A question on temperament-Richard

[Ward & Probst]

Bill & List,

FYI- There will be two 1.5 hour classes on temperaments in Arlington. They
will be run twice, scheduled in the same rooms as the other tuning classes
and listed in the tuning section in the brochure. They will be taught by Ed
Foote and David Lamoreaux. In addition there will be your mini tech which
will also be run twice. In total there will be 7.5 hours of temperament
classes not devoted to equal temperament. It is my hope that anyone who is
interested in learning more about this subject will attend these classes.

Sincerely,
Dale
Dale Probst
Institute Director
PTG Annual Convention
Arlington, VA--July 5-9,2000
wardprobst@cst.net
(940)691-3682 voice
(940) 691-6843 fax


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of Billbrpt@AOL.COM
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2000 10:35 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Re: A question on temperament-Richard


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