Young Well Temperament

[Jim Coleman, Sr.]

To the list and Ed Foote:

After listening to the Ed Foote prepared CD many times, I decided to give
the Young Well Temperament another look see. I tuned my Baldwin SF10 (7')
with the alterations as follows:

A   A#  B   C   C#  D   D#  E   F   F#  G   G#
0   2  -4   6  -4   2   0  -2   4  -6   4  -2

These alterations were made to a regular equal temperament tuning based 
on SAT II FAC style.

My tuning did not sound anywhere near as good as the recording of Ed's 
tuning. I even got out the score to the Moonlight Sonata which is one of 
the few I can play (except the last movement).In my tuning, I could hear
the decided changes in the G# 7th chord of measure 4 and in the F# maj.
chord of measure 14 and in the B maj chord of the last 2 beats in measure
15. I went back to the CD, and it still sounded so clean and nice. Is it
possible that in the recording the busier 3rds just are not as prominent?

Is it possible that Ed used a much milder form of the Young?

My spreadsheet calculations for the Young as listed above come out like 
this:

Sharp keys   5ths   4ths   M3rds     Flat keys   5ths   4ths   3rds

C            -4     0      6         F           0      0      10
G            -4     4      6         Bb          0      0      14
D            -4     4      6         Eb          0      0      18
A            -4     4      10        Ab          0      0      22
E            -4     4      14        Db          0      0      22
B            -4     4      18        Gb          0      4      22

The above figures represent the rounded off widths of the various intervals
of the above version of Young. Is it possible that my failure to hear these
variations in the CD is due entirely to Ed's superior tuning, or was I so
enthralled with the artistry of Enid Katahn that I was messmerized? I 
just can't figure it out yet. Any suggestions?

As you may notice in the table above, the deviations follow Bill Bremmer's
post on the rules for Well temperament. There are no wolf 4th or 5ths, They
are a little busier in the sharps keys, but pure in the flats keys. The 
M3rds do get progressively wider with more sharps or flats in the key 
signature. This approximates what I hear in my tuning of the Young.
IAK (stands for I Am Konfused)

Perhaps Ed could list the alterations of the Young which he used. This might
help me in my confusion.

Jim Coleman, Sr.