gina writes:
<< Let's not get into another ET or HT bashing series PLEASE! Discussions -
great; non-acceptance of other's views - not great! For those of you who
tune only in ET - that is your option. For those of you who tune only in
HT - that is your option. For those of you who tune both - that's your
option too.
<sigh>
Yes, I agree, however, simply stating that everybody has options
doesn't create any framework for dialogue (which I believe most of us are
here for), for that, positions are necessary. These different perspectives
can be formed in a variety of ways, some valid, others less so.
As Gina points out, the value of different tunings will be based on
subjective responses from the individual, thus, there is little room to
debate here. ( I HATE okra, and all the talk in the world isn't going to
change that!) I propose that it is a mistake to try to prove the superiority
of any one temperament, thus, there is no validity in saying that the
Kirnberger is clearly superior to ET, or meantone.
My point, and I apologize if it was poorly phrased in the first post,
is that restriction to of any one of these styles will limit a technician's
growth. What I am suggesting is that the most profitable debate will first
consider the relative value of a mono-temperament approach vs. a
multi-temperament approach, not the respective value of any individual
temperament itself.
That said, I have compared Mozart on a well temperament vs ET, and
found that the Well tempered version contained far more beauty, (to me). In
fact, since talk is cheap, we have produced a CD that presents Mozart's K385
on three tunings, just for this comparison. We can resume the "superior"
tuning question after hearing this, that way, we are all talking about the
same sounds.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
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