Just tuning and "sweetness"

[Israel Stein]

At 03:58 AM 5/18/2005, Ed Foote wrote:
>  We should remember that David wrote "Just" tuning.  Just intonation is
>not Meantone tuning.  I have heard Just tunings before that seemed incredibly
>limiting for what I got, but in that one key, things could sound really 
>nice.
>As there is little commercial return from these tunings, I haven't pursued
>them as much as others that I can sell.
>       As to a distorted effect of a just interval on a modern piano,  I 
> can't
>agree.  I have often tuned a Kirnberger III on a piano and the key of C
>didn't sound distorted by its Just third.  It sounded very consonant and far
>removed from the tension of the more remote keys.  It was certainly 
>different, but
>seems to better fit the music of the 1700's than most others.

Kirnberger is a "well" temperament. And on a modern piano - as on any other 
instrument - it will serve its purpose of differentiating between the 
characters of the different keys, which is why there is a point to tuning 
it on a modern piano. What David found hard to understand is why a just 
tuning was considered "sweet". That Kinberger  just third may sound more 
consonant than the faster-beating thirds on the modern piano - but it isn't 
an overwhelmingly gorgeous aural experience on a modern piano in and of 
itself - like it is on other instruments and in vocal and instrumental 
ensembles - due to the acoustical properties of the modern piano which I 
cited. Which is why tunings whose purpose it is to maximize the use of pure 
thirds - such as meantones - have little commercial application on modern 
pianos, while the "well" temperaments - where key difference is the desired 
property - can be useful on the modern piano for period music that is based 
on them. Fundamentally, Ed, it appears that we do not disagree...

BTW, the much steeper increase in beat speeds from key to key that is the 
result of preserving that one pure third in Kirnberger is a price many 
musicians are not willing to pay.

Regards,

Israel Stein