HT's (Ad Nauseum)

[Susan Kline]

At 09:21 AM 3/19/98 EST, you wrote:
>In a message dated 98-03-18 09:32:54 EST, you write:
>
><< Tom, could you do something for me? If the piano is still in the Valotti-
>Young, could you sit down with the Blumenstuck by Schumann, and play through
>it very slowly? When it sounds like "offal", could you analyze for me which
>intervals are bothering you the worst, and which direction you would move
>them? i.e. is it 
> a busy fifth (too narrow)? a wide major third (too fast)? a narrow major
>third (too slow)? or a series of intervals like consecutive thirds or sixths
>which is  too uneven?
>  Inquiring mind would LOVE to find out!
>  Best,
>  Susan>>
>
>This was a very good question, Susan.  I find it intriguing that you two
>seemed to be bothered by the opposite ends of what is different about the
>HT's.  Usually, it seems, most technicians don't like any of the rapidly
>beating intervals that are faster than those in ET.  Some are bothered by
>tempered 5ths.  Some are bothered by what they perceive as "dull" 3rds.
>
>Bill Bremmer RPT
>Madison, Wisconsin
>

Dear Bill,

I'm not at all sure which end of the spectrum is bothering him, or even 
whether the thirds-and-sixths or the fourths-and-fifths are bothering 
him more. Of course, he could be bothered by both. Have you noticed how
vague people are about _what_ is bothering them in temperaments? And no one 
except Ralph and maybe Richard Moody has mentioned 2nds and 7ths. While 
we don't deal with them in tuning, they DO have flavors of their own, 
which no doubt we are used to hearing a certain way.

I suspect that either fast thirds or slow thirds could be at fault, since 
people seem to come in two flavors. Busy fourths and fifths seem to get 
everyone down, though some interpret them as poor unisons. 

Getting fairly deep into things like the colors of 7ths and 2nds is going 
to take some work.

Susan

P.S. I doubt that Les Smith ever tried to cover up a problem by playing 
faster and louder. Doesn't jibe with what he writes about playing in 
general and his own in particular.
Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com		

"Time will end all my troubles, but I don't always
approve of Time's methods."
		-- Ashleigh Brilliant