No EBVT at Convention

[Ward & Probst]

Dear Bill,
Thank you for notifying me of your decision. I regret you will be unable to
attend. There has been a lot of interest expressed in your class. For what
it is worth, all of the tuning classes will be taught in the same rooms on
the same size pianos. Also, there was no dissension on the Institute
Committee about your invitation to teach. There also will be an opportunity
for those who attend to play and listen to pianos tuned in temperaments
other than equal.

Best regards,
Dale
Dale Probst, RPT
Institute Director, TEAM2000
PTG Annual Convention
Arlington, VA--July 5-9,2000
email: wardprobst@cst.net
(940)691-3682 voice
(940) 691-6843 fax
TEAM2000 website: http://www.equaltemperament.com/PTG/



-----Original Message-----
From: Billbrpt@aol.com [mailto:Billbrpt@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2000 9:09 AM
To: wardprobst@cst.net
Cc: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: No EBVT at Convention


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