Stretch Vs.Temperament, (was Beat Rates)

[Richard Moody]

----- Original Message -----
From: Keith Roberts <kpiano@goldrush.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 10:13 AM
Subject: Re: Stretch Vs.Temperament, (was Beat Rates)


> On the unisons, Virgil tuned them as he went. They had to be as
pure as
> driven snow in order to hear the difference in the beat rates of
the
> intervals. He did this because he showed the class that one
string played by
> itself was slightly sharper in pitch than two strings (both
tuned perfectly
> to each other) played together. Dr. Sanderson determined the
reason.
> Keith R
>
Was this the Chicago classes?
What was the reason as determined by Dr, Sanderson?  (I did not
attend his class. )
The 3 classes in Chicago were put together for this (to prove one
string sharper in pitch than three) but when Virgil demonstrated
it and asked for a show of hands on who couldn't hear it, mine
went up.  A fellow in front of me said he couldn't hear the
difference because the unison sounded to him off.   I might have
quibbled with that particular unison and was surprised more didn't
quibble but still I heard the beats.  They were the same.... to my
ear....
    As far as the single string being sharp to the 3 string unison
I have done experiments on pianos here and in no cases did I find
it to be true and in one case it was the opposite.  This is all
aural.
    When Robert Scott presented his TuneLab for a free period on
the internet I checked it out and found some notes register in
tune, then go sharp when decaying.  But some go flat when
decaying.  And then some go sharp and then flat when decaying.
So it was hard to use that as  a determination that one string was
flat to two strings or three strings in unison, in short the
display was too inconsistent.
    Now if this effect wants to be tested by ear, there are some
simple tests to prove it.  First let the subjects tell whether
they hear a one string unison , a two string unison or a three
string unison.
Then let them hear the beat rate  of one string compared to one
sting, then one string compared to two strings then one string
compared to  three strings.
        If there is an aural difference then all or most of the
subjects should hear it.  AND the difference could be demonstrated
to bystanders, or interested observers, but that comes after the
experiments.  So lets experiment.    ---ric m