Following the interest in theoretical temperaments and responding to a request for information, I can elaborate on the one which I know something about, the 1/3 comma Meantone. Imagine an equally tempered 19 note scale. The standard keyboard plays 12 out of these 19. The black keys play a Javanese Pentatonic scale. It sounds very foreign to Western ears. It is very similar to the theoretical "5 and & 7" temperament that Professor Owen Jorgensen invented. It has pure Major 6ths and pure minor 3rds. the major 3rds are actually narrow. The E-G# "Wolf" is some 55 cents wide (Yipes!) The 5ths are 7 cents narrow. (wow-wow-wow) There are some other unusual effects. What kind of music can be played? Namely, the music of Francisco Salinas (1512-1590). There certainly were no pianos as we know them at that time. It generally is not a temperament for fast and flighty nor harmonically complex music. It actually has a very limited usefulness but as with all temperaments, it has its own effects that no other does. One of the features of the Historical Temperaments is that the temperament itself can evoke emotion. Are you ready to cry? Are you ready to have a tear roll down your cheek that you cannot control? You get this effect when you see a sad or sentimental film, why not from the music? If you play a sad, slow piece in ET, you can only express the emotion with a sensitive touch and by playing softly. You can play the same way in 1/3 comma Meantone and evoke a much more powerful feeling of melancholy. It is not for everyone. But think of it. If someone dies, do we not play sad music at the funeral? There is a place for it. Pick any slow, plodding piece in a minor key. It will be greatly enhanced by this temperament. A slow, sentimental love song in a major key will also be made more touching and sentimental. It does not have to come from the 16th Century. How about that Javanese scale? Are there any people out there who like to improvise who want to create the sound of a Javanese Gamelon Orchestra? When you play Debussy's "Pagodes" in ET, you really have to use your imagination to visualize that part of the world. That piece played in 1/3 Comma Meantone will transport you there. There is a very easy way to program the Sanderson Accu-Tuner (SAT) to produce it. You don't need a really good piano either. Avoid using a Steinway. It is best to have a low inharmonicity piano such as the Mason & Hamlin, Baldwin 7 or 9 foot, Sohmer or Kawai. You will be trying to tune the least stretched octaves as possible. The following values are all read on octave 5 (very important). C3,C4,C5: +15.0 C#3,C#4,C#5: -20.0 D3,D4,D5: +5.0 D#3,D#4,D#5: +30.0 E3,E4,E5: -5.0 F3,F4,F5: +20.0 F#3,F#4,F#5: -15.0 G3,G4,G5: +10.0 G#3,G#4,G#5: -25.0 A3,A4,A5 0.0 A#3,A#4,A#5: +25.0 B3,B4,B5: -10.0 Even if your piano is on pitch to start, you will have to do this twice, if not three times in order to stabilize it. The values are so extreme and far away from each other. It will take the same effort to return it to a more versatile temperament. Once you have octaves 3, 4 & 5 tuned, set the SAT on Octave 6 and play the notes in Octave 5. On each note, stop the lights and store the value. Tune according to the program you have stored. When the 6th octave has been established, set the SAT on Octave 7 and play the notes in Octave 6, store and tune as you did before. For Octave 2, set the SAT to advance downward (see the manual). Play the note an octave above the note to be tuned, stop the lights and store the value. Tune according to the program. Do the same for Octave 1 and the notes in the suboctave. The above procedure will give you the least stretch possible throughout the piano. Be prepared for a moving, interesting and other world experience. The piano will not sound like the same instrument to you at all. You may not like it at all or you may be intrigued. You will never know until you try. Happy temperament exploration. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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