winds/brass temperaments?-was temperament tangent

Ron Koval drwoodwind@hotmail.com
Fri, 02 Nov 2001 21:00:23


Hi all, trying to catch up via archives!

Ed Foote wrote:
Hmm,  that is some trick. According to Howard Rosen,  horns and reeds are
built to play in ET, so you have an entire orchestra adjusting their
intonation on the fly, arriving together at Just intonation?   This beggars
the imagination. ( at least, my beggarly imagination).




Well, as a reed performer first(bassoon), and a current instrument tech, 
wind instruments are LOOSELY based in ET, with the embouchure providing that 
linkage to the ears (through the wet-ware)for the last 10 cents or so of 
adjustment.  Some instruments better than others, but I think Tom's closer 
on this one.  Performers are trained to react QUICKLY to adjust pitch.  Less 
proficient players just react slower, or not at all to out of tuneness.  But 
the goal is always to get rid of the beats when possible.

(So that's what all those hours practicing were about......)

Ron Koval
(taking a break from an alto sax---argh!)

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