Sweet Sound Tuning

[Susan Kline]

At 10:08 AM 6/26/98 +1000, John Woodrow wrote:
>>Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 11:43:24 -0400
>>From: nhunt@jagat.com (Newton Hunt)
>>Subject: Re: Sweet Sound Tuning
>>
>>Leaving aside the issues of temperament and unisons the remaining issue
>>is octaves and in tuning octaves on a piano there is indeed a "sweet >spot".
>>
>>It is initially noticable in the lower (bot  not lowest) where an octave
>>acquires a larger tone than at any other point of expansion.  Another
>>place to learn to listen for this "power point" is tuning octaves up >from
>the temperament octave around C5 or so.
>>
>
>Newton,
>I was always told that you cannot set octaves by ear as you 'lose your
>compass' and that they had to be measured hence the 3rd-10th test for a
>4:2.  In practice I use the machine to set the A3-A4 temperament octave as
>a 4:2 1 cent wide.
>
>Now you have upturned my world (which according to you folk in the Northern
>half is now the right way up) by my interpretation of what you have said in
>that you set your octave by directly listening to it for the "sweet spot".
>
>Can you please help me stop my head spinning in the opposite direction and
>help me understand this more fully.
>
>Regards,
>John Woodrow
>Sydney, Australia
>

Hi, John

I confess that I do something like this. I only use the 3rd-10th test for
setting the first A, or if beats and inharmonicity muddy the waters enough
to confuse me. (Sometimes I use the minor third - major 6th test to help
even things up across the bass-treble break.) Most of the time I tune
octaves to get the timbre I want, within a fairly beatless range. They
should match in quality, of course. When I do this the double and triple
octaves seem to more or less fall into place on a piano of decent string
length. If you check fourths and fifths (below the pitch you have tuned)
all the way to the top, your "compass" will be fairly well preserved. 

It seems to me that if octaves, fourths and fifths are all sweet and even,
any very minor alterations in the temperament in the high treble will be
unimportant; in fact, totally indistinguishable without a machine.

Regards,

Susan

P.S. If you visit a Foucault's Pendulum and watch it for a few hours, your
head should start spinning in the right direction for the southern
hemisphere again ... (not sure if I spelled Foucault right, too lazy to
look it up ... people can gloat if I'm out to lunch ...)

Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com

"I march to a different drummer, whose location, identity, and musical
training haven't yet been established."
			-- Ashleigh Brilliant