EB 18th Cent WT from A Fork F3-F4

SidewaysWell1713@aol.com SidewaysWell1713@aol.com
Sat, 28 Dec 2002 11:03:34 EST


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In a message dated 12/28/02 1:55:10 AM Central Standard Time, bigda@gte.net 
writes:


> >19.  Flatten E4 until the A3-E4 4th and the B3-E4 4th beat exactly the 
> same.
> 
> Bill----do you mean "....until the A3-E4 5th...."  instead of what's 
> written above?
> 
> David A.
> _______________________________________________
> 

Yes, thanks for the correction.  Whenever I write up instructions like these, 
my eyes start to glaze over.  It's much easier to just do it than it is to 
write it down.  I have a WordPad Document with this on file.  I'll make the 
correction immediately.  My apprentice is coming over this morning to 
practice it.  When I am sure about the whole thing, I'll place it on my 
website.

As Jim Coleman and others who teach tuning have suggested, I taught unisons 
first.  He practiced for months just cleaning up unisons.  Then, he learned 
how to tune what sound like "pure" octaves.  He is now at the point where he 
can tune "pure" 4ths and 5ths.

This scheme I have developed is taken from an idea which I understand to be 
the highest refinement in temperament construction although in my opinion, it 
seems to be the very most elementary, the most foolproof.  Almost any other 
verbal instructions provide you with  figures, beat speeds which are compound 
numbers.  It is virtually impossible to know whether or not what you have is 
correct and even if you could determine it to be so, an adjustment for 
inharmonicity has not been made.

The Equal Beating (EB) method is quite different.  Pure 4ths & 5ths are very 
easy to hear when they sound perfectly still.  There remains an Equal Beating 
test for each of these to further prove their correctness.  I have not put 
these tests in my instructions because I did not want to clutter up what are 
otherwise very clear and easy to understand instructions.  The other EB 
instructions use the actual inharmonicity properties which the piano has to 
determine the final results.  This minimizes the subjectivity a tuner may put 
into it.

Even the  EB test for a 6:3 octave is superfluous.  A 4:2 or a compromise 
between a 4:2 and a 6:3 could be used, as is recommended for ET but I 
recommend a 6:3 in this case for the best results.  

One writer said that the C4 must be tuned exactly where it will end up being 
for the test to work.  This is not quite true.  It must be in a *convenient* 
place.  A minor 3rd is a narrowed interval (and a Major 6th, a widened one).  
When fine tuning an octave's width using a note either within it or outside 
of it, the interval must be tempered properly but need not and may is best 
not tuned exactly as it will end up.  One may actually (and should) adjust 
the interval's speed so that a clear distinction between the two test 
intervals may be heard.  If the beat speed is too slow, the distinction may 
not be heard, likewise if it is too fast.

I'm still looking for an answer to my two questions, one of which I think I 
already know.  1.  If F3-A3 beats at 4 beats per second and C4 is tuned pure 
to F3, what is the beat speed of the minor 3rd, A3-C4?  2.  According to my 
scheme, what will be the speed of the final resultant 3rd, C4-E4?

In Jorgensen's book, Tuning, the Thomas Young has F3-A3 at 3.8 and G3-B3 at 
4.3 (theoretically).  Both may be expected to be slightly faster when 
adjusted for inharmonicity but I have pegged both at exactly 4.0 beats per 
second.  I think this may result in the C4-E4 3rd being slightly slower than 
the 4.1 which Jorgensen lists.  Each time I have tuned it, that interval has 
ended up a little slower than the F3-A3 and the G3-B3, not the same or nearly 
the same.

This would be acceptable, of course and still leaves the temperament matching 
the description of a "representative" 18th Century style Well Tempered 
Tuning, perhaps as close to the Thomas Young as one might be able to produce 
aurally using any other method.

David, if you are interested in what a basic WT sounds like, I suggest you 
try this, you should be able to do it easily.  Now, as for the octaves, you 
won't be able to use the method you use for ET and although I may be 
challenged on this, I suggest you use the method found in my website called 
"Tempered Octaves".  It is also an EB method and so easy as to be "mindless". 
 When I tuned the Thomas Young temperament for Owen Jorgensen at the 
Convention in Dearborn, he specified the octaves have "optimum stretch".  I 
took that to mean what I do because that is what I consider it to be, 
*optimum*.  When I asked him how they sounded after his performance, he 
proclaimed they "sounded *perfect*."

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin
<A HREF="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =-</A>

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