> Date: Friday, January 30, 1998 6:28 PM Bremmer > In a message dated 98-01-30 15:50:34 EST, you write: Moody >>What we don't know is who preferred what, or who >> wrote what pieces for which temperament. Maybe Bach meant by "Well >> Tempered" ... "not hap-hazard". >> Bremmer > So then if we don't know what they did, we do something we >know they didn't do? Moody Yes, we have to. What else can we do if we don't know what they did? Every time we play Bach on a piano for example. We know he didn't play a piano. Bremmer > Why must ET be the answer to all that is unknown? Moody This question is false in the sense that it is asking about an untrue condition, and by logic, in questions about the unknown, the answer cannot be proven true. ET solved a problem that had been vexing keyboard makers for centuries. It was a problem that took an evolution of technique and modern science to finally solve. The greeks defined it, but until physics was able to see pitch as frequencies, what we call Equal Temperament could not be developed. And when the makers and performers liked it, exclusively as it turned out. Then came electric organs, then synthesizers and now electronic keyboards all tuned in ET. It is not my desire or consternation that ET has become universal. That's just what is. That doesn't mean experiments can't be done. Today with electronic tuners, old tunings whose aural traditions may have been lost, can now be attempted, and alternatives to ET be quickly designed and explored. Richard Moody
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC