HT's (Ad Nauseum)

Tom Cole tcole@cruzio.com
Mon, 16 Mar 1998 23:23:06 -0800


RptBob1 wrote:
> 
> 
> With all due respect to the Technicians who have spent numerous hours
> ruminating on the subject of ET vs HT and all the mathematical utterances, are
> there really that many of you out there that give a real darn?  I mean:how
> many of you really have customers who would know the difference and would
> really care?
> 
> Thank goodness we have a delete button and don't have to read all of these.
> 
> How many of you really can hear the difference - and really care - or am I
> further stirring up a hornet's nest?
> 
> There are approximately 3000 members of the PTG.  We have been
> hearing(reading) from about 6 or 8 of you on this subject.
> 
> Comments from the great unwashed?
> 
> Bob Bergantino,RPT
> South Euclid, Ohio

Bob,

You may have eliminated the bulk of the "unwashed" by your subject
title. But thanks for letting us know that you are tired of this
discussion. Seriously. I can understand how pained you might be to hear
that the tuning work that you have been doing all these years is
fundamentally wrong, according to Bill Bremmer, and that you'd better
start learning how and when to tune historical temperaments.

I could easily be one of those who tuned this subject out, having done
so for many years, if I thought that there was nothing to be gained by
its study. This is a serious challenge to modern technicians and I have
the faith, foolishly perhaps, that we can get through this issue to some
kind of resolution of our differences. An agreement to differ is a
possibility, though.

So I vote for continuing the thread with the proviso that we brush the
chips off our shoulders and come to our computers with open minds. The
only way I seem to be able to open my mind on this subject is to put
historical temperaments on my pianos and play on them. Otherwise, I'm
just talking off the top of my head.

Today, I tuned my Steinway in a Vlotti-Young (it was handy but I need to
figure out how to input temperaments suggested by Bill and Paul) and so
far I haven't vomited. My RCT graph looked like the San Andreas Fault is
up to no good. (Fortunately, the weather report didn't say anything
about California falling into the sea today.) I'm trying to ignore my
usual cues that this piano was not tuned right. Also, I haven't been
banging on the noisy intervals - the tuning seems to demand that - and
I've been increasing the contrast between melody and accompaniment even
more than usual. I can't imagine a Bach chorale style of music in some
of the darker keys.

At the moment, my wife is playing Schumann (Blumenstuck op 19 in Ab
major). It sounds offal, I mean awful. All of the tones having equal
value seems to put the temperament in a bad light. The key of Ab in
Vlotti-Young requires some major finessing by the pianist. I'm going to
switch to a milder tuning very soon.

More on this after tomorrow's chapter meeting.

Tom

-- 
Thomas A. Cole, RPT
Santa Cruz, CA



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