Temperaments (Was Re: [CAUT] Steinway B breaking strings)

Fred Sturm fssturm@unm.edu
Tue, 14 Feb 2006 16:51:55 -0700


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On Feb 14, 2006, at 7:59 AM, A440A@aol.com wrote:

>  I will add
> another thought.  Change the temperament!

Hi Ed, all,
	On the subject of temperaments, I have been reading and listening to  
a fascinating dissertation by Willis "Chip" Miller. It opens with an  
excellent overview of the history of the development of various  
temperaments, but the main body has to do with the use of various  
unequal temperaments in Chopin. What I find most useful are the  
musical examples. He has some 50 short segments from Chopin pieces, a  
few measures each, with each one done in eight different  
temperaments. Werckmeister, Rameau, Roouseau, Stanhope, Jousse,  
DeMorgan, Broadwood Best, Broadwood Usual, and ET for reference.  
Regardless of how you respond to the arguments, having this resource  
is nothing short of amazing. Listen successively to each in turn, go  
back and forth. The subtleties are hard to catch at first, but with  
repeated listening, the differences are quite astounding. And so much  
handier than retuning a bunch of pianos <g>.
	The dissertation can be found at http://www.pianolit.com/tuning/ and  
can be read and listened to on line or downloaded. It is an  
"executable file" using flash and java. If you download, you need to  
find in the folder the item miller_diss.hqx or miller_diss.exe (Mac/ 
Windows) and open it. Instructions included.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm@unm.edu
  "Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to  
shape it."
Bertolt Brecht



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