<html> At 02:37 AM 4/29/2002 -0600, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite cite>     Same here -- Every time I've mentioned HTs to piano teachers, they've never heard of it.  A few younger musicians I know have electronic keyboards that enable other than ET tuning, and they at least know what a different temperament is.  But I have yet to have anyone request other than ET.  Others I mention it to will say something like, "Hasn't everything been equal temperament since Bach's Equal-tempered clavichord?" (or similarly ignorant response).  And the very few educated people who are aware of HTs also seem to think that one can play only in a few closely related keys or that one can't wander too far from I - IV - V chord progressions.  --David Nereson, RPT, Denver</blockquote> As my customer with the S&S B stated after this epiphany, "Bach didn't write the 'Equal Tempered Klavier' ". Imagine the morale in a cafeteria if they were served up the same meal every day, spoon feeding the line that this is the best food for you and all those others are not good and we know best. Would their customers return day after day? What if someone wanted softer hammers on their piano and you refused saying that only hard hammers make the piano sound as it should or vise versa.  How about a dealership only offering black pianos because he vehemently believes wood finish pianos are an abomination. There is nothing wrong with an industry standard but when it becomes a dictate it erodes an individual's free will. Variety is the spice of life.  A temperament is just a temperament; a tool to be used. It is not a political or religious ideology to be defended with zealous fervor. Before I purchased an ETD, I was too lazy to learn a new temperament scheme. I did rather well in my aural efforts but with the introduction of the ETD the whole operation became easier and it broadened my horizon. I suppose there are some people who buy a computer and only play solitaire on it. If you have an ETD and don't try and HT, you are not realizing the full potential of the machine or yourself. Believe it or not, most pianos sound better in something other than ET. This is not just my opinion but include Julliard graduates (real musicians), they prefer the sound of their grand pianos in WT not ET.   I did a test: a spinet, console and studio up in my shop; all in ET and sounded edgy and harsh. I retuned them in a WT and they became sonorous and quite pleasing. Selection of temperament is important, a mild WT gets them to dip their toe in the water before wading in deeper if they want to. It's their piano, their choice of temperament. It's my job to help them find the one which suits them. As with parts selection, I will use appropriate materials to achieve their desires. If the tone or touch are not liked, options are offered and discussed, alterations are made.  Just as learning voicing or altering touchweight expanded my abilities, multiple temperament capabilities adds to my versatility. So whether it's tuning or servicing, I want to be able to offer solutions and when it strikes such a chord when the piano is magically transformed I become their hero.  I can correlate the introduction of a WT with changing leverage on an action: the customer wonders why it wasn't like that from the factory or why no other technician was able to produce these results. A quote from the good ole days come to mind, "If your not part of the solution, you're part of the problem". <div>Regards,</div> <div>Jon Page,   piano technician</div> <div>Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass.</div> <div><a href="mailto:jonpage@attbi.com" EUDORA=AUTOURL>mailto:jonpage@attbi.com</a></div> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </html>