more on this temperament thing...

[A440A@AOL.COM]

<<Question:  Do other instruments have to be set up for HT?  What is the
tuning on a saxophone for instance?  Is tuned to some sort of a ET?
Obviously pitch can be altered as playing somewhat...how much?  
>>
    I think the piano is the only instrument that is normally tuned in ET.  
Strings are tuned with pure intervals, Horns and reeds are built to be played 
in defined "Keys".  If they are to be played in other keys, there are certain 
notes that have to be tuned by embouchere.  A good sax player should be able 
to change the note by at least 25 cents, far beyond our mild shading of the 
intervals with our 3-6 cent changes. 

>>Of course some pianists are going to like HT.  I have talked with one great
jazz pianist and he hated HT, absolutely hated it.  I don't believe for
second that the majority would ever take HT over ET on a regular basis.<< 

  Well,that is "one" pianist, certainly not indicative of the whole field.  
The instructors at the Nashville Jazz Workshop have now adopted the Coleman 
11 and/or Young temperaments as superior to what they had before. 
    As far as the "majority" goes,  so far I am seeing the majority around 
here prefer my unequal tuning to my equal one.  Eventually,  I believe we 
will see ET for what it is, a 20th century phenomenom that is necessary for 
20th century music.  A one-size-fits-all intonation.  I think the Western 
musical world got blinded by science.   
    Some would hold ET responsible for the gradual decline in the piano's 
place of supremacy,(as compared to where it was in 1910, say).  I don't know 
about that, but it doesn't seem to have helped!  Even more radical people 
would hold ET responsible for music's degeneration into rock and roll, (which 
to me is act in the number of techs that are now using a wide variety of 
temperaments.  In 1976, there was no mention of this stuff in the literature 
that I know of, even though Murray Barbour's writings had been available 
since the 1950's.   The last 10 or 15 years has seen a tremendous blow to 
ET's hedgemony, and there are no signs that the trend is abating.  So, the 
modern tech has the choice of staying with the status quo or exploring new 
fields.  There is nobody to make us do one or the other, it is strictly an 
individual choice. 
  It does seem that the ET-only and the HT-only groups get mighty defensive 
when confronted with the alternatives.  I wonder why?  Are the only happy 
techs the ones that use them all?  
Regards, 
Ed Foote