Temperaments

Billbrpt Billbrpt@aol.com
Sun, 25 Jan 1998 13:25:56 EST


Why is it an ethical practice for a technician who either does not quite have
the skill to pass the RPT Tuning Exam or to pass it only barely, to tune any
piano for any purpose with a temperament that is clearly not equal, which has
clear distinctions in tonality, so long as ET is what is attempted and so long
as that person and the customer believe that the temperament is equal?  
 
Why is it an unethical practice to deliberately tune a non ET when that
temperament could still "pass" the minimum RPT exam standard as an ET even
though clearly, it is not?

Who should be informing whom of what the tuning will not be?  How much
technical information needs to be disclosed before a tuning can be considered
to be done ethically?   If ET is normal, then is a temperament which is
believed to be ET but really is not normal too?   If a temperament is not ET,
is it abnormal?  How much deviation form normal does it take to become
abnormal?

If a piano is tuned in ET and meets the very highest professional standards as
such but the customer still doesn't like it, is that a basis to claim that
what the technician has done is right?

If a piano is tuned in a non ET and the customer is pleased with the work but
was not informed that the temperament is not equal, is that a basis to claim
that what the technician has done is wrong?

Bill Bremmer RPT


This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC