The Acme A1 Temperament

[A440A at aol.com]

Alan writes:

<< So how come the pretty much whole world has settled on ET as the tuning 
goal of choice?<< 

    Actually, only a small part of the world performs music in ET. Strings, 
horns, and woodwinds certainly do not.  And I would submit that rather than 
"settling" on ET, it is more a process of ignorance of the alternatives.  ET was 
adopted by factories and their ranks of tuners during a period in which the 
music of the day didn't really depend on tonality as a compositional parameter.  
The only "scientific" documentation we have from the late 19th century 
clearly indicates that what they were calling ET is NOT what we produce today, but, 
rather, a very mild version of the well-temperaments that arose as the piano 
was invented. 
 
>>Not challenging anyone's opinion or ability here (I've never even heard a 
Coleman 11 or EBVT tuning), it's just a response to the comment that they would 
be better sounding than ET. Is that a key-specific observation?<< 

      In real time, side by side, comparisons, I have never heard of ET being 
favored over other properly chosen temperaments from the Western tradition.  
I believe the attraction for having all the thirds detuned by 14 cents comes 
from totally nonmusical sources, (such as math theory, freedom from tonal 
decisions, standardization of work procedures, and ease of measurment).  

      There is more consonance in piano music played in a WT than there is in 
ET.  Why is this so?  Because the only way to produce the same amount of 
dissonance found in ET is to play equally in all keys in a WT, and this is not 
what the musical literature does.  Classical composers all composed the most in 
the keys with the least tempering in the thirds, (Chopin excepted), and least 
in the most highly tempered keys.  This doesn't mean that they didn't venture 
into the most remote regions, but they did so with full understanding that the  
harmony in those higher keys required different approaches. This is a skill 
that is lost among the composers of today.  
       
       Flame bait:  If a person has only heard Bach in ET, they have not yet 
heard Bach.  In the same sense,  a viewer that has only seen black and white 
photos of Van Gogh paintings has not really seen Van Gogh.  
 
    Once again, my offer stands.  If anybody considers ET to be more musical, 
or more pleasing to the ear,  I will compare a WT of my choice with anybody's 
ET, in blind testing, and we will see what the audience finds more 
attractive.  
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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