tolerance and behaviour, the key to good relationships

[A440A@AOL.COM]

antares writes:

>but then........ there we go again! another heated argument and again about
>the same subject, which is a tuning that this person likes so much that
>a debate always has to - and must - end in favor of that very same person,
>who uses sharp defensive language, and in this case mostly accuses 'the 
other'
>of being wrong, being aggressive, and being mistaken.
 <snip?
>I therefor have come to the conclusion that there must be something wrong
>with the psyche of this person because our e-mail history shows a recurring
>pattern of arguments, irritations, fights, and finally insults and all
>these have to do with the same person and the very same subject : a different
>tuning, being 'supposedly' under attack.
 
>be
>nice to be able to discuss piano technical related issues here in a normal
>manner, without irritations and hurtful misunderstandings.>

Greetings, 
     We can do that, and we have.  There has been a lot of exposure on the 
list of a wide variety of tunings and I know that there are many technicians 
out there that have broadened their horizons because of it.  (One of the 
first posts I sent had a line about "its is the tech's job to educate 
customers",  and Les Smith launched a derogatory riposte, basically saying ET 
was the only tuning worth knowing.)
    The problem usually occurs when someone has a vested interest, ie,  a 
claim that a particular tuning is superior.  Well,  I have tried dozens of 
tunings, some straight out of the machine, some out of the printed material 
(Jorgensen).  I can truthfully say,  "THERE IS NO SUPERIOR TEMPERAMENT!!!" 
They all have their strenths and weaknesses.  Anybody that is touting one 
temperament as the ultimate solution has a limited view of harmonic 
development.  If a proponent of a certain tuning has a vested interest and 
takes it upon themself to defend that tuning,  the debate begins to embrace 
things other than the sound. That is where the vitriol comes from.  
       I am presently listening to a CD from Tim Farley's shop.  It sounds 
great,  If I remember my conversation with Dan Eberhardy,(who is listed as 
the tuner),  this is his mild meantone tuning, and it provides a character in 
this recording that you can't get elsewhere. That doesn't mean there aren't 
places in there I think something else would sound better.  I was, at times, 
wishining for more consonance, and at other times thinking things were a 
little too plain.  But there are many places where the sound is postively 
sublime.   These are subjective tastes, and I can't tell another that they 
are right, I can only offer an alternative where I see fit.   I do have 
expectations on what a temperament should be for Beethoven, and it isn't the 
same as what would sound best for Chopin!  So anything any of us do 
represents a compromise.  
     I also remember a recording of Tim's that presented Chopin on the 1/7 C. 
 I thought it was very different from my recording of Chopin on the DeMorgan 
tuning,(the ultimate reversal of the normal WT character of the keys).  I 
thought the 1/7 version had more life in it, and I think the ET version of 
Chopin sounds mighty fine, too.  In contrast, my experiment with the DeMorgan 
was a failure, but at least it is out there for others to make up their minds 
about.(My mother thought our Chopin was the best cut on 6 Degrees, go figure, 
cause I am NOT going to argue with her).  There is room for everybody in this 
temperament thing.   
    I remember one of my classes that used some Debussy on a 
well-temperament.  It sounded out of tune to several techs. I had to accept 
that, since there was nothing to debate, they heard what they heard. Those 
same persons also mentioned that the Bach and Beethoven sounded better than 
ever before.  This allowed us to engage in a constructive dialogue over how 
the inequality affected the music.  This is the sort of interchange that this 
list will allow those with open minds and experience with a variety of 
tunings.  
   We have no need to avoid any subject, but we can all avoid the sources of 
non-constructive contention.  When people are totally incapable of accepting 
critique, we should leave them alone.  
Regards, 
Ed Foote RPT