May the 4ths be with you

[gordon stelter]

Yes. Pianos. Any piano, tends to sound better from the
audience's location than from the bench. I wonder: Is
there one temperament that would sound best to the
performer, and another tpo the audience 20 or more
feet away?
     Thump
--- Richard Moody <remoody@midstatesd.net> wrote:
> 
> > 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
> 


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