Beat Rates in music

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

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In a message dated 8/6/02 7:36:57 AM Central Daylight Time, 
Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no (Richard Brekne) writes:


> Hi folks
> 
> I know this subject has come up relative to the use of
> historical temperaments before, but I am curious about how
> the amount of stretch in an ET tuning can be / is conciously
> employed as a part of the music played.
> 
> I think is generally aggreed upon the the more stretch in
> general there is, the more tense the general sound of the
> tuning is. Clearly a Moonlight Sonata played on a fine
> instrument tuned with a lot of stretch imployed based on a
> wide 6:3 temperament octave is going to sound different then
> the same piece played on the same instrument where the
> temperment and stretch are very compressed. Perhaps it is
> possible to colour a musical piece through the general
> tenseness of the tuning ?
> 
> I wonder also if anyone uses this technique as a voicing
> tool. I find that the more tense (stretched) the instrument
> is, the more is takes on a hard like character, and the more
> compressed the tuning the more roundlike and mellow the
> instrument sounds.
> 
> I get the feeling most tuners learn one style of stretch and
> rarely change that. How many of you place any value on the
> the ability to adjust stretch in relation to the two above
> criteria, even when your own basic taste for stretch is at
> odds with these ?
> 
> .

Richard,

Your thinking is correct on all accounts.  Many people consider the so-called 
"Master Tuning" worked up by a PTG Tuning Exam committee to be the ideal way 
to tune a piano but to me, that is an example of what happens when a 
committee rather than an individual designs anything that requires artistic 
decisions.  It works, yes, but is probably not ideal for most circumstances.  
It is merely neutral.

I have a general preference for octave stretch, yes, and that is for triple 
octaves across the piano to match perfectly.  This means that single and 
double octaves are slightly expanded and minimizes the tempering in the 5ths. 
 This sounds a lot like what you have been doing.  This will generally give 
you the best sound for a large concert grand in a large room.

There are other circumstances, other kinds of pianos, different kinds of 
music and the personal taste of some very discriminating artists.  I use both 
temperament and octave size as a kind of "throttle" to give the piano a sound 
which is appropriate to the circumstances.  Some Electronic Tuning Devices 
have some choices about the amount of stretch which can be applied to a 
tuning but I prefer to make this determination entirely by ear with the piano 
itself telling me what the best compromise is.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin
 <A HREF="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =-</A> 

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