OFF (*was: neurology)

[David Love]

In view of Susan's story about the Chopin prelude, has anyone considered
that WT's might create a different problem in that the keys with no
accidentals might sound too clean?  Everybody talks about the "excitement"
of the more remote keys.  How about the lack of "excitement" in the keys at
the other end of the spectrum.  Might not somebody playing in WT find that
the key of C sounds a bit dull.

David Love


----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Kline" <sckline@attbi.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: May 05, 2002 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: OFF (*was: neurology)


> At 02:12 PM 5/5/2002 -0400, Ed wrote:
> >    Reason's for Chopin's choice of keys has been ascribed to both the
extra
> >brilliance found in the remote keys (In WT) helping his weak frame
produce
> >strength of sound, and also to the hand positions he preferred. This
doesn't
> >definitively explain why he wrote the way he did, though, so I don't
> >know,either.
>
> One little experience -- I went to Jim Coleman, Sr.'s class at a
convention,
> where he talked about his temperament using untempered fifths -- the one
> which leads to very wide octaves. We had his usual comparison between that
> equal but wide temperament and another piano which he had tuned. We were
> fooled, as usual, and failed even to note that the second piano was tuned
> in a very non-equal temperament, one of his own quite strong Wells. We
only
> twigged when he ran successive thirds for us.
>
> Anyway, one of the pieces he played was a Chopin Prelude, and it sounded
> really spicy and nice. Then he transposed it so that it was in a simpler
> key, with the narrow thirds, etc. YUCK!!!! Bland, gutless, no strength
> to the harmonic motion, it just SAT there. An eyeopener for me. Still,
> it was better than meantone, with the bad fifths as well ... (Just My
Opinion,
> Folks ...) (Wearing Conrad's newest, best flamesuit.)
>
> Susan
>
>