Temperaments

[Billbrpt]

In a message dated 98-01-27 05:27:20 EST, you write:

<< should you choose
 to tune in a music industry venue, you are expected to conform to
 that standard, unless a contract states otherwise.     
 
 Richard Moody 
 
 ps  I have heard the show "what do you know" on PBS, in particular
 the one in Rapid City SD since a friend was in the audience. I don't
 remember the piano, but still I am interested in hearing how a piano
 sounds in non ET over the airways.  Are there any shows comming up
 that have a piano with your tuning? rm  >>

I have specifically turned down recording studio jobs because I would not be
allowed to tune in an HT.  Any concerts that I tune at, the artist and music
director know what I will be doing or I don't do it.  This sometimes means I
don't get to do a job I'd like, but I would not enjoy hearing a performance or
a recording in ET anyway.

The piano used in the "What d'ya Know?" show, which was libelously and
hostilely condemned in this list by the all-powerful and all-knowing Gina
Carter, is normally tuned by Daniel P. Eberhardy RPT who tunes the very finest
unisons I have ever heard.  The show does not always eminate from Madison.  It
travels around the country.  Whatever conditions there are elswhere are what
prevail in those venues.  The show is also not live every week.  It is often a
rerun, sometimes a non-Madison rerun.

In the past two months, I have had the opportunity to do this tuning because
Mr. Eberhardy suffered a fall and due to his injury, has not been able to get
around to many of his regular jobs.  The show has also recently moved from a
studio on the University of Wisconsin campus to the Monona Terrace, a new
Convention Center designed by the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. 

 At the old location, I think it was a Mason & Hamlin BB (Aeolian vintage)
that had been in use most recently.  At the new location, because of the small
size of the stage and the unusual colors and decor of the room, a restored (by
Timothy Farley RPT) Art Deco 5'2" Wurlitzer Grand is used.  It was chosen
because of its size and case design.  As a piano, it certainly does have its
limitations.  It would likely be the target of condemnation and ridicule on
this list, not worth rebuilding, even tuning, for that matter.  But you see,
not everyone views small grand pianos by manufacturers such as Wurlitzer,
Kimball, Steck or Brambach as worthless junk.  We prefer to appreciate the
individual character of each of these and find a time, place and customer who
cherishes the instrument.

I believe Mr. Eberhardy usually tuned a Victorian temperament but he has also
used a modified meantone and a 1/7 comma meantone temperament in the past.  I
have been using a pattern for a Victorian temperament that I have been working
on for about 6 years.  It has come to be called, "Equal-Beating Victorian".
If I manipulate it just right, I could hypothetically tune it on an RPT Exam
and "pass" that Exam's temperament section with a minimum score.  Indeed, my
deliberately non-equal temperament is "more equal" as George Orwell and John
Travis were known to say, than many tuner's best efforts at ET.  There is not
a single note within the temperament range that is even 1 cycle per second
deviant from theoretical values for ET.  Therefore, it is perfectly compatible
with all fixed pitch instruments such as an electronic keyboard, another piano
tuned in ET or any MIDI program.

I will be tuning this temperament at the convention in Providence.  I will
also be tuning it this Saturday morning, January 31 just before the show.  The
show will be in reruns for a few weeks afterwards and by the next time it airs
in Madison, Mr. Eberhardy should be recovered enough to do it again but it
will still be tuned in some kind of mild HT.  I can ask him which one if
anyone is curious.

Also of interest in my tuning method will be how the octaves are stretched.
What I will do in this case is very simple.  From C6 to C8,  the notes are
tuned in unison with the note 2 octaves and a 5th below it.  This is done with
the SAT.  This produces audible beating in the single octaves between the 6th
and 7th octaves.  (this would definitely fail that portion of a hypothetical
RPT Exam).  This amount of stretch was chosen however because the room itself
is very dead with soft surfaces and the piano has an unmovable cover which is
the equivilant of a closed lid.  These "tempered octaves" serve to "project" a
crisp treble and high treble which might otherwise sound dull or flat.  The
fact that the temperament is slightly unequal really has little consequence
one way or the other on this effect.  

Also one final consideration, because the music is heard on the AM band in
"lo-fi mono" instead of Hi-fi stereo, there are some sound limitations.  The
signal is compressed on both the high and low ends.  It's like listening
through a cardboard tube.  Also, the radio you might be using might compound
this compression.  Even if you hear it in a rerun on FM, the sound is
compressed and monaural.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin