Werckmeister tuning

[Richard Moody]

I this appeared on the Mechanical Music Digest.  I am posting it here with
permission from Hans van Oost.   Following are additional comments of his to my
inquiry.  {words} are mine.   ---ric

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From: mailto:secr@draaiorgel.org  (Hans van Oost)
To: Mechanical Music Digest    rolls@foxtail.com
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 23:04:52 +0100

Subject: Werckmeister Tuning for Wilhelm Bruder Organ

Without having seen the book music, I think that John Kadlec's
assumption is right (010221 MMDigest).  It is probably a tuning book
that was usually delivered with all new organs; unfortunately many of
these books were lost or just taken away by organ tuners.

Tuning a band organ starts with "laying the scale", a very intricate
process which needs an experienced organ tuner.  I am Dutch, so I don't
know publications in English about tuning band organs.  Maybe Russell
Wattam from England can help.

Smaller styles of Wilhelm Bruder organs had a scale according to the
Werckmeister tempering, which differs a lot from the equally tempered
scale used in pianos, but it is essential for the good sound of the
organ.

In the original Werckmeister tempering, the fifths C-G, G-D, D-A and
A-E are narrowed by 6 cents each, so the major third C-E will not have
any beats.  Then the rest of the fifths are tuned without beats, and
the last remaining fifth F-C should be a pure interval.  When this is
established, the fifths A-E and E-B are retuned so they are without
beats.  Now the fifth B-F# will be as narrow as the three fifths you
started with.

It may be necessary to start the tuning sequence on another note of the
scale: let the existing tuning be your guide and never cut off pipes
when they seem to be too long!  The organ may be tuned lower than usual
today: diapason in Germany was A=435 Hz before 1935.

I realise that this may be a difficult and even a confusing story,
but I would need to write a booklet to make things clearer.  I hope this
will help.  The elder Ingaz Bruder once wrote, "Be sure to lay scales
and intonate pipework only when the weather is fine".  I second that!

Regards,

Hans van Oost, KDV, Netherlands
http://www.draaiorgel.org/
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>From Email of Feb 24th

ric......
> It was interesting to put together a temperament on the piano the way you
> describe.

Hans......
The Werckmeister temperature was devised by a German organ builder. I don't know
if this temperature was used by many piano builders and tuners. Main
disadvantage
of the ET scale for organs is the bad thirds. A piano, compared to an organ, has
little  {less pronounced?} harmonics, so these bad thirds are less annoying for
listeners to piano music. Tuning a piano {in Werckmeister} may result in a
slightly better sound when you play with little sharps or flats, but to the
expense of worse thirds when you play in F# or so!

> I also like to do them on spread sheets that computes beats and cents
> differences from Equal Temperamant.  (ET)

I have done the same. The figures are really interesting.

> I am wondering if you use the Werckmeister on band organs today.

The Werckmeister tempering system was used on many types of German band
(fairground) organs in past and present, especially in the organs that have a
non-chromatic scale.

> there was a mention of Simon Stevin, who published a plan for
> ET in 1581.   I have not heard of Stevin.  I wonder if his ET "solution" has
> been translated into English.

Mr. Simon Stevin published his idea in "de spieghel der sanghconst
(the mirror of the art of singing). The chances of it having been issued in
English, at the time, are very small, I guess.

regards,

Hans van Oost, KDV, Netherlands
http://ww.draaiorgel.org