Klarinet Archive - Posting 001135.txt from 1998/07

From: "Don Yungkurth" <clarinet@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re: Keys
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 01:24:31 -0400

Mark Charette wrote:

>I'm going to show my ignorance yet again here ...
>I've never played in an orchestra or band (other than jazz/rock/country
>bands) so I was wondering:
>Do orchestras and symphonic bands play in pure temperament or equal
>temperament, considering that strings can do either?

I remember hearing about 40 years ago about Bach and the well tempered
clavier and thought, this is great! Now we can all play in tune in any
key!

About 30 years later, it dawned on me that solving the problem for the
keyboard did essentially nothing for an orchestra member. Certainly the
strings and trombones can adjust pitch as necessary. Woodwind and brass
players may have instruments that are "built to play in tune", but are
still subject to the overtone series. In real life woodwind instruments
are compromises and cannot be played "in tune" without the skill of the
player being a significant input.

I can't imagine that present-day orchestras or bands play in a
theoretically correct version of pure temperament, equal temperament or any
other definable "scale". Discussions with professional clarinetists in
major orchestras have convinced me that these players adjust pitch on any
sustained note so that it sounds "correct" in the chord. Ultimately the
ear, rather than any theoretical scale or tuning, determines what pitch is
correct in a given situation. This agrees with the argument, frequently
read on "Klarinet", that tuning to a tuning meter can get one note in tune
but will not guarantee that you can play "in tune".

Don Yungkurth (clarinet@-----.net)

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