[pianotech] Do fourths beat faster?

[Jeff Deutschle]

Ed:

I am confused. You say David is right "... The fourths and fifths stay
the same rate all the way up and down the scale ..." but you also say
"... fourths and fifths progress more slowly in the mid-range of the
piano. ..." Well, are you saying that they stay the same or are you
saying that they progress more slowly?

Please don't think I am nit-picking your post. I have had this
discussion with others and there is a difference between intervals
beating the same and intervals appearing to beat the same.

I do not get the Journal. There may be something that I don't
understand about this. Maybe someone can steer me right. I understand,
and can hear, how a certain octave stretch will keep the 5ths beating
at the same rate. I do not understand, and do not hear, how this also
can keep the 4ths beating at the same rate. Stretching octaves can
prevent the speeding up of narrow intervals such as 5ths. How can it
also prevent the speeding up of wide intervals, such as 4ths? When an
octave is stretched, wouldn't all the narrow intervals be made less
narrow and beat slower but all the wide intervals be made wider and
beat faster?

On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 9:05 AM, Ed  Sutton <ed440 at mindspring.com> wrote:
> David's right. Because of inharmonicity and octave stretching, fourths and
> fifths progress more slowly in the mid-range of the piano. I suppose on
> organs they follow the octave/double rule.
> Read Dan Levitan's 2007-08 series to understand this. Plan on studying for 2
> or 3 weeks and taking notes!
> Remember that on piano we are tuning "Imitation ET," which is not the same
> as theoretically perfect ET.
>
> Ed Sutton
>
> ps I apologize for the blank messages. If you have Windows Vista with
> erratic slowdowns, you know why.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: David Andersen
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 1:01 AM
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Do fourths beat faster?
> Brother, I beg to differ. The fourths and fifths stay the same rate all the
> way up and down the scale---at least in idealized equal temperament, which
> what what I use.
> David Andersen
>
> On Feb 5, 2009, at 9:43 PM, Scott Jackson wrote:
>
> Yep, every interval beats faster as you move up; by the time you reach an
> octave higher, twice as fast.
>
> Scott Jackson
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Byron
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 1:08 PM
> Subject: [pianotech] Do fourths beat faster?
> Do fourths beat faster as they climb chromatically? How about fifths?
>
> Thanks
>



-- 
Regards,
Jeff Deutschle

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