Hello list, As the subject has recently come up I am curious about a scale that I am working on - it probably applies to most scales but I am a beginner and am not quite certian how to phrase it so here goes. Note #10 is a monochord with tension of (295lb) Note #11 is a bichord with unison tension of 156X2 = (312 lbs.) My initial desire was to reduce the unison tension of #10 and or increase the unison tension of #11 to make them more equal - or closer anyway. My question is in regard to power and tone - an imaginary single wire at note #11 of 156 lb tension will have a characteristic tone and related power, probably weak and a bit lifeless? Will adding the second wire change the character enough to make a seamless transition tonally - power too? Will one weak, lifeless wire add up to twice the lifelessness or something more? Another imaginary wire at the same note #11 with 295 lbs tension would certainly sound different, no second wire required. Is it a good idea to make the unison tension close or equal in this area? Is a 17 lb difference between these notes worth changing? Similar situation with note #30 bichord - unison tension = 232X2 = (464lbs) and note #31 plain steel trichord - unison tension = 149X3 = (447lbs) difference is also 17 lbs. Again, is looking at the tension of each individual string more significant than looking at unison tension when it comes to tonal color and power? Will three plain strings of 149 lbs give similar sound as two wound of 232 lbs? Again I imagine one individual wire on note #31 being weak and lifeless, will three weak and lifeless wires add up to that or something more? I am willing to sacrifice a smooth inharmonicity curve for a less noticeable tone/power change at the break. When tuning I always hear power/color changes in these break areas and know it is an issue but predicting how a new rescale will sound eludes me. Thanks for any comments. Gene Nelson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20080721/d63b33b9/attachment.html
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