Jim wrote: > > I would like to get some response on the following series of articles > on tuning equal temperament use pure 5ths. > > AURAL EQUAL TEMPERAMENT BY PURE 5THS > Jim Coleman, Sr. > SNIP - SNIP > > Jim Coleman, Sr. Hi Jim, The idea is not new. The french technician Serge Cordier had already made some research on the subject. There is also an article by Mieczyslaw Kolinski in the Journal of the American Musicological Society in 1959 about the tuning by pure fifths. I also have a book called "The New Tuning" by Lucas Mason which is promoting this quite unusual way of tuning. The principle is the following: Since we have to stretch octaves, why not doing it in a way to provide pure fifths. This results in fairly wide octaves in the midrange, but the extremes get very much in the same proportion as a normal stretch tuning. I tried the tuning "by the book", on my Yamaha M1, by just transferring the theoratical frequency figures into my SAT. It does provide indeed fifths that are very punchy. The slightly wavy octaves do not seem to be a problem for me, but the harsh major thirds made me somewhat reluctant toward the result. Another problem, on my opinion, is that the inhamornicity on the piano would call for an even more spread fifth, in terms of frequency differences, in order to get them pure; which may make (I guess) the thirds beating even faster. Don't take me wrong, I don't mean it is a bad concept. Some may like the strong chordal effects it provides in some repertoire. It is certainly worth trying it. Thanks Jim for your healthy contributions to this list. Regards, Michel Lachance, RPT
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