and I do not believe everything I read or hear

[antares]

Dear colleagues,


As we have never met before (except for one American colleague I had a nice
evening with here in Amsterdam) and, as I do not live in the US, it is quite
understandable that we know very little about each other, except from what
we read here on this forum.
Because of this dicussion here (on this list) about tuning, it should be
fair to point out that I too have had my share in our mutual profession.

Now that you could assume that "that guy might have ...some.....
experience", I feel, more or less, free to say that in my opinion it is
possible to make a most delicious and mellow tuning with ET.

I do agree, however, with the difficulties of obtaining such a result within
ET, but, after many years of hard practice, I say......it is possible, just
like what most of us will say, although there are some who seem to think
differently.
I do not 'stretch', nor the opposite. I just use 100% of the possibilities
within the limits of a pure octave, and I wish to squeeze the very last drop
possible out of ET, as it will give the end result a harmonious calmness and
a helpful, supporting quality.

Because of my (rather intense) experience with ET, and because of this
endless discussion about it (it has now been going on for years I believe,
including this e-mail), I wish to express the following (just one time, do
not worry!) :

Within a pure octave there is no compromise possible, and any other
tuningsystem will result in some very beautiful intervals, but at the same
time some other, very ugly, intervals.
For some music, for instance composed in the passed ages, there exist
several very interesting tunings, and I am familiar with them, but let us
face it.....they are not in use anymore, except for the music they were
designated for (and even then some intervals are, too us of course, just
unacceptable).

In these times we hear newly composed 'modern' music, and sometimes the
composer asks for a specific tuning, with for instance quarter tones.
It shows, that as music changes, our ears may have to change along, and
that's ok with me, I am game.
On the other hand, the composers involved in contemporary music still form
just a very small group, a minority, not enough....yet...to definitely
change our tuning.
But if there are tuners (like for instance Mr B. and others) who want to use
their own invented tunings, I applaud them and really wish them a lot of
inspiration and fun (because my 'window is not shut' you see, except when it
is cold outside).

Fulminating against the rules excepted by (almost) all is ok too, but it
does get a bit tiring after all that has been said about it.

Friendly greetings

Antares


> From: Billbrpt@AOL.COM
> Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 16:13:39 EDT
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: I believe everything I read or hear
> 
> Conrad and Antares,
> 
> If you say so, I believe it.  Next time I go to a piano that is clearly, in
> my mind and to my trained ear, in Reverse Well, I will tell myself that I am
> wrong, that what I am really hearing is ET.  When I read Owen Jorgensen's
> book that tells how people were *trying* to tune ET but ended up with
> something else, I'll remember what you guys claim and will know that what
> Owen wrote and documented is just all wrong, it was ET because they *said* it
> was.
> 
> Everybody who takes the PTG Exam tunes in ET whether they pass it or not,
> regardless of the score.  The errors all constitute ET.  No matter what
> anyone does, no matter how good, fair or poor someone's tuning is, it's still
> ET, always has been, always will be.  It's just *mine* that isn't and by
> George, that's *unethical*!
> 
> Now have I got it right?
> 
> Bill Bremmer RPT
> Madison, Wisconsin
>