not really O.T.

[Dave Nereson]

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<< It's
interesting to
see how instruments differ or are the same. Many techs., use violin =
bridge
fundamentals
to compare them to how piano bridges might work. ? ? ?
Some time ago, there was a question whether guitars, violins were tuned =
to ET. ?
? ?>>

    Yes, both these were discussed last year.  But to add another 2 =
cents, violin bridge principals apply only in a very general sense.   =
The piano bridge is like a long, curved 2" x 2", whereas the violin =
bridge is shaped somewhat like a flat, skinny, headless person standing =
bow-legged with hands almost on hips, but not touching.  The two legs =
stand on a resonating surface which serves as the violin's "soundboard", =
I suppose, but the whole body of the violin is a resonating chamber to a =
much greater extent than the piano.  That is, if the sides and back of =
the violin were removed, it would sound quite different, whereas when =
the front and bottom panels of an upright piano are removed or the lid =
is opened or closed on a grand, the main effect is a difference in =
volume, not tone.  Also the top of the violin is carved from one piece =
of wood, not made of butted boards glued together and then forced into a =
crowned unit.  The violin bridge is not glued to the top.  It's got only =
4 strings on it, at quite a low tension compared to piano strings.  And =
then the strings are bowed and occasionally plucked, not hit with felt =
hammers.=20
=20
    And as for other instruments being tuned it E.T., nobody concerns =
themselves with it except perhaps harpists and harpsichordists.  Almost =
all the other instruments tune to one note, either A in orchestra or B =
flat in band. =20
    The intonation of the other notes is dependent on the player's =
skill, ear training, sense of pitch, and experience. The construction of =
the instrument makes most of the other notes come out "pretty close" if =
the open note was tuned correctly, which makes a junior high band's =
attempt at music still recognizable as such, even if the intonation has =
quite a wide range.  But an advanced musician, even with an inferior =
instrument, plays better in tune.
    String players have to tune three other strings to the first one, =
but  most are taught to tune pure-sounding fifths.  They just play two =
adjacent strings together and tune them til the fifth doesn't beat.  =
They don't bother with 3 beats in 5 seconds or whatever.  To fine-tune, =
they'll tune the 2nd partial of the higher string beatless with the 3rd =
partial of the lower string, using harmonics, but the inharmonicity is =
nowhere near that of pianos.  Intonation of all the other notes is =
dependent on one's ear and where one puts the fingers down on the =
fingerboard!
    Guitarists, mandolinists, etc.  have it a little easier once the =
instrument is tuned, since the frets pretty much determine the pitch of =
a given note.  Beginning guitarists used to memorize a "My dog has =
fleas" pattern of notes in successive fourths, kind of like memorizing =
the "N-B-C" series of tones (but that was a Major 6th followed by a =
Major 3rd), but that would get them only so close, plus there was a =
Major third involved  (the G and B strings).  The rest has to be tuned =
by hearing pure fourths and making the one Major third unobjectionable, =
then trying various chords to look for any strings that are "out of =
bounds," and making adjustments. =20
    But now most of them just go out and buy an electronic tuner.  (And =
if they own a piano, will use it when you're done tuning, to check your =
work, not knowing anything about octave stretch or inharmonicity).  But =
many of them also use partials, or harmonics (which are almost the same =
thing on low-tension strings) to compare one string with another and =
fine-tune.  E.T. comes into play a tiny bit but large errors are not as =
glaring as on a piano. =20
    But on the harp, there are many strings to tune and most harpists =
tune their own instrument, setting a temperament and tuning octaves from =
it.  I don't know the exact sequence, but they're probably the only ones =
of all orchestral players who are concerning themselves with anything =
resembling a temperament, equal or otherwise.
    I've tuned in school band rooms and have gone over to the marimba or =
vibes or large xylophone (actually "metallophone", since it's metal, not =
wood ("Xylo" is Greek for wood; the marimba is really the "xylo"-phone) =
to see if they're tuned in equal temperament.  I can't tell -- either =
they don't sustain long enough or there's no inharmonicity or the =
partials aren't strong enough to hear beating thirds, sixths, etc.  I =
think I did hear the thirds beat on a vibraphone once, but would have to =
try it again to be sure. =20
    Woops, that was more like 200 cents.   --David Nereson, RPT, Denver
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