Brown bag temperament test Re: Temperament selection (was: Franz Mohr in Moscow)

[John Formsma]

That project would be fun to try.

Regarding the Vallotti Well temperament...isn't that a bit on the
edgier side? Might not be a good first HT intro.

What I do since I'm tuning aurally is use Bill Bremmer's temperament
sequence for the EBVT.  The temperament instructions are really good,
although I don't do a strict EBVT. Instead, I vary the interval widths
to get what I want. It's relatively easy to manipulate, and if you're
paying attention, you can fudge here and there to get from the EBVT to
anywhere between the EBVT and ET.

Basically, it's a matter of modifying the fiths to get the thirds
you're wanting. For instance, I like to start out with a C4-E4 about
8-9 bps, which would be a milder sound than ET, but not as mild as
EBVT. Then, you make everything else fit. Such as the F3-A3 third is
about 6.5 bps instead of 6 bps. The end result is still similar to
EBVT, but not quite as extreme.

This is one instance where it would be nice to have an ETD to see what
it is I'm actually doing. :-)  It's almost certainly some existing
temperament because there are not an infinite number of variations
with regard to interval widths.

JF

On 4/13/07, piannaman at aol.com <piannaman at aol.com> wrote:
>
>  Ed, Jon, List,
>
>  Some musings on the subject...
>
>  I'd be really interested in hearing more different types of temperaments
> compared on different types of pianos.  A class comparing many different
> tunings might good for a convention offering.  I'd certainly attend.
>
>  Take, say, 10 pianos and tune them using various historical temperaments,
> and one to ET.
>
>  Only two or three "master tuners" would know which pianos were tuned using
> which temperament.
>
>  Another panel of HT experts would try and figure out which piano was tuned
> which way.
>
>  The rest of us could have fun and learn alot.
>
>  Yesterday one of my long-term clients gave me a copy of an book review of
> "How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and why you should care)" by Ross
> Duffin from the Wall Street Journal.  While I haven't read the entire
> article or the book, the title makes it clear what it's about.
>
>  I explained the ongoing debate to my customer, and she was fascinated.  I
> proceeded to tune the middle two octaves C3 to C5 on her ancient Brambach
> Baby using a Valotti Well as prescribed by Tunelab while she did crossword
> puzzles in the kitchen.  I played her a string of major chords, and her face
> went from smiley at an F triad to scrunched up in puzzlement at the F#
> triad.
>
>  I ended up tuning to ET, but the merits of other temperaments shouldn't be
> overlooked.
>
>  Thanks for reading,
>
>
> Dave Stahl, RPT