Beat Rates in music

[Richard Brekne]

Hi there Alan 

"Alan R. Barnard" wrote:
> 
> I dunno. I usually tune 4:2 octaves on all plain wires and 6:3 octaves
> starting with the first wound string I find, whether its below the break, in
> the tenor, or even--bless "Dolly" and all her kin--within my f33-f45
> temperament.
> 

Well actually I suppose this will work ok enough for most
anyone when it comes down to it. You probably wont get too
many complaints and those you do get will most often be hard
to put a finger on me thinks.

But dont you think the ablitity to choose differing stretch
amounts could be a neat thing assuming it gives you some
degree of influence over how well a piano sounds in
differing situations,, or for that matter how well it sounds
to differing ears ?

> Should I be this rigid or would others who've been "out there" so much
> longer please suggest guidelines they use.

I would suggest you learn as much about how this puzzle of
intereacting partials behaves as you can, experiment with
things you find out as you go along and try to fit new
knowledge into the perspective of the music being played.
Learn a bit about music theory for that matter. What "we" do
and what "they" do are much closer related then perhaps many
of us consider on a daily basis. I realize that many of us
are so busy with our lives that its difficult to take time
to research yet another facet of our work, but I can say
that the farther down this particular road you go, the more
fascinating and interesting the art of tuning becomes, and
the better you are equipped to deal with varrying conditions
and troublesome "ears" for that matter. Besides... its just
plain fun !

A good place to start is Rick Baldersins book "On Pitch".

Cheers !

RicB