A key difference between ET and Victorian or other unequal tunings is the degree of precision or replicability by aural means. The smooth progression of beat rates from lower to higher frequencies, as well as the number and variety of test intervals in ET simply has no equivalent in unequal tunings. I suspect that this may have been a major factor in the spread of ET, rather than its superior sound. With today's electronic aids, the same degree of precision is available for any type of temperament. Perhaps this is why there is now a growing willingness to use unequal temperaments, and why they probably sound better than when they were first used. Paul S. Larudee, RPT Richmond, CA
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