In a message dated 10/21/98 5:03:17 PM Central Daylight Time, kam544@earthlink.net writes: << >...Would someone in the group be >willing to offer a short primer on general tuning procedure and >theory? >Ronald W. Murray A Short Primer on General Tuning Procedure and Theory The general concept is to get all your ducks, I mean, notes (12) evenly spaced in a row located between two walls (the octave). >> Attempting to space all of the notes evenly (equally) as in Equal Temperament (ET) only came into common use in the 20th Century. Before that, all tuning of keyboard instruments intentionally favored the top part of the cycle of 5ths over the bottom. Most piano technicians of today however ignore this fact and seek to equalize the scale as if this always has been and always will be the most important goal in tuning. The idea that a Korg type electronic tuner would provide the correct information for each note shows how the general public is also easily persuaded to accept an idea which actually alters significantly the way music originally sounded. It never has been and is still not necessary today to have an equalized scale. The concept of Equal Temperament (ET) although very old was brought into popularity at the beginning of the 20th Century by scientists and technicians as a way to standardize tuning practice into one single method. Their ideas took hold and were accepted so readily that today, the many varieties that artful tuning can create are all but forgotten. There is today however a movement to revive the historical tuning styles. They are known as Historical Temperaments (HT). The very notion of an unequal scale however disturbs many of today's practitioners. Long, drawn out fights, accusations of fraud, unethical and even criminal conduct are made by those who have become convinced that there is only one acceptable way to tune a piano. The absurdity of this kind of posturing is easily revealed in the fact that only a small number of the very best aural tuners can really produce a truly equalized scale. The modern Electronic Tuning Devices (ETD) can help make a closer and more consistent approximation of a true ET but even these are continuing to be developed and improved. Most other attempts at tuning pianos on a day to day basis remain a rough approximation of an ET. Ironically, it is very common for a person who believes in the concept of ET to actually tune a backwards version of an HT. The general public still accepts it. There are even professional technicians who do concert work who consistently make this error. The subject of piano tuning is far from being closed. It will continue to be the object of research and development for a long time to come. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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