22 Dec
2004
22 Dec
'04
10:01 p.m.
On Sun, 2004-12-19 at 18:40 -0500, Lee Revell wrote:
No, not really. Well-Temperament is a fairly specific term.
http://dwdraw.homeunix.org/music/info/music-temperaments.html
Just Intonation is the correct term. Temperaments are all systems of
intonation for fixed-pitch instruments--variable-pitched instruments
have the ability to always use Just Intonation--that attempt to evenly
distribute (relative to the mathematically perfect Just Intonation) the
imperfect intervals.
O T H E R L I N K S (also in paper):
Specific Examples for Further Investigation
Duffin, Ross W. Home page. Case Western Reserve University. <
http://www.google.com/search?q=tuning+duffin+site%3Acwru.edu >.
This source includes spreadsheets of pitches related to temperaments and
sound samples.
Kellner, Herbert Anton. “Johan Sebastian Bach: the well tempered tuning
is unequal.” < http://ha.kellner.bei.t-online.de >.
This source includes instructions on how to tune a harpsichord using the
Werckmeister Temperament.
Kamp, Wim. “Harpsichord.” <
http://home.no.net/wimkamp/instruments/Harpsichord/harpsichord.html >.
This source includes recordings of the author playing early music on a
variety of temperaments.
On Sun, 2004-12-19 at 23:29 +0200, John Anderson
wrote:
Actually, even
guitars with adjustable bridge saddles won't be perfectly
in tune with themselves, except for octaves, 4ths and fifths which are
close enough that one can't really hear the difference. This is because
the frets are in the wrong place in relation to the overtone series
(pl). This applies to any instrument that has fixed notes (piano springs
to mind), and which use the 12-tone equal temperament tuning.
It's a long story, so I won't go into detail. Google for Just Intonation
if you want to know more. It sheds a different light on various
questions like, where *is* that confounded blue note? Why do major
chords sound crap on overdrive? What's the deal with barbershop and
string quartets? Why is D minor the saddest key? If I tune the B string
by ear to the G string, why is it out of tune with the E string?
I think this is called "well tempered tuning".
Lee