May the 4ths be with you

[Keith Jones]

Hi Rick,
I've heard this opinion from you on this list several times now, and I half
agree with you. Have you spent time playing on pianos tuned in Well
Temperaments? I find that in listening to recordings I notice no (or very
little, unless its a very extreme temperament) difference when different
temperaments are used ( I have Ed Footes recordings). But when playing I
notice a great difference, especially when a third or tenth is exposed.
When I come across a chord resolving to a third that beats slower I find
that it's a great relief after years of listening to fast beating thirds. I
think that I have a tendency to let the chord sound a little longer and
this affects the interpretation of the music. On faster beating thirds I
tend to want to move through the music a little faster, luckily I find that
a lot of music written in these keys is supposed to be played that way. By
the way, I am a very amateur player, and play everything kind of slowly,
maybe this is why I notice the thirds beating when I play.
To sum up, I think that different temperaments are almost unnoticeable to
the audience, but they can affect the players interpretation because the
player is more aware of the differently beating intervals.
Keith Jones

At 11:40 PM 8/24/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Yes I attended Ed's class in Reno.  
   I tried as hard as I could but couldn't hear the "color" or
>if I did it sounded like a tuning issue.  ET brainwashed? What
>difference? Its kind of like looking for a satellite on a starry
>night.  Pretty soon they are all moving.   I am not saying because
>I can't hear it nobody else can either.   It might be something
>like "tone deaf".   I am not "tone deaf" but I might be "color
>deaf".   If so perhaps you or other color enthusiasts can help me
>out.
>Listen to 4 different recordings and tell me which has color and
>which doesn't.   We can go one further... listen to 4 recordings
>of the same piece.
>Or you supply 4 and I supply 4.   We listen to them blindfolded.
>You tell me which have color.   Or we throw 8 into a pile and
>blindfolded pick out 4.  Then listen and then tell which is ET and
>which has "color".   If you can do this two out of 3 times I will
>buy the house two rounds.
>    I wonder if someone can offer mp3 samples (legally of course)
>as tests?   ---ric