<HTML>In a message dated 1/17/01 12:55:07 PM Central Standard Time, cneuman@phy.duke.edu (Charles Neuman) writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Wow, that's interesting. I never thought about that: you can choose to keep the 5ths pure and still have ET if you let the temperament octave be stretched. Now, how about ET with pure 4ths? That would involve scrunching (there must be a technical term for the opposite of stretching) the temperament octave. I would imagine it would sound horrible, but I'm curious if anyone has tried it. Is ET with pure 5ths ever used in practical settings?</BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks for your question.  Yes, here in Madison, WI, we call it the "New York Stretch".  I've also heard it called "New York style ET" and "Steinway style ET" because Steinway technicians tend to favor a pure or nearly pure 5th.  A New York technician named Lucas Mason wrote a whole book about it in 1985 (I think) called, "The New Tuning". Some people like the idea but it has been controversial.  Jim Coleman, Sr. RPT wrote an article about it in the PTG Journal to which there were many responses, including one from me.  One of the big problems with it is that it is easy to make a mistake and end up with the kind of backwards version of a Well-Tempered Tuning that I call, "Reverse Well".  Also, tuning a true Pythagorean Tuning which has all pure 5ths except the one which cannot be reconciled will produce uneven 3rds which are fast and slow in a reverse pattern from that of a Well-Tempered Tuning. The ET with pure 5ths is most recommended for a large concert grand with high inharmonicity such as a Steinway B or D and in a setting such as a concert hall where maximum projection and clarity are desired.  I wouldn't recommend it for a small vertical piano or for a small, intimate setting.  It can make all of the harmony sound strained. Your other idea of pure 4ths would occur if you made your octave narrow enough and your 5ths tempered enough.  It's a worthwhile exercise to see which kinds of effects you can produce. It is well known that the Equal Beating major triads in second inversion cannot occur in ET but I have theorized that with an octave that is narrowed just the right amount might produce that effect.  I just have never got around to experimenting with it. I believe the technical term for "scrunching" would simply be "narrow" or "narrowing" or "contracting" such as "ET with a contracted (or narrowed) octave". Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>