Hi to all:
Paul Bailey asked if I were willing to list the variations I have developed
for alternate tunings. My answer is yes. Here they are for anyone to use.
The TuneLab people may use them, the RCT people may use them. My SAT III
already has four of them. These were worked out on a spreadsheet in Calc V.
c c# d d# e f f# g g# a a# b
Coleman IV 2 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 0 -2
Coleman XI 3 0 0 0 -3 4 -2 2 0 -1 2 -4
Coleman XVI 6 0 2 2 -2 6 -2 4 1 0 4 -2
Balanced 16 5 -1 1 1 -3 5 -3 3 0 -1 3 -3
The Coleman 4 is the simplest and can be used "on-the-fly" by just making
alterations from machine tunings at 4 places in each octave.
The Cole 11 is my favorite and is now used in place or the Moore Well
temperament in the Jorgenson book which I used for a few years. It does
not have any objectionable 4ths or 5ths and the widths of the M3rds progress
evenly through the #s and bs.
The Cole 16 is a little strong for me but is liked by those who want a
little more distinction between the key tonalities.
The Balanced 16 makes a feeble attempt to maintain the overall pitch average
a little closer to EQ in order to not upset the piano tension as much as
the Coleman 16.
The title numbers represent the numbered attempts which I have made on the
spreadsheets. I am less proud of the numbers skipped and hence they are not
listed here.
Beyond this, the Young or Valotti would be next in more robust character.
In the SAT III, RCT or Tunelab, these variations can be programmed in for
just one octave and their programs will apply to the rest of the octaves of
a selected tuning style or FAC type tuning. These three machines or programs
call up the historical tunings in different ways, but the result is
basically the same.
I hereby give permission to anyone who wishes to use these tunings. You
don't even have to give me credits or royalties
Jim Coleman, Sr..
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC