Dear Institute Director and List: I regret to inform you that I have decided not to attend the Annual Convention in Arlington. I have several reasons for this but the ultimate deciding incident occurred late last week. I was trying to find an opportunity to have the EBVT heard in a public performance. I contacted a party who had been receptive in the past and whose colleagues within that company had good things to say about that very tuning style on one of its pianos in the past. This time however, the response was a tacit one, a turn up the nose and walk away one. Mind you, not a "no thank you" or a "sorry but..." or even a "not this time but..." one, but one which I believe demonstrates the prevailing attitude of PTG towards anything but Equal Temperament: Turn and walk away, "just delete it", "I don't want to even hear it", "I would never use it, therefore it is of no interest to me, (even though I have no idea of what it is, what it sounds like or what it can do)". For the vast majority of piano technicians, the idea of how to tune a piano was decided 100 years ago or even more. The very idea of tuning a piano in an UNEQUAL temperament seems to go against the very nature of their thinking. Never mind that the majority can't really tune a true ET. It is the preconceived notions, the prejudice, the bias and all of the bigotry that go along with it that count. For them, Reverse Well is just as good as ET, just as long as they don't know what Reverse Well is. It is the label that is put on it that counts. As long as the result is confused, out of focus, random harmony, it is OK. If there truly is a character to each key, it is unacceptable. The character that each key should have must be IMAGINED. Witness the numerous individuals who persistently claim that they hear "colors" in ET. There is always the issue of tuning the piano "BACK!!!" (after you are done fooling around with it). Any time I have ever tuned a piano at the Convention, it has always been in Reverse Well when presented to me. This includes both times that I tuned a piano for the offending person's company. To be sure, that very individual stood before me, scouling, red faced, white- lipped and with hands on the hips insisting that the piano be tuned "BACK!" afterwards. Although I could have and probably should have told him that would mean that I would tune the piano in Reverse Well, I didn't. As far as I am concerned, I have shown the utmost restraint with these people, especially the ones who went marching up to Kent Webb in 1995. PTG is just not ready for this. It prefers, in the majority, to hold on to the delusion that ET represents the ultimate and the best that tuning has to offer and even worse, that any approximation of it, regardless of the consequences, is just fine. "What we don't know, won't hurt us". "Ignorance is our strength". "Mediocrity serves the masses best". No wonder so many people enjoy calling virtually every piano they earn their living working on a "PSO". The way they tune reflects the basic attitude towards the entire profession. I do appreciate the Institute Committee's willingness to invite me but I also know that it was not a unanimous decision. Also, there are others who can present and represent Historical type tunings far better than those who have been chosen. But I'll leave it to the traitor among HT tuners, Ed Foote who once called the 1/7 Comma Meantone Temperament a "disaster, like a train wreck or a burning building" to demonstrate again his Uncle Tom approach to temperament tuning. It's what PTG wants and deserves. Some of the confrontations I and others have had with Institute Directors and PTG officers in the past would have to be witnessed to be believed. The ignorance, bigotry and impropriety were surely not consistent with PTG bylaws and Mission Statement. While the Convention should be a place for the display of innovative ideas and in fact is on many counts, tuning anything but ET is not wanted. I received a threatening letter once that spelled it out and also had my Awards Banquet dinner ruined once by the kind of person whom I have come to call an "Equaholic". It was a display of anger, bigotry, ignorance and contempt that would have to be seen to be believed. It is no wonder to me why most HT tuners are very quiet about what they do. To all of those who were interested in hearing and learning how to tune the EBVT, I am truly sorry. I am not planning to publish any more information about it in the near future. Virtually everyone whom I've tried to show how to tune it has immediately tried to change it somehow, has tried to figure out how to use an FAC or some such approach. That will not work. Indeed, Ed Foote proclaims plainly in print that no one but me has ever done it anyway. For the time being, it shall remain my trade secret. In my opinion, all who try to use "Correction Figures" for an FAC or similar program to tune an HT are reinforcing the perception that there is only one way to tune a piano, the way that will insure that all music will sound mediocre. This is Ed Foote's way. His CD represents that position quite well. Ironically, I have heard and read the same comment he had for the 1/7 Comma Meantone. "Half the people couldn't tell the difference, the other half thought it sounded out of tune". Go for it. HT tuning must be practiced aurally to be learned. It is a style of tuning which must be experienced by listening to and appreciating the difference it makes afterwards. Very often it is a long trial and error process. There will be disappointments and failures. There will be anger and bigotry displayed to you for even making the suggestion to do something different. You must be prepared for this. If you cannot accept these challenges, you'll have to stick with what is considered Standard Practice. I am not interested in seeing either Ed Foote or (who incidently, threatened me with physical violence) or his presentation, nor the individual who spurned me. I am particularly not interested in hearing his company's piano tuned the same old uninteresting way that it has been year after year. I am not interested in hearing a Convention full of pianos that are tuned in a mediocre way at best. I have an invitation to use my time and talent elsewhere during the same time period. I prefer to go where what I do is known about, desired and appreciated. Regretfully, Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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