Klarinet Archive - Posting 000652.txt from 1995/05

From: pauline minevich f <pminevic@-----.CA>
Subj: Re: Key characteristics
Date: Tue, 23 May 1995 08:58:06 -0400

Seems to me that the characteristics we attribute to various keys
has to do with temperament, not pitch. Today we theoretically play in
equal temperament, that is, where the semitones of the chromatic scale
are 100 cents each. This is a relatively recent development - to the end
of the last century I believe that meantone temperament was more common,
and each key did indeed sound different, because semitones were not all
equal. There's a really interesting and easy-to-read book called "Tuning
the Historical Temperaments", by Owen Jorgensen, which explains many
different tuning systems, and even shows you how to achieve them on a
keyboard instrument. Pianos today are all tuned in equal temperament,
but in ensembles without an equal-tempered keyboard (such as any kind of
wind/string chamber ensemble, or orchestra), we all know that we adjust
certain notes (for instance, we tend to raise the leading note, or raise
the third of a major chord). That's why it often feels more uncomfortable
to play in tune with piano.
So my conclusion is, that in equal temperament there really isn't
any distinguishing characteristic to a key. In the old temperaments there
were split-key keyboard instruments, usually Ab/G#, because these really
were 2
different notes. Makes you think about clarinet tuning, doesn't it - all
those alternate fingerings, gee, maybe that's why my friends think I have
a hysterical temperament!
Pauline (with a mean tone) Minevich
Wilfrid Laurier University