Coleman 11

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

 << In a message dated 4/14/00 10:21:33 PM Central Daylight Time, 
avery@ev1.net writes:
 
 << And the harpsichord teacher here
  even asked me to put the same temperament on the practice room
  instrument! He does his own tunings normally, but he likes this one
  and I don't know yet how to instruct him to tune it strictly aurally. >>
  >>

I would suggest providing the information on how to tune the Vallotti 
Temperament for that harpsichord teacher.  This is for two reasons.  The 
music to be played will most likely be of the earlier types and the ease of 
learning to tune this temperament aurally.  It can be tuned from either an A 
or C fork.  (An A fork is recommended if the pitch is to be 440.  If a lower 
pitch is used, use the nonstandard pitch from a C fork).

As you know, the Victorian Temperament I most often tune was developed 
aurally and their are only aural instructions to tune it.  Although it is 
quite similar to the Coleman 11, I would suggest that the Vallotti is more 
appropriate to the harpsichord teaching and performance program.  It is one 
of the most commonly used HT's.  I know of other universities and 
institutions that have all of the pianos tuned in ET but the harpsichord and 
pipe organs are tuned in Vallotti.

It can be described in an amazingly simple and succinct way and this is 
perhaps the reason it is the best choice, it is so easy to remember the whole 
concept of it.  All 4ths & 5ths between black keys or between a black and 
white key are pure.  The remaining 4ths & 5ths between the white keys are 
tempered by exactly twice the amount that they are in ET.  This gives you 6 
pure 5ths and 6 tempered ones.  It is thus a 1/6 Ditonic Meantone Temperament 
as well as a Well-Tempered Tuning.

It is also an excellent choice for a piano technician who only tunes aurally 
to learn.  It was the first temperament I learned.  It is mild enough to be 
used as a "universal" temperament, meaning that virtually all music can be 
played upon it without creating a raging conflagration of emotional distress 
and a demand to go BACK to ET forevermore and to eternity and yet it has 
enough color in it to satisfy the very reasons for using a Cycle of 5ths 
based temperament.

I have read all of the discussion about this and I see Ed feeling and 
thinking the very same things that I have and I have also seen the immediate 
resistance to it too.  I'm afraid that the "...but I *like* ET.  I *like* the 
way it makes the piano and the music sound, it's what I'm used to" is about 
as thick and solid as the Berlin Wall was when they first started to try to 
chip away at it. That wall won't come down easily but when it does, it will 
fall in large chunks and all of the wonderful sounds that music was meant to 
have will come gushing through the openings.

The resistance on the part of music faculties and piano manufacturers for 
that matter is all based upon irrational fears of the unknown.  They have all 
heard that there is a "Wolf" in *Mean* tone and they don't want to be bitten 
by any wolves.

As for the use of the word "better", the very reason I do what I do is to 
make the piano and the music sound "better" than it would if I were tuning 
ET.   Why else would I do it?  It is not just an opinion, it is founded upon 
historical precedent.  The textures that HT's provide were always meant to be 
there.  Restoring them to the music that has been altered by the exclusive 
use of ET can easily be argued as making the music sound "better".  This 
would be no different from putting expression such as dynamics and rhythm 
into music that has only one rigid tempo and one level of sound.

However, as Ed once pointed out to me, Owen Jorgensen had noted that there 
"has never been any improvement in temperament".  When describing the effects 
of any given temperament, 3rds which beat more slowly than in ET are often 
described as "improved".  (I saw that Ed had described the Coleman 11 that 
way just the other day).  Unfortunately, this implies that the 3rds which 
beat faster than in ET must be "worse" or "degraded" or some other derogatory 
adjective.

As has been shown just recently however, the Kirnburger temperament was used 
for Chopin.  This would mean that intervals that supposedly sounded "worse" 
were deliberately chosen.  That doesn't make sense.  While it may have 
sounded "worse" to some people, obviously to most of the people that heard 
it, it sounded "better".  

The stronger intensity of the keys of Ab and Db were exactly what the 
musicians and listeners wanted and liked.  I know that some people who only 
like ET literally cringe when they hear that sound.  But on the other hand, 
there are people who are completely dissatisfied with the bland neutrality 
that ET provides.  Which group is offended more?  Is it really just to say 
that we must dissatisfy one group in order not to offend another?

So in one sense, it cannot be claimed that any one temperament is "better" 
than another.  For any interval that is "favored" (made to beat slower), 
there will be another which will be disfavored (made to beat faster).  Just 
because ET treats all intervals equally does not make it "better" either.  
What makes the music "better" is when the most appropriate way of tuning and 
otherwise preparing the piano for any given situation is found and 
implemented.

This gives the musicians the best tool to work with so that they may put the 
proper expression into the music and get the most out of it.  This does not 
mean that music cannot be played expressively in ET, of course it can and it 
has been done that way for an entire century.  It is just that now, with the 
recent enlightenment among a growing number of musicians and technicians that 
there is the real possibility for a far greater range of expression possible, 
it makes the idea of exploring these possibilities truly worthwhile, very 
intriguing and gives all of those who experience the difference some very 
real excitement that can't be had any other way.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin