A question on temperament-Richard

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 1/12/00 7:44:53 PM Pacific Standard Time, richardb@c2i.net 
(Richard Brekne) writes:

<< Why doesnt one of you fellows whose been doing this for a while and has 
quite a
 bit of theory already under the belt so to speak write some kinda book about 
it
 all,, ala On Pitch, or something similiar. And why dont the PTG and other 
such
 organizations / schools and the like include some theoretical groundwork for 
this
 in their exams and courses ?
 
 Is there anyone teaching a class on "How to get started with HT" at 
Arlington for
 example ??? >>

Richard,

If I told you all the true stories that have happened to me personally, you 
would say that I had a paranoid disorder.  Several people already have and I 
haven't revealed very much at all.  There is great resistance to the very 
idea of it.  This is revealed in a timely way by a post made this very day 
that I happened to read:

<>

This is the way the overwhelming majority of the profession still thinks 
about temperament, a surprising number still think this way about electronic 
tuning too.  You have already heard about what I have observed with amazing 
consistency by those who talk this way *really* end up doing, so I dare not 
repeat it in this post.

Ed Foote gave a successful class on this last year and I hear that he will do 
another one this year.  I have also been asked to give a mini-tech on the 
Equal Beating Victorian Temperament (EBVT).  Owen Jorgensen gave such a class 
on the basics, year after year at the Convention.  That is where I got much 
of what started me in my pursuits.  Each time, he was given a small room and 
often at an unfavorable time but the room was always packed, standing room 
only.  Success and popularity, such as the Temperament Festival in Providence 
were never any criteria or reason to repeat the event.  

One year, there was no HT class, the reason given was "not enough room, too 
little interest".  But there were 3 classes on Player Pianos and I don't mean 
the modern, Disklavier type, I mean the old paper role type.  I have thought 
ever since that we could have done with one fewer of them in order to 
accommodate just one HT class. Even though I am tempted, I won't mention that 
Convention Director's name nor will I detail the year after year harassment 
he gave me, including daily and repeated harassment at the Convention in 
Providence.  I am the one who is laughing at how ignorant and backward he is. 
 He who laughs last, laughs best, so they say.

A class on HT's has never been considered a "Tuning" class.  It falls into 
the miscellaneous categories somewhere such as "Classes on Historical 
Interests" along with "Antique" pianos and Birdcages.  Someone is always 
there to admonish you to tune it BACK! (after you are through fooling around 
with it).  If I were to have tuned each of the pianos that I tuned in one HT 
or another at Conventions and seminars "back" to the way they were,  it would 
have been to the way I so often find pianos are really and truly tuned that I 
would not dare to mention in this post.

None of the major manufacturers with the exception of Baldwin would even 
consider having the recital given on their piano to be in anything but ET.  
They wouldn't want to "offend" anybody.  Kent Webb who was with Baldwin for 
years was very generous in letting me do my thing.  But all I had to do was 
take things just a little too far and tune the very mild 1/7 Comma Meantone, 
and all hell broke loose.  Never, ever, again.  (One technician who is also a 
dealer in my area uses this temperament almost exclusively, has many recitals 
of both classical and jazz, many artists from out of state and never has a 
problem with anyone about it).

Attitudes and long held beliefs change slowly but they can have a way of 
changing suddenly in our fast changing times.  Only time will tell.

Regards,

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin