<HTML>In a message dated 1/2/01 8:04:09 AM Central Standard Time, A440A@AOL.COM writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">    It must be considered that the piano, tuned and used as we know it,   will not be a forever thing.  After several generations come of age in an environment that places the piano along side so many other instruments,  it may come to be seen as an anachronistic, expensive, limited instrument...</BLOCKQUOTE> Well, it already is.  Every so often, someone asks me if what I do is not a "dying art" but then again, they were saying that when I started 32 years ago.  I'm glad you published that mind boggling discussion because it does show that there is a lot of tuning theory that most piano technicians never dreamed existed. However, I really don't see the demise and diminishment of the piano as we know it the way that the harpsichord has become. Certainly, no one makes their living going from home to home every week of the year tuning and repairing harpsichords the way we piano techs do with pianos.  A good piano can easily last a lifetime and many which I tune are 100 years old or more.   They are the kind of musical treasure which just does not go out of style. As for its limitations, those are already covered by the electronic keyboard which few would consider to be a "replacement" for the piano.  There are other instruments which are severely limited in their harmonic capabilities such as the harmonica and the German style button Accordion.  These don't even have 12 tones let alone more.  Yet they are still very popular with some people making decent and comfortable livings making them and teaching their trade to the younger generations. Electronic music is like candy to the young person.  They are drawn to the many sounds which, with ease, can be obtained and which often cannot be produced by an acoustic instrument.  But sooner or later, people tire of that and go for the acoustic, "unplugged" sound. I don't see the demise or diminishment of the piano in my projected lifetime.  I do see different ways of tuning it emerging as being popular and of interest to more than just theorists. Happy New Year and Millennium! Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>