Inharmonicity factors

[Ron Nossaman]

> I've been puzzled by a casual survey of iH readings that I've taken.  I 
> thought it would be obvious to spot the difference between a spinet and 
> a concert grand, or to otherwise tell a "good" scale from a "bad" one, 
> just by the numbers.  (Maybe it *is* possible, and I don't know how; or 
> I've measured wrong; help welcomed).
> 
> For example, attached are some of the confusingly similar numbers I've 
> gathered.  Which of these stick out to you?  Does this match your theory 
> of ratios of different elasticity?
> 
> --Cy--

Hi Cy,
The problem is inharmonicity isn't a particularly critical factor in 
scaling. Spot sampling won't tell you much about anything but 
expected octave stretch in tuning. Tension, impedance (loudness), 
and break% are better initial indicators of how the scale will 
sound, and break% will tell you something about how it will go out 
of tune. Seeing all the numbers for all the notes will let you see 
what happens at the transitions, so you don't build something that 
can't be tuned or voiced. For the most part, changes at the scale 
breaks are more important factors than actual number values.

Ron N