more on this temperament thing

[Thomas Cole]

A440A@AOL.COM wrote:
> 
>     For the last three years I have been giving temperament presentations to
> technicians and musical groups,(teachers, students, etc.).  These two groups
> react in very different ways, and I have altered my procedures accordingly.
> The techs represent a hard sell, the musicians just roll over in epiphanies.

Ed, I am both a musician and a technician and, as afar as pianos are
concerned, the historical temperaments always strike me as out of tune -
because the number of beats are "incorrect" to my beat-counting ears.
The non-smooth progression of beats has always triggered that response
in me.

On another note, I used to listen to my dad play chamber music with
friends at home when I was a child, and I loved to hear how good string
players would alter certain pitches to express the music. But this was
not the same as a piano tuned to HT because the flattened or sharpened
notes would change according to the key they were playing in, the mood
of the piece, whether they were ascending or descending the scale, etc.
They had the ability to change their "temperament" on the fly and could
vary the amount of sharpness or flatness to suit the moment.

Getting back to the piano, an unequally tempered tuning cannot adjust as
one modulates through a series of key changes, although it would be
interesting to hear a keyboard that was programmed in such a manner


> From a technical and professional standpoint, the change of temperament is
> viewed with extreme suspicion.  From the musician's, I have found that
> well-temperaments excite them, stimulates a closer look at the repertoire,
> and gives me some input into musical expression.  This is at the root of my
> commitment to offering a wide variety of temperament.
> >>I know it's not politically correct to say it, but I like ET, and the more
> E the better!!<<
>    I don't think there is anything politically incorrect other than
> condemnation of others that choose paths unlike our own.  I like ET also,
> just not for EVERYTHING.
> Thanks for the note.
> Regards,
> Ed Foote RPT