Hearing the difference (or maybe not)

[A440A@aol.com]

Dave writes: 
<< OK.  Great idea.  Let's stop talking about it and do it.  Bremmer, Foote, 
Jorgenson:  line up 6 C7s; tune 5 in various HT's; tune one by Virgil 
Smith in ET; it would be the real truth..... 

   Uh, Dave?  it's deceptively easy to volunteer others, however, where's 
your name on the list?  You would have to put your rolling-fourths ET up 
there, no?  And, what would the music be?  All Mozart?  2 pieces from each 
century of the piano' history? Ives?  The Scott Joplin junkie may find a 
different truth than our Bach specialist.  However, there is another problem 
with the return you would get on this much work.
   After hearing three or more temperaments in quick order, the objectivity 
fades.   The problem comes from trying to make decisions on sensory values, 
not intellectual ones.  The physical, scientifically demonstrated effects of 
dissonance cause a lot of things to go on in a listener. (One of my friends 
can't listen to classical music in WT because it makes him too nervous)  
Judgement is like a muscle, it is especially tiring to use when  it is 
undeveloped and the new listener is often overwhelmed in short order.   Since 
the player, the score, and the mood of the listener all play a part in how 
attractive the music is, it is not simply a matter of putting out a large 
number of tunings and getting a "sift" effect to turn up the "best" one.   
     I think side by side comparisons are more effective when trying to 
encourage more acceptance of non-ET.  And having an ET piano beside one in 
something like a Coleman 11 is always an ear and eye-opener.  This is the 
arrangement I use in my classes at the conventions.  The structure of the 
class is to create a new perspective from which to listen to familiar 
intonation. The aim is to encourage the technician to broaden their view of 
what "in tune" really means.  We do this by comparing the effects of 
different keys in a WT, and then comparing that with ET.  It is always a lot 
of work, but fun. Time is usually cramped, hours odd, pay non-existant, noisy 
environment at times, but if you would volunteer to tune the ET version  this 
summer in Dallas, it would sure be a help.  
Thanks, 
Ed Foote RPT 
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html