Bach Temperaments (more than one)

[Jason Kanter]

I'll make a page of temperament graphics specifically for Bach variations. 
When it's ready, I'll announce it here.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <A440A at aol.com>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 8:05 PM
Subject: Bach Temperaments (more than one)


> Jon writes:
> << Your offsets do not jive with the site:
> http://www.larips.com/ >>
>
> Damn right!  Mea dumbly culpa.
>      What I inadvertantly did was post the offsets for the temperament 
> that
> J. Charles Francis derived from Bach's Signet Ring Seal of 1722 ! ( so 
> much
> for keeping one file of all the "Bach" tunings).
>      We may profit from comparing this to the Lehman tuning found on the
> Larips.com site.  And if we are to go even farther with this, the "Barnes" 
> tuning
> that was derived from a statistical examination of Bach's usage is also 
> worth
> considering, though it appears to have less harmonic distortion, thus,
> falling closer to a "normal" well-temperament. (Thanks to Paul Bailey for 
> pointing
> out more resources than I would have thought to have included).
>
> The Lehman offsets are:
> C    5.9
> C#  3.9
> D    2
> D#  3.9
> E   -2
> F    7.8
> F#  2
> G    3.9
> G#  3.9
> A    0.0
> A#  3.9
> B    0.0
> C    5.9
>
>     The Lehman tuning contains more contrast, however, if examined from a
> standpoint of syncronicity,(m3/M3),  I think we see that there is greater
> correlation in the more highly tempered keys of the Lehman, which may 
> effectively
> reduce some of the perceived "busyness" of those keys.  Jason's pictures 
> on the
> Rollingball site are the logical place to research this.
>     The more important point is that there is much to be learned about
> Bach's music by playing it in these tunings.  While tuners may find 
> profundity in
> the difference, it will be a rare pianist that can distinguish between the
> Lehman and the Francis tunings without side by side comparisons, or 
> extensive
> experience with either before trying the alternative.
>   Sorry for the mis-information,
> Regards,
>
> Ed Foote RPT
> http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
> www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
>