EBVT tunings

[A440A@AOL.COM]

Greetings, 
John writes:
<<I've been tuning Bill Bremmer's EBVT temperament with tempered octaves.  

My experience first.... Everything sounds so much clearer with EBVT, and

probably will sound clearer with any other HT that has more pure intervals.

<snip>

        I agree, clarity is one of the first things that customers notice 
when taken out of ET.  At times it surprises me, as I have even heard 
"clarity" used to describe music in keys with more highly tempered thirds 
than ET.  

>>After having tuned EBVT, I tuned several pianos in ET. The

difference is quite perceptible. It did not matter if I tuned ET aurally or

with the SAT--they sounded the same. ET has a lot of "stuff" in its chords

that EBVT does not. I suppose you could call it "fuzzy."  

    This is a point that bears repeating.  A tuner gains a new perspective by 
tuning a variety of temperaments, and once done, familiar ET has an entirely 
new image.  I had been tuning ET for 17 years before I really understood what 
it "sound" was. That only happened after spending some time with the 
well-temperaments.  
      Some people have differing senses of what is lost, so I am accustomed 
to hearing my non-et customers react to an ET with words like "busy", or 
'restless, or my favorite of all, "un-focussed"!.  However, it is worth 
noting that a clinically accurate ET is a very distinctive sound in its own 
right, and there is a lot of music that puts that particular sound to good 
use.  


>>a customer with a Boston GP 163. He and I had

talked about non-ET temperaments in January when I was last there. He had

decided to give it a try, so I tuned it using the EBVT.
<snip>
After about 5-8 minutes of continous playing, he turned and said that he

could tell the difference, and really liked it. He talked about how it

sounded more alive, and how it had more energy. He especially liked the

modulations between different keys.  <<

   Good post, John.  The Victorian era is an efficient starting point.  I 
wonder if you customer will care to continue farther back into the stronger 
contrasts of earlier styles.  (You might mention that temperament represents 
a continuum within itself).  Also,  I would be interested in what percentage 
of your customer base do you think will want to change from ET?  
REgards, 
Ed Foote RPT