<HTML>In a message dated 8/9/02 10:59:49 PM Central Daylight Time, remoody@midstatesd.net (Richard Moody) writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">For the tuner, the ability to achieve ET is known only by other tuners.  Yes there are some situations that might "catch up" to the sloppy tuner but I doubt he would advance that far in the profession for that to happen.  For example tuning a piano in one room and a piano  in another and for some reason they are moved together to be played as a duet.  Or a certain group that wanted to mix songs from different concerts and in the studio, found the piano didn't always match.   Renting a piano and playing it with the one already there. One tuner tuning the piano there and another tuner for the rental company.  But just try to explain to the stage manager (who made sure they were both "just tuned" in that case why both pianos should then be tuned by the same tuner. From the recording company that sends tapes from SF to LA they soon hear which pianos from which studios do or do not match, to the piano on site (as in movie)does not match well with the piano in the sound recording studio, there are many opportunities for the careful and consistent tuner to flourish, or flounder.  In the end it will be attitude that deals with the floundering situations.      </BLOCKQUOTE>  To me, this shows that there is a lot more inconsistency among tuners than we'd really like to think about or admit yet there are so many who just can't imagine anything but ET.  The "E" in ET stands for "Equal" which means "the same".  How can all of these pianos not be compatible with each other and all still be "Equal"?  Sure, there are different scale designs and differing amounts of stretch but I don't think that accounts for all of this incompatibility. To me, this is simply more evidence that ET remains elusive and is not really practiced or achieved nearly as much as it is believed to be.  I'd rather be honest about what I do and say that I don't tune in ET and don't tune every piano exactly the same but one thing I can guarantee is that a piano I tune will be at standard pitch and will be compatible with all other instruments, including fixed pitch instruments presumed to be in ET. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin <A HREF="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =-</A> </HTML>