In a message dated 2/19/99 7:04:00 AM, Phil wrote: (re: JC Sr.) <<you have been preaching this to me for 2 years now..I believe you have said: "the most important tuning you will ever do is unison tuning"..>> Phil, I will second Jims opinion here. In the greater scheme of things it is the unisions which most determine the acceptability of a particular tuning and not the temperament used. Ample evidence is provided by the discussion of Et vs Historical vs whatever temperament. Where each of these is acceptable, in most circumstances, 'out of unision unisions are not'. There are exceptions to this rule of thumb, such as prepared music or the person who is so used to hearing their piano 'out of tune' that hearing it 'in tune' is not acceptable to them. If one had thirty minutes to "tune" a piano one should set the temperament and run out the scale in ten minutes and spend the last twenty minutes solidifying unisions. One hundred percent of the audience will hear the unisions, 94% will hear only unisions, 5% will hear stray temperament/octave anamolies, and 1% percent will be tone deaf anyway :-) As General McArthur said at his last West Point address: "As they lay this old tuner in the unforgiving ground my last thoughts shall be... unisions, unisions, unisions" Just my take. Jim Bryant (FL)
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