[CAUT] descriptive tuning (was FAC)

[Fred Sturm]

On Feb 3, 2007, at 8:02 AM, rwest1 at unl.edu wrote:

> My reply here is: Is there a difference?  I'm certainly a "Vive la  
> difference" kind of guy.  But my point is that we've emphasized the  
> "differences" rather than the similarities.  Good concert work  
> among good concert techs results in tunings that are not really  
> different, one to the next.  If we can refine and perhaps redefine  
> the way we describe a concert tuning, we would have a more solid  
> basis for communicating a quality standard and helping those that  
> use ETD's to avoid the confusion about the "proper" stretch.
>
> As to the "guru" of the month, a better concert tuning standard  
> would be more professional.  We have lots of books describing the  
> basics of tuning, but few that really describes what concert tuning  
> sounds like.  Describing a sound is difficult, but we have aural  
> tests and they could be taken to another level to more accurately  
> characterize what we're all doing.  The "guru" idea is one held by  
> the public and one that is romantic to plug into I admit.  But we  
> really know a good tuning comes down to decent ears, patience, some  
> skill with a tuning lever, and a good idea of what a good aural  
> tuning is.
>
> Richard West
>
Hi Richard,
	I suspect it might be possible to come up with a more or less  
consensus "vanilla" concert tuning that a reasonable majority would  
call acceptable. And it may be that the differences in style are not  
perceived by the average music lover. That said, we have been  
discussing tuning and fussing with it in a pretty well-defined way  
for decades, and the result is continued disagreement - note that the  
trend with ETDs is for more and more customizable programs, and no  
one has come up with a pre-loaded page for the D that is universally  
acceptable.
	Twenty or more years ago, I might have said there are two major  
concert tuning schools: "PTG" and "Steinway basement." "PTG" fusses  
with every single interval, and is rather conservative when it comes  
to keeping octaves "dead on." "Steinway basement" sets a quick,  
reasonable good temperament without fussing, tunes outward listening  
to octave and fifth, aiming for wide octave and beatless fifth, and  
puts most emphasis on rock solid stability and crystal clean unisons.  
I think there is more variety today than that today.
	What does a good concert tuning sound like? I think there would be  
considerable disagreement, except with regard to unisons (which are  
king). OTOH, there is probably a considerable range of tuning that  
would be found acceptable to most, if they just heard the piano  
played musically (IOW, our level of disagreement is probably  
overstated in its significance).
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu



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