May the 4ths be with you

[Richard Moody]

> To sum up, I think that different temperaments are almost
unnoticeable to
> the audience, but they can affect the players interpretation
because the
> player is more aware of the differently beating intervals.
> Keith Jones

Yes that was my first impressions.   I remember clearly when I
played my first HT.   It was supposed to be a Young Vallotti Susan
Cline was mailing to me.    I couldn't wait and tuned a straight
Pythagorean.  My first impression was, "wow this doesn't sound as
different as I imagined".    After 10 minutes I was forgetting I
was playing in a radically different temperament except when I hit
the wolf.  When I tuned the Y-V, I was surprised at how little
difference I could hear.   I began to wonder what all the fuss was
about.
Some said as you mentioned the thirds were slower than ET.  Well
that is true for some but for all those that are slower there are
the others that are faster.
    Then I tuned Meantone where all the 3rds have no beat at all
except four.  That was the first time I heard a true difference.
Once again 10 minutes in to playing or practicing I would forget I
was in Meantone.   And of course after playing in any HT,sooner or
later, you want to hear how ET sounds again.  That kept happening
to me sooner than later.
    However I would soon want to tune another HT especially
Meantone.  It was a challenge.   I enjoy much more attempting to
tune an HT rather than attempting to play in it or listen to it.
I would like to hear a recording in MT without being told just to
see if I could recognize it is MT.  Take the Chopin A Major Waltz
(#7).   The first 3 measures----beautiful.  Two of the last six
measures, "whew".    Did Chopin write this for  Meantone?  I doubt
it.  Did he write it for ET or a WT?    We don't know, he didn't
say.  When I practiced this in the Young Vallotti I hardly
realized I was playing in a different temperament.  So much so I
would like to hear a recording of side by side of that Waltz in ET
and any of the so called Well Temperaments  to see if they can be
picked out "blind".
    There is another aspect of HT's that is extremely interesting
to me and that is the historical side.   I love research (which is
why I ended up with a degree in history instead of music, I am a
poor practicer) and researching HT's  is fun and exciting---well,
OK, to me at least.  So when I came across the complete
translation of Pietro Aaron's instructions for tuning Meantone I
was ecstatic.   Being a piano tuner I was able to attempt it.
Being a student of history I was able to see it in comparison to
the other modern descriptions of it and tell who was closer to the
depiction as written by Aaron.   Being an amateur musician I could
practice a few pieces in it.  What a dream to go through the Judy
Collins song book for example.  How some parts of Chopin sound
exquisite in it.  I even dared practice some Two Part Inventions
in MT.
    While I like setting the temperaments of HT's it is a major
chore to tune the rest of the piano.  Perhaps I should have a
harpsichord.  Bach was said to tune his harpsichord in 15 minutes.
What I would really like is a digital keyboard that has a choice
of temperaments and can be programmed for even more.  But don't
count on the accuracy. Go to  you local piano store and check the
temperaments of the digitals.  You might be surprised.   ---ric