Montal and Aristoxenes (wasHT Experience)

[Ward & Probst]

<<Kind of like black and white was developed before color and now every one
wants color.  Or Stereo from Hi Fi.   Who wants to go back to Hi Fi? No one.
Who wants to go back to black and white?  OK  some do and I can see
.     ---ric>>
<<    The crux here is that there are a growing number of musicians that see
ET as black and white, and are attracted to the color available in the
earlier tunings.  Perhaps in a particularly Aristoxenean way, we may tune
more musically if we listen to  physical sensations rather than following a
mathematical formula. (the question is, could we sell those tunings........)
    In light of what we know now,  I am suggesting that the technician of
today is better prepared for tomorrow if they can offer more than one way to
tune a piano.
Regards to all,
Ed Foote RPT>>

Ric & Ed,

Enjoyed both of your posts. Just a different thought on this- I was a cinema
buff for a few years and one thing I learned about was the contrast between
black & white(BW) and color movies. (I will lump all the various color
techniques together for simplicity). Filmmakers generally bemoaned the loss
of the dramatic lighting and shading effects available in BW when the first
color pictures were made. Citizen Kane and Gone With the Wind were both shot
in 1939 and both great movies but the effects Welles achieved in Kane would
have been impossible in color. The Last Picture Show was shot in BW about
1970 to reinforce director Bogdonavitch's vision of the Rolling Plains area
of North Texas in the drought of the 1950's. The point is that both
techniques are capable of producing equally great results- the end product
being served by the method of the artist.
So it is with tempering in my view. To do only equal temperament or only
unequal temperament is limiting to you as a technician. What really matters
in the end is that music  is made that touches the spirit and inspires the
soul.

Best,
Dale
Dale Probst, RPT
Member, TEAM20001
PTG Annual Convention
Reno, NV --July 11-15, 2000
email: wardprobst@cst.net
(940)691-3682 voice
(940) 691-6843 fax
TEAM2001 website: http://www.ptg.org/conv.htm