Terry writes:
>If "WT" or ANYthing other than ET is so much better, in your opinion, than
> why, I wonder, is ET so universally employed as the "standard?"
Commercial appeal. It is the one size fits all. But first, to consider the
statement,
" If "WT" or ANYthing other than ET is so much better, in your opinion"
It isn't necessarily MY opinion, I don't pay myself to tune. The
greater attraction for WT pianos comes from the customers. I now have many
customers that have told me that they will never return to ET, and I'm about
the only source. I like being in this position here. That is the reason I
have been suggesting that techs learn to tune more than one way. There is
money, reputation, and job security out there for the more progressive tech.
>I'm more than open to hearing your thoughts. I only know that our Steinway
tech
>tunes ONLY ET and his results are glorious!
Has he ever had to compete with a tuner that is offering a wider variety of
tuning? When the time comes, you may find that what is "glorious" loses some
of its luster.
>Let's remember that ten tuners can
> tune ET on the SAME piano, and each may sound different, depending on the
> accuracy, stability, and the amount of stretch of each tuning.
Yes, but those differences are neglible in comparison to the differences
between the clinical ET and even the mildest well-temperament. Without
discussing it beforehand, I am finding that only 1 out of about 10 pianist
prefer the Et piano to the well-tempered one, so there is more to this than a
momentary infatuation with "new".
There is a growing movement in this country towards a wider approach to
temperaments and there will be more and more incidences of the WT tech taking
business away from those that can't offer it. I have seen this happen in
several places already and it shows no sign of letting up.
"You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows".
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
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