why use non-ET?

[Ron Koval]

Hi everyone!

So the question usually comes up.  Why tune in any other temperament?

For me, it was because I came to question the target.  Before I got a 
precise enough tool to check myself with, (RCT) I noticed what I dubbed the 
"vintage wine" effect.  Just as there are great years, and not-so-great 
years from the same vinyard, I noticed that sometimes I came up with tunings 
that just seemed to play better than others.

Blessed with some time to experiment, I once spent 6 hours with a 7' Baldwin 
trying to get within .2 cents of ET.  Did I achieve musical nirvana?  Nope, 
but it was really even!

So what is your margin for error?  I think what happens is that looking at 
graphs shows the target without the margin for error.

Here's ET - watch out graph-man's at it again!

c :.........................*
G :.........................*
D :.........................*
A :.........................*
E :.........................*
B :.........................*
F#:.........................*
Db:.........................*
Ab:.........................*
Eb:.........................*
Bb:.........................*
F :.........................*
C :.........................*

Ah, that's nice, all thirds are the same!  So, how close to you tune on a 
daily basis on those Whitney grands?  Within one cent? great!

ET with one cent margin for error:

C :.....................*********
G :.....................*********
D :.....................*********
A :.....................*********
E :.....................*********
B :.....................*********
F#:.....................*********
Db:.....................*********
Ab:.....................*********
Eb:.....................*********
Bb:.....................*********
F :.....................*********
C :.....................*********

Hmmmmmm. A lot of tunings could fit there! (from 11.7 -15.7 cent wide 
thirds)  You could be putting on a mild well, meantone, pythagorean, reverse 
well, .... the options are endless.

So, look at the Coleman 11 that was written about recently:

C :.............*
G :...............*
D :.....................*
A :...........................*
E :...............................*
B :...............................*
F#:.................................*
Db:.................................*
Ab:...............................*
Eb:.............................*
Bb:.....................*
F :...............*
C :.............*

Now, throw in the one cent margin for error:

C :........**********
G :..........**********
D :.................*********
A :.......................*********
E :...........................*********
B :...........................*********
F#:.............................*********
Db:.............................*********
Ab:...........................*********
Eb:.........................*********
Bb:.................*********
F :...........*********
C :.........*********

Targeting on a curve gives a better chance at achieving a curve.

So, how can you KNOW that you are really achieving an ET?  Only by reducing 
your margin for error down to nothing.  If you don't have a precise machine 
around, good luck!  Some of your most musical tunings to date were possibly 
not ET, but accidents while trying to hit the ET target.

Hey Conrad, can you Fed-Ex me a flamesuit?  Better make it quick!

Ron Koval

Chicagoland
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com