Ed: Thanks for your note. Frankly, I'd like to like the HTs better. I'm just wondering if this is a phase I'm stuck in at the moment and someday I'll acquire the taste. I didn't like beer the first time I had one either, but I acquired the taste more quickly than I have for HTs so far. Of course I was younger at the time too. Is there hope? dave *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 10/17/01 at 6:18 PM A440A@AOL.COM wrote: >Dave writes: ><<Inspired by your email, this morning I tuned practice room pianos in >Young's #1, Kirnberger III, and Coleman XI. I've done this before, >but I hadn't yet this year. I think it is important in an academic >setting to expose the students (and faculty) to these alternatives.>> > > I agree. I do think it helps to put a sign on the door of each room >with >some very short explanation of what is inside. > > >>>Having said all that, I wish I liked the sound better. > > Why? > >>>I know it's >unfair, but A-flat in a Werkmeister III doesn't sound "alive" to me, >it just sounds "bad." As you grew in your knowledge and use of HTs >did you go through this phase?>> > > I would submit that a temperament by itself doesn't sound "good" or >"bad", >so listening to the temperaments is simply going to illuminate the >difference >between what one is used to and something else. I didn't have any feeling >one way or another just by listening to the differences in the tunings, >but >after hearing the music, my appreciation for the added complexity grew. I >also grew to appreciate the sound of ET, which had somehow escaped me for >20 >years. > For the last three years I have been giving temperament presentations >to >technicians and musical groups,(teachers, students, etc.). These two >groups >react in very different ways, and I have altered my procedures >accordingly. >The techs represent a hard sell, the musicians just roll over in >epiphanies. > From a technical and professional standpoint, the change of temperament >is >viewed with extreme suspicion. From the musician's, I have found that >well-temperaments excite them, stimulates a closer look at the repertoire, >and gives me some input into musical expression. This is at the root of >my >commitment to offering a wide variety of temperament. >>>I know it's not politically correct to say it, but I like ET, and the >more >E the better!!<< > I don't think there is anything politically incorrect other than >condemnation of others that choose paths unlike our own. I like ET also, >just not for EVERYTHING. >Thanks for the note. >Regards, >Ed Foote RPT _____________________________ David M. Porritt dporritt@mail.smu.edu Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 _____________________________
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