----- Original Message ----- From: <Tvak@AOL.COM> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 7:19 AM Subject: Re: Temperament, A pianist responds | | In a message dated 12/13/01 5:12:26 AM, A440A@AOL.COM writes: | | <<the heavyweights of academia don't want to be told that they have spent | their careers in ignorance of some fundamental aspect of the music that they | profess to have mastered. They will resist, no matter what. >> | | Anyone care to respond (...resist) to the anecdote related above? | | Tom Sivak Yes------it shows the importance of not writing anything that seems to stand alone out of context. Or the fundamental lesson in "Historiography 301" "avoid sweeping generalizations." By itself it is an insult to the intelligence and integrity of academia. But the implications run deeper on second thought. If professors are "ignorant of some fundamental aspect of music" what about the rest of us poor souls? Apparently we have to be taught to hear and then appreciate the difference temperament makes. And woe to us who profess we don't hear new and wondorus tonalities and heaven help some brave few who dare to state "I think it makes the music sound worse". I have tuned HT's and played on them as much as my meager ability allows. I have heard recordings. I have heard the presentation at the national convention. There on a modern player piano,(a good test I think) I could hear a difference but I wondered if I liked it. I would like to learn the piece though, something from WTC in E minor? There will be people who may honestly come to the conclusion that listening to HT's on modern pianos is much ado about nothing. That does not mean they or I am "resisting no matter what". On the contrary, the subject of HT's is very interesting to me as a tuner and historical researcher. I see them as part of the long winding road to ET. To say that ET is the culmination of the historic enveavor of tuning will be decried as blasphamy I suppose from the devotees of the anything but ET cult. But it will not do much good to trade insults, (unless there is some humor in it). The bottom line is open mindedness. I have tuned them, played them, listened to them and come out with a greater appreciation for ET than before. Would I have a greater appreciation for ET against HT in a blind test? Could I even tell the difference? I am curious to find out. And of course I would be more than willing to tune the ET piano. Now that would be interesting, listening to two pianos in a blind test, one of which you tuned. ---ric
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