--On Saturday, May 29, 2004 4:06 PM -0700 Otto Keyes <okeyes@uidaho.edu> wrote: > The current penchant > for over-stretched tuning is also counter-productive, since tone is richer > (shoulder voicing or not) when all the harmonics of the scale of a > particular instrument work together to build the sound, rather than each > high treble note screaming away on a pitch of its own. (no bias displayed > here, of course! :-)) Hi Otto, I'm interested to know what you consider to be "over-stretched." As a point of reference, my own tuning style emphasizes 8:1 triple octaves, at least at the top end of the piano (IOW, notes in 8ves 6 and 7 are tuned to the 8th partial of notes in 8ves 3 and 4). In the center of the piano, I use a stretch that corresponds pretty closely to RCT style 5 (using RCT, I start with 5, and use custom EQ to generate additional stretch at A5 [just a hair], A6 [a bit more] and A7 [a lot]). This is pretty much the way I've been tuning for many, many years, though when I tuned aurally, I would emphasize 6:1 19ths (easier to hear and test - m3rd/M17th), and later, using SAT, I would start by bumping up the A number by around .5 cents, and expand higher from C5 to C8 by checking lower partials. My own intent is exactly what you describe: making "all the harmonics of the scale of a particular instrument work together to build the sound." I like the way the whole instrument sounds with this degree of stretch. There is a blossoming of tone, to my ear, when "playing the whole piano" (holding down the pedal, play, eg, C1/C2, C3/G3/C4; then C5/G5/C6, C7/E7/G7/C8. Two big chords with both hands. Listen the the reverberation). And I've begun to lean to 16:1 quadruple octaves for concert instruments. Single octaves do have a significant beat in the upper ranges, but the upper notes aren't, IMO, "screaming away on a pitch of their own" but, rather, reinforcing a partial from lower in the piano. I have yet to hear a complaint that I stretch too much. I have occasionally had requests to stretch more (which is what led me to experiment with 16:1, which actually isn't that much wider than 8:1). Anyway, I'd be interested to learn other people's opinions about what constitutes enough or too much stretch. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico
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