like him regularly encounters substandard piano tuning and preparation. There must be many like him. If these people can learn to appreciate that there is something better than the lowest common denominator that is usually offered, eventually the groundswell will break through to Steinway Hall and Julliard. If Ed Foote in his many Nashville recordings, is eventually able to persuade Pop and Country Artists to accept a more musical sound, more and more ground will be broken. It is up to each and every technician who wants to make a difference to have the courage to do so. Respectfully, Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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