EBVT observation

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

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In a message dated 7/16/01 10:38:43 AM Central Daylight Time, 
pianomitch@hotmail.com (Mitch Ruth) writes:


> The only teacher who expressed a dislike was the one I told about the new 
> temperment.  

It's a typical thing to have happen and one good reason not to say anything 
to anyone.  If I were to tune a piano in EBVT at the Convention for a recital 
and no one knew about it, there would only be comments afterwards about how 
wonderful that Brand X piano sounds, not about *UNEQUAL* 3rds or anything 
else.

Thanks for your comments, Mitch, I really appreciate them.  It's ironic 
because I just returned from a large church which had me tune the Chickering 
Console piano in the sanctuary.  There is also a Steinway D there.  Once, I 
was asked to tune it.  It is a rebuilt instrument that was once proudly 
displayed at a Regional Seminar and represented as "state of the art" 
rebuilding.  The blue stringing felts and the glitter in the plate finish 
were part of that art, I guess.

Anyway, when I got to it several years later, I was shocked at how poor the 
alignment and regulation were.  I didn't say anything to the church about it 
but called that technician.  An answering machine responded.  I simply left a 
calm message saying that the action needed work and that I thought it better 
to let the technician know about the problem directly rather than reporting 
it to the church.

The next time I was called, I was asked to tune all the pianos in the church 
*except* the Steinway D.  There was a big note in bold face black pen warning 
me not to touch that piano.  LOL  

So, today, I go to tune the console and did so at Standard Pitch, as usual.  
When I was nearly done, a man came in telling me that "the two pianos will be 
used together".  He seemed to imply that however the Steinway was tuned, I 
should try to match my tuning to it.  I told him that I was tuning the piano 
to Standard Pitch and as long as the other one was tuned that way, there 
would be no problem.

He said I should at least check how the other was tuned because "we don't 
want the two to be a 1/4 step apart or anything".  I answered that I would 
only tune to Standard Pitch and was not allowed to touch the other piano.  He 
said, "OK, then, I have no control over that situation".

When I finished tuning the console, I went over to the Steinway D.  I found 
A4 to be exactly on pitch but the unisons were somewhat poor but worse, 4ths, 
5ths and 3rds were all inconsistent.  Some of the 5ths were noticeably 
tempered, more than any are in the EBVT.  I played a big C Major chord and it 
sounded downright awful, a horribly confused, blaring, rapidly beating, out 
of tune and out of focus sound.  G major sounded about the same.  Curiously, 
F# Major sounded somewhat milder, more at rest.

This folks, is Reverse Well.  It is what happens when a technician believes 
in ET only and violently rejects any thought of any other style of tuning.  
Over the years, the quality of the tuning deteriorates into a mess that 
cannot be cleaned up and gets worse as the years accumulate.

It's shocking and sad to encounter because it doesn't have to be that way.  
It leads to pianists not listening to what they play because virtually 
everything has that "off" and out of focus sound to it.  This, my friends, is 
the end result of 100 years or so of the dogmatic teaching of Helmholtz and 
William Braide White.  It's a dead end that needs to be reopened for 
discovery.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin

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