Who invented.......

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

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In a message dated 1/3/01 3:56:13 AM Central Standard Time,=20
ramsey@extremezone.com (Kevin E. Ramsey) writes:
Subject: Who invented.......
.....Equal Temperament ?
Was it=A0 Mersenne, JS Bach , Lanfranco , or someone else ?
I'm not sure about this .
Does anyone on the List know ?
=A0
Duncan.
=A0

> Well, according to Jorgensen,, the first person who actually described a=20
> detailed method of tuning in ET was William Braid White. Before that, a lo=
t=20
> of people thought they were tuning in ET, but in reality, they were tuning=
=20
> in something "approaching" ET. Most of the romantic era music was played=20
> and composed in a variant of well-temperaments. Ask Bill, or Ed. Hey were=20
> are you guys?
>=20

In a message dated 1/3/01 3:55:23 AM Central Standard Time,=20
Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no (Richard Brekne) writes:


> ET was known in China waaayyyy before the greeks were even thought of....=20=
or=20
>=20


That's what they say, Richard but I hope the pianos they had then weren't as=
=20
bad as what they say is coming out of there now.

Ironically, I was going to say the same thing as Kevin.  Helmholtz wrote a=20
table of theoretical frequencies but William Braide White was the first to=20
write up anything that could really be identified as ET for tuning the moder=
n=20
piano.  The others only got close and they were largely tuning precursors to=
=20
the modern piano such as organs, harpsichords and fortepianos.  Even White's=
=20
instructions were not complete enough for most people to actually get it=20
right.  It took PTG, Bill Garlick RPT and Dr. Al Sanderson RPT to identify=20
the 4:5 ratio of contiguous 3rds in order for tuners to be able to=20
consistently tune a true ET.

Bach definitely had nothing to do with ET, contrary to popular belief.  The=20
transition from 1/4 and possibly 1/5 Syntonic Meantones to the early=20
*Well-Tempered* Tuning systems such as those by Kirnburger and Werkmeister=20
were erroneously *called* ET, thereby causing the confusion about when ET=20
really came into practice.  This was because the Well-Tempered system=20
supposedly now made all keys equally *accessible*, hence "ET".  The notion=20
that Bach used ET itself was reinforced because many textbooks, including=20
Grove's Dictionary of Music printed the error that equated Well-Tempered=20
Tuning to ET.  (The two terms, in fact, are mutually exclusive).

I don't know who Lanfranco was but other theorists such as Mersenne and=20
Marpurg proposed ET but as a useful temperament, it was regarded as=20
unsatisfactory to most people for tuning the early keyboard instruments in=20
their days.  The tuning of some fretted instruments in ET did date back to a=
=20
very early time (1500's) but again, if they didn't do much better than I see=
=20
people typically do today, it never really was ET.

While ET really is possible today on the modern piano, it still remains a=20
difficult and furtive goal.  While most advocate it strongly and believe in=20
it as a fact of existence, others question its reality and validity.

My personal opinion is that even though the modern piano seems to be designe=
d=20
for an equal tempered scale in its string arrangement, the keyboard still ha=
s=20
an irregular pattern that suggests an irregular scale.  Since it is really a=
=20
late 19th Century instrument, a late 19th Century style tuning seems to fit=20
it best for all around use.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin

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