HT's worth a try ?

[Richard Moody]

To the advocates of historic temperaments,

O.K., You have talked me into it - I will try a few of your H.T.'s.     What
book do I have to get that shows the beat-rate relationships between the
various intervals when tuned aurally and which H.T. would you recommend for
a modern Jazz pianist like myself?  (Grin- just joking.)     But seriously,
if you do have a favourite H.T. then please email me it's name or
configuration to cliveg@start.com.au

Do you have a spread sheet program?  If so you can try the "Moody Beat
Extractor".   Most HT's are given as cents from ET.  You enter these cents
into the spread sheet and it computes the beats of six intervals from root;
m3, 3rds, 4th, 5th, 6th, m6th.  I am thinking about including rates for the
7/6 in the tritone, if the mircotonalists are interested, but it is just as
easy to ad on.

You mentioned Jazz.  Well I like ET for Jazz but I cannot call myself a Jazz
player.   I think though I would like to try Pythagorean.  This would limit
you to a "center"  of the key of C.  or A minor.   You could modulate but
for starters it is better to come back to C I think.  It is so simple, you
just tune pure 5ths up from C to G# and pure fifths down from C to Eb.
You could go to C# and Ab though.  P:ythagorean leaves a wolf fifth between
the last notes tuned, either Eb--G#,  or Ab--C#.  The thirds are really wild
man.    Also if you keep your theory straight, ie if you tune Eb you do NOT
have D#, or NO Ab if you tune G#, and base your key signatures accordingly,
at least the academics will be impressed. ---ric