tuning <> TUNING

Isaac OLEG SIMANOT oleg-i@wanadoo.fr
Wed, 8 May 2002 13:02:52 +0200


 Hello Ed ,

>    I don't understand.  Are you meaning to say that ET is more
> "in tune" than the alternatives?  If so, then we have to define "in tune"
by something other than the amount of consonance available, since ET has
virtually no physical  consonance at all.

ET have a lot of consonance happily, particularly because of the iH and the
spectra of the grand piano.

My guess is that what you call consonance is flatness, or dullness in some
case. Makes me think of the Barocco thing, where musicians unable to produce
music with a good sound became specialists of a thing that nobody can judge
objectively.

All this is waste of time, for sure any tuning done without a nice spectra
in the voicing and the unisons will sound a little more lively when it will
have flaws of unequal temperament, but, when nicely tuned, the little
differences are of a so little concern that they are not noticed, even in
thirds speed (the speed is almost growing regularly on the finest tunings I
hear).

What is a good thing is that actual tuners , because they use so much the
EDT, can well re-discother the importance of the fifths and the cycle of
fifths.

It helps to reset the ears, but you are not obliged to go to extreme
situations to obtain a nice tuning.

I have the Beethoven CD, don't like the way the pianist brutalize the
instrument and the music, nor the piano sound, ugly treble   and
uninteresting medium. You cant mask capo noises with the tuning, it is
better to revitalize the hammer and mate it to strings.

 The tuning don't hold well in the treble, and I feel you where obliged to
close too much the unison, in an attempt to have them stable, let me tell
you it did not work.
The unisons, octaves and bass tuning sound as the work I done 2 years ago,
focusing on partial match at the detriment of the warmness and bloom of the
sound. May be it is because I am used to European Steinway, but I don't like
these mushy hammers artificially hardened , they can't accept hard playing
and they don't help the tone.

I guess too that tuning the piano in these different ways does not allow for
enough precision in unisons. It may be more useful on an historic
instrument, more forgiving .

I would not say that if I did not understood recently that it is a matter of
bizzness to you, please don't take too much people with you in this foolish
trade, pianists are in need of very good tuners more than ever, and they are
too rare now ...

Younger tuners may well not loose too much time on that I think. Having a
professional appreciation and knowledge of temperaments is well something
desirable, but all the mystics sold with it is a little too much for me. And
remember the pitch can well be very different at the times involved, so
don't talk about emotional content.
Emotions are to be feel. Not enough to think about it.

Sorry to be unfair, but I tried to shut up.

Will leave that post unsended for a while.


Done....

Regards.

Isaac OLEG






This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC