Hi everyone! So the question usually comes up. Why tune in any other temperament? For me, it was because I came to question the target. Before I got a precise enough tool to check myself with, (RCT) I noticed what I dubbed the "vintage wine" effect. Just as there are great years, and not-so-great years from the same vinyard, I noticed that sometimes I came up with tunings that just seemed to play better than others. Blessed with some time to experiment, I once spent 6 hours with a 7' Baldwin trying to get within .2 cents of ET. Did I achieve musical nirvana? Nope, but it was really even! So what is your margin for error? I think what happens is that looking at graphs shows the target without the margin for error. Here's ET - watch out graph-man's at it again! c :.........................* G :.........................* D :.........................* A :.........................* E :.........................* B :.........................* F#:.........................* Db:.........................* Ab:.........................* Eb:.........................* Bb:.........................* F :.........................* C :.........................* Ah, that's nice, all thirds are the same! So, how close to you tune on a daily basis on those Whitney grands? Within one cent? great! ET with one cent margin for error: C :.....................********* G :.....................********* D :.....................********* A :.....................********* E :.....................********* B :.....................********* F#:.....................********* Db:.....................********* Ab:.....................********* Eb:.....................********* Bb:.....................********* F :.....................********* C :.....................********* Hmmmmmm. A lot of tunings could fit there! (from 11.7 -15.7 cent wide thirds) You could be putting on a mild well, meantone, pythagorean, reverse well, .... the options are endless. So, look at the Coleman 11 that was written about recently: C :.............* G :...............* D :.....................* A :...........................* E :...............................* B :...............................* F#:.................................* Db:.................................* Ab:...............................* Eb:.............................* Bb:.....................* F :...............* C :.............* Now, throw in the one cent margin for error: C :........********** G :..........********** D :.................********* A :.......................********* E :...........................********* B :...........................********* F#:.............................********* Db:.............................********* Ab:...........................********* Eb:.........................********* Bb:.................********* F :...........********* C :.........********* Targeting on a curve gives a better chance at achieving a curve. So, how can you KNOW that you are really achieving an ET? Only by reducing your margin for error down to nothing. If you don't have a precise machine around, good luck! Some of your most musical tunings to date were possibly not ET, but accidents while trying to hit the ET target. Hey Conrad, can you Fed-Ex me a flamesuit? Better make it quick! Ron Koval Chicagoland ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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