Ed Foote wrote: > Techs that tune only one way are missing out on a big part of the art. It >matters not whether they adhere to ET or WT or MT or AT, If you only tune >one way, there is, by definition, a limit in place. It seems that if a tech >relies solely on one temperament, they are either convinced of its >superiority, unable to learn others, afraid of something new, or just don't >care. If anyone has another explanation, please let me know! >Ed Foote RPT Hi Ed, I'd like to respond to this. Let me preface by stating that I'm completely open to tuning any temperament which someone else has done the research on has requested. But many of our jobs are too big as it is to spend time on researching and learning old ways of tuning. I'm new and uninformed on the subject, but it appears to me that the field of Historical Temperaments is even larger and more complicated than you project it to be. There are soooo many different versions of different temperaments, which can all be pitched in different keys. It seems to me you really would have to be a music history and theory expert in addition to a tuner, to be able to apply the temperaments in the correct context. We then have to wear more hats than I can keep on my head, IMO. In my mind, the main reason to use an HT is to try to recreate what composers might have heard when they were composing. That appears to be a massive undertaking. So many to choose from and not knowing which one to use for which composition. And our jobs are big enough already, especially no more than CAUT techs earn and have to do extra private work just to support a family. And there's way more to being a CAUT than tuning, as you know. It's just a lot to take on to add a thousand new ways of tuning to our repertoire. I tried an HT last semester for a rehearsal for a performance of a Haydn piece using a fortepiano. I didn't really know where to go to find out which HT to use, so I consulted our Music Theory Prof, who is also our historical keyboard specialist. I didn't get the feeling he knew which would be best either, but he suggested the Valotti, so that's what I used. The piece was in D and Valotti is supposed to work in D. Well, I later learned that the ensemble had a very difficult time with intonation, and even had assumed that I hadn't had an opportunity to tune the fp prior to their rehearsal (yeah, after about 4 passes on the tuning, and honestly, it sounded horrible to me, too). A discussion with the cellist led me to believe that it might be fun to try it some time when they've got time to play with it, but stick with ET. That's what everybody knows and is accustomed to. He really made the HT idea sound more like a novelty than a noteworthy pursuit. A little further research led me to Dr. Jorgensen's book, in which the only reference to Haydn's music was the Graupner Temperament of 1819. My recollection is that Graupner had been principal oboist in Haydn's orchestra prior to publishing his temperament, and so Haydn's music was writtem prior to 1819. His temperament, however, would pass the RPT tuning exam for ET with a perfect score! So, maybe earlier composers works were not influenced by the temperaments they had to work with than bound by them? Perhaps Graupner understood Haydn well enough to know what his music worked well with? Now this argument that historical temperaments "sound better" is just a little too much to swallow. In what key do they sound better? Wasn't the discovery of theoretical ET a watershed which allows for total movement throughout the keys without the ugly changes in intonation? (which some refer to as "color") And if your professors are telling you to just "stick with ET"... So, perhaps it is fear. Perhaps it is ignorance, which I certainly admit. But it looks to me like its exponentially larger than the proponents of using HTs are trying to make it sound. I just don't think it is as simple as being able to offer the 14 temperaments installed on my SAT III. If someone requests a temp other than ET, I'll be happy to do my best to deliver. But I feel like I've got way too many irons in the fire already to try and become an expert in yet another field. And in the overall scheme of life, it indeed is "only a piana." I've got a life, and piano maintenance is what supports it. Not the other way around. Perhaps I only speak for one, then again, maybe many. Jeff Jeff Tanner Piano Technician School of Music 813 Assembly ST University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 (803)-777-4392 jtanner@mozart.sc.edu
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