<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 7/16/01 10:38:43 AM Central Daylight Time,
<BR>pianomitch@hotmail.com (Mitch Ruth) writes:
<BR>
<BR>
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">The only teacher who expressed a dislike was the one I told about the new
<BR>temperment. </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BR></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">
<BR>It's a typical thing to have happen and one good reason not to say anything
<BR>to anyone. If I were to tune a piano in EBVT at the Convention for a recital
<BR>and no one knew about it, there would only be comments afterwards about how
<BR>wonderful that Brand X piano sounds, not about *UNEQUAL* 3rds or anything
<BR>else.
<BR>
<BR>Thanks for your comments, Mitch, I really appreciate them. It's ironic
<BR>because I just returned from a large church which had me tune the Chickering
<BR>Console piano in the sanctuary. There is also a Steinway D there. Once, I
<BR>was asked to tune it. It is a rebuilt instrument that was once proudly
<BR>displayed at a Regional Seminar and represented as "state of the art"
<BR>rebuilding. The blue stringing felts and the glitter in the plate finish
<BR>were part of that art, I guess.
<BR>
<BR>Anyway, when I got to it several years later, I was shocked at how poor the
<BR>alignment and regulation were. I didn't say anything to the church about it
<BR>but called that technician. An answering machine responded. I simply left a
<BR>calm message saying that the action needed work and that I thought it better
<BR>to let the technician know about the problem directly rather than reporting
<BR>it to the church.
<BR>
<BR>The next time I was called, I was asked to tune all the pianos in the church
<BR>*except* the Steinway D. There was a big note in bold face black pen warning
<BR>me not to touch that piano. LOL
<BR>
<BR>So, today, I go to tune the console and did so at Standard Pitch, as usual.
<BR>When I was nearly done, a man came in telling me that "the two pianos will be
<BR>used together". He seemed to imply that however the Steinway was tuned, I
<BR>should try to match my tuning to it. I told him that I was tuning the piano
<BR>to Standard Pitch and as long as the other one was tuned that way, there
<BR>would be no problem.
<BR>
<BR>He said I should at least check how the other was tuned because "we don't
<BR>want the two to be a 1/4 step apart or anything". I answered that I would
<BR>only tune to Standard Pitch and was not allowed to touch the other piano. He
<BR>said, "OK, then, I have no control over that situation".
<BR>
<BR>When I finished tuning the console, I went over to the Steinway D. I found
<BR>A4 to be exactly on pitch but the unisons were somewhat poor but worse, 4ths,
<BR>5ths and 3rds were all inconsistent. Some of the 5ths were noticeably
<BR>tempered, more than any are in the EBVT. I played a big C Major chord and it
<BR>sounded downright awful, a horribly confused, blaring, rapidly beating, out
<BR>of tune and out of focus sound. G major sounded about the same. Curiously,
<BR>F# Major sounded somewhat milder, more at rest.
<BR>
<BR>This folks, is Reverse Well. It is what happens when a technician believes
<BR>in ET only and violently rejects any thought of any other style of tuning.
<BR>Over the years, the quality of the tuning deteriorates into a mess that
<BR>cannot be cleaned up and gets worse as the years accumulate.
<BR>
<BR>It's shocking and sad to encounter because it doesn't have to be that way.
<BR>It leads to pianists not listening to what they play because virtually
<BR>everything has that "off" and out of focus sound to it. This, my friends, is
<BR>the end result of 100 years or so of the dogmatic teaching of Helmholtz and
<BR>William Braide White. It's a dead end that needs to be reopened for
<BR>discovery.
<BR>
<BR>Bill Bremmer RPT
<BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT></HTML>