Ah yes, a cogent issue raised by my namesake, Otto von Schnitzenhoffer in his monumental, though little know work, "Helmholz und die Zen von Klavierbauren". As you can see from the title, his tome was written in an obscure Bavarian dialect, which is probably why it never got the recognition it deserved. I, in fact, am probably the only individual in modern history to have dug it up from its hidden burial ground and perused it in its original dialect, prior to having buried it again for safe keeping.....only to have forgotten the exact place of re-burial. As you might imagine, this makes it somewhat difficult to cite page numbers for authentication, however, all great masters have encountered this problem now & zen, and is an objection to be ignored. Schnitzenhoffer postulates that Helmholz secretly journeyed to Tibet to study Buddhism in a monastery high in the Himalayas -- most likely the one made famous by the crotchety tigers and hubris dragons. He actually came to piano tuning via the circuitous route of a metaphysical journey through the great OooooHmmmm. In fact, he was about to take a dive off the bridge for a flight into the universal mind (having lost his from inhaling a bit too much incense, smoking funny cigarettes, & chanting his mantras off-key -- besides, it was foggy & he couldn't see the rocks at the bottom) when he tripped over one of those peculiar 3-string guitars which some other devotee had carelessly abandoned on the bridge while doing his pre-flight. This unfortunate event triggered a moment of nostalgia in which he saw himself back home in the parlour watching the ill-tempered piano tuner labor over the WerkmeisterIII, At that moment, Herr Helmholz was robbed of his Nirvana and condemned to a life of piano tuning. He developed his now-famous equal temperament, which was absolutely relative, not realizing that this was a contradiction in terms. While not truly universal, it was pitched all over the world as a relatively universally accepted tuning scheme, thereby rendering it an easy target for the attacks of various neo-classical schools of tonal modality which tend to do battle with such vehemence & frequency that it hertz. Had he known the controversy his theories would engender for future generations of pin benders, he might have pitched the funny looking guitar into the precipice, or dived off with it into his Nirvana, though that would have ended in a sour note a few seconds later at the bottom of the abyss. (Signs are now posted at the bridge which ensure that debris is now disposed of, prior to pre-flight. The grumbling of the monks at having to haul all the extra junk out of the bottom of the gorge was beginning to disturb the tranquility of the monastery, so now, not only can't you take it with you, but it has to disposed of in a ecologically friendly manner in order to avoid polluting Nirvana.) For good or ill, Helmholz was pitched back into reality by this moment of nostalgia, and later returned to his homeland. The rest of the story is written in the normal history books. Just an interesting side note. After this incident, Helmholz took up the serious study of the martial arts while meditating on the notes his toe had struck on the bridge. It was due to this regimen that he learned his pin & string setting technique for rock-solid tunings. (Apparently Beethoven heard of this legendary technique & tried it on a lesser quality piano to disastrous results.) This, of course, leads us to the last book Schnitzenhoffer published, "Zen und Nou", which was a memoir; all copies of which were burned (save one) in the Dresden riots incited by Wagner & his cronies. This was another monumental work in which Schnitzenhoffer realized the tenuous grip proponents of absolute relativism have on sanity and reality, given the fact that this particular worldview gives equal validity to "truths" which are in direct contradiction to one another, thereby negating truth for both (except that which happens to agree with the proponent's particular prejudice). Accepting the fact that he could swallow neither the tenants of relativism nor the emerging philosophy of revolution, superman & anarchy espoused by Wagner& his philosophical/musical progeny; but unwilling to return to the teaching of either the Roman Church or those espoused by Luther & the Reformation, he elected to bury the remaining two extant copies of his books & end it all by letting Elmer Fudd "Kill da wabbit", and taking his own dive off the bridge into the cosmic, yet very real, Danube. This second book was found with the first, and, unfortunately, buried with the other in a "safe place where I won't lose it!", like many of my tools. How I was led to these obscure buried manuscripts is a tale of its own!!........but, alas, I have forgotten that as well.... Disclaimer!!!!: Chronology of the above events may, or may not, appear to be historically accurate. The relatively simple task of research & counting is left to the discerning reader. Otto ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Atkins" <ATKINSD@cedarville.edu> To: <caut@ptg.org> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 7:34 AM Subject: Re: WerkmeisterIII - Thanks > Otto, > > If E.T. is the "universal" temperament, is it not at "home" wherever > it may be? ; ) > > Doug Atkins > Registered Piano Technician > Cedarville University > 937.766.7566 > atkinsd@cedarville.edu > > >>> okeyes@uidaho.edu 7/15/2004 4:38:48 PM >>> > ET come home! > > Otto > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jim Busby" <jim_busby@byu.edu> > To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org> > Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 1:23 PM > Subject: RE: WerkmeisterIII - Thanks > > > > Doug, Richard, Ed, and Dafydd, > > > > Thanks, all, for your help with the Werkmeister III. I found a copy > of > > Owen J's book but couldn't find a clear "how to". > > > > As a side note, several of our faculty now want this and other WTs > on > > their pianos. (Especially those into composition, for some reason.) > > Maybe I've created a monster! :-) > > > > Thanks again, > > Jim Busby > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf > Of > > Doug Atkins > > Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 10:50 AM > > To: caut@ptg.org > > Subject: WerkmeisterIII > > > > Werkmeister III > > > > 1. C4 to a fork (or down an octave from C5 if you don't have C4 > > fork) > > > > 2. C4 F4 4th* > > > > 3. C4 F3 5th* (check the F3 F4 octave) > > > > 4. F4 A#3 5th > > > > 5. F3 A#3 4th (this step is only a check) > > > > 6. A#3 D#4 4th > > > > 7. D#4 G#3 5th > > > > 8. G#3 C#4 4th > > > > 9. C#4 F#3 5th > > > > 10. C#4 F#4 4th (check F#3 F#4 octave) > > > > 11. A#3 D4 M3rd > > > > 12. Sharpen D4 until A#3 D4 beats the same as D4 F#4 > > > > 13. D4 G3 5th > > > > 14. Sharpen G3 until G3 D4 beats the same as G3 C4 > > > > 15. F3 A3 M3rd > > > > 16. Sharpen A3 untill F3 A3 beats the same as A3 D4 > > > > 17. A3 E4 5th > > > > 18. E4 B3 4th > > > > > > *4ths and 5ths are tuned perfect unless otherwise noted. > > > > Jim, > > > > I tune a few of our practice room pianos with this temperament. I > > have two Boston 163's in adjacent rooms. Very few students can > > distinguish that there is a different tuning on the two pianos. > After > > they have been made aware of the differences, some can hear the > subtle > > color variations. > > Have fun : ) > > > > > > > > Doug Atkins > > Registered Piano Technician > > Cedarville University > > 937.766.7566 > > atkinsd@cedarville.edu > > _______________________________________________ > > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > _______________________________________________ > > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > _______________________________________________ > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > _______________________________________________ > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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