6:3 bass octaves---why?

[Patrick C. Poulson]

Tom: My recollection of the work done by Rick Baldassin in his series called
"On Pitch" in the Journal is this: we tune octave so as to have the
predominant partials matching as beatless as possible, while allowing for
the presence and beating of other, less predominant partials.  In the bass,
the 6:3 octave usually acheives this outcome. On some pianos, such as
spinets, narrower octaves work better, on others, such as large grands,
wider octaves are possible. Matching is also in the ear of the musician as
well. I have had to both widen and narrow octaves to suit the taste of
various piano owners.  Hey, its their piano! Hope this helps some. Patrick
Poulson, RPT