Tom writes: >If I were to encounter a piano that had been just tuned to an historical > temperment I'm sure I'd think that the piano had been tuned by a novice. Greetings, The impression of which you speak would not be formed solely from the piano, but also from your background knowledge. It would form because you are judging the tuning from one perspective, that of a 20th century, ET, tuner. Usually this happens when one checks the thirds chromatically rather than by the more historically used circle of fifths. > Why would anyone want to leave that kind of impression ? Nobody would want to leave that impression, but why would a tuner want to be familiar with only one of the many different ways that pianos have been tuned? If judgement is made from a single point perspective, it is often in error. The only way around this is by knowing more than one way to do something. I had a similar occurrance when a tuner listened to a Young, and pronounced the piano unfit to play. It was with great glee that I watched him listen to Mozart being played on that tuning. It gradually dawned on him that what he was calling out of tune sounded better than anything he had ever heard. REgards, Ed Foote RPT
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC