Dear List, Thanks for all the responses but please do not think that I would write such things merely to seek attention. For me, it is simply reality. I'll try to respond to many points people made in one post, as shortly as possible. I never said I wasn't loud and at least sometimes negative. I did not use offensive or obscene language. My purpose was not to "inflame" the List nor "flame" Ed Foote. I always actually kinda liked the guy and his CD is not bad but it is not what I would have done. The things I spoke of really happened. Many people tell me I should "be like" or "act like" Jim Coleman or Owen Jorgensen. I could if I wanted to but that would be simply using my theater acting skills. Maybe I will "mellow out" to their degree by the time I get to be their age. Owen Jorgensen was indeed targeted long ago by an individual who wanted Owen "kicked out" of PTG (using Owen's own words) because of the studies he had done. The fact that Owen's wife has been concerned about what she has witnessed and is afraid would happen demonstrates what I have been saying all along. The very idea of an *unequal* temperament is upsetting to many people. The person who wrote me the threatening letter had actually encountered a piano that Owen had tuned in 1/4 comma meantone. I was blamed. When it was revealed to her what the truth was, it was still my fault in that person's mind for being the way I *am*. If only I could be like Owen, so kind, so gentle, etc., then I would be able to accomplish every thing I desired. I'm afraid that is not true. There are many things I wish Owen would do and say that he will not but yes, I respect him as being among the very most important influences in what I do, just as Jim Coleman is. Now, who do you think got Jim Coleman to experiment with temperament? Was it just Owen or did somebody else who took what Owen was teaching, and what Jim Coleman, himself was teaching along with what George Defebaugh, Franz Mohr, Virgil Smith, Steve Fairchild, Ron Berry, Fred Tremper and members of my own chapter, Tim Farley and Norman Sheppard were teaching, put them all together and created something that reflects all of their ideas? The purpose of the EBVT is not to be a specific temperament for a specific kind of music the way most HT's are. It is, however specific by its very nature to music of the late 19th Century and Post Romantic 20th Century music. It is meant to be used as a replacement for Equal Temperament (ET). It will do no real harm to any music that really requires ET (I know of very little of that and what there is does not have much broad appeal). The Equal Beating (EB) properties have an unexpected benefit when early music is played on it. The canceling out effect of the EB intervals make certain chords and harmony which are typical in earlier music such as Baroque and Classical have a much purer sound than the actually do. Whether or not this could be considered really appropriate, the assertion is that it would be far more appropriate than ET for this purpose. That is not saying it is "better" nor did I ever say it was "better". As it has been plainly presented by Owen himself, no one temperament can be thought of as "better" or as an "improvement". Any one favoring of any interval or partial when octave tuning will disfavor another. But again the assertion is that ET is not "better" or "the best" either nor is any particular octave stretching arrangement. The EBVT with tempered octaves attempts to grasp the essence of HT tonality with a 21st Century perspective while making compromises that incorporate the piano's own inharmonicity to satisfy the ear's general desire to hear more highly stretched octaves than are often thought of as appropriate. An FAC or similar smooth curve octave stretching calculation program cannot handle the irregularities. To me, the aural tuning sequence of both the temperament and octaves is surprisingly simple and the temperament sequence is constructed the way many documented HT's are. Yet no one, no one ever, so they say, has successfully followed my aural tuning instructions. There is the challenge. They have been published on this List more than once or twice, I think. I have not deliberately violated my pledge to keep my posts civil and non inflammatory. I hope Ed Foote's class is a success and have every expectation that it will be. I have the utmost respect for what he does and his opinions but I think he should have the same for all other HT practitioners and be sensitive to the weight that his opinion stated publicly carries. I'm afraid however that no matter how well Ed does, it will not change the fact that there are so many that will dismiss his ideas completely and keep on doing whatever they are doing thinking that it is the most appropriate or feasible way to work. It has now been over ten years since I ever tuned a piano in ET for anybody for any reason. Only on the PTG Tuning Exam have I worked with ET. I have found a way to tune the piano which is more *musically* appropriate than ET for just about any kind of music that you would care to play on the piano. I didn't say it was "better". Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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