Hi Julia Happy Labor Day, all! Since you asked for my opinion... I think that ET, as an atonal tuning, is the best/perfect choice for atonal/chromatic music of the 20th century. Since hardly any of my clients work on/play that kind of music, I do use tonal tunings as opposed to atonal tunings. The most common problem techs run into us chosing a tonal tuning that is too strong as a default tuning. Small differences can have subtle, yet significant results. Think of the subtle difference of a few cents difference in the choice of octave widths can make. A little narrower makes for a more harmonious/dull sound while a little wider leads to a more vibrant/jangly tuning. Not surprisingly, I use a temperament that I designed - the Koval variable that can be found in the modern well section of www.rollingball.com. I use KV1.2 for my default tuning, and KV2.1 for smaller instruments or a little more flavor. I had a wonderful experience recently tuning for a class that Trevor Stephenson taught for the chapter. He wanted a Victorian tuning and chose the Broadwood usual - stronger than I usually chose. Of all the pianos available, he kept coming back to the one I tuned - he just loved the sound, as did the class! (Yay!) What was different about this tuning? The way I expanded the temperament out to the ends of the piano. Here goes! Use your machine of choice to set two octaves - the lowest note should be at least 5 or 6 notes above the tenor/bass break. Depending on the octave stretch style of your machine, you will be making small changes to the tuning as you go. Use the machine as a "landmark" as you move on. Imagine a path with a line down the middle. Usually as EDT users, we make sure we stay right on the line. For this tuning, we are going to notice the line, but move slightly left or right as the piano dictates. You have two octaves set - working up is usually closer to the ETD calculation, so start there. Set each note to the machine, then play the octave, the octave +5th and double octave one at a time to use as a check. If they don't each have about as much/little motion, slightly adjust your note and recheck. (Octave is narrowest, then double, then octave+5th as a general rule) Use those three checks - favoring the wider intervals as you reach the top octave or so. Tuning from the tenor to the bass break will find you varying most from the ETD. Use the same three note check to adjust you tuning. Starting around D2, I will play octave with left thumb, then octave+5th, double and double+major third. Then play the low note to see how it blends. Quickly repeat with double octave+minor third on top. You should be able to get a sense of fit/doesn't fit. Feel free to move the note around, you have the ETD to go back if you need to. When the tuning is done, you should have a resonance from the bottom to the top of the instrument that is normally missing from the ETD calculations. Give it a try and report back! Ron Koval chicagoland *********************** Greetings, Just curious as to what the general consensus is on temperaments In your opinion; 1. Is equal temperament the most perfected (best) temperament choice available? 2. If no, which temperament do you prefer? ...any other comments welcome and appreciated . Thank You, Julia Gottshall -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100906/deb0d716/attachment.htm>
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