Klarinet Archive - Posting 000593.txt from 1999/03

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Pitch over the years
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 03:01:47 -0500

On Wed, 10 Mar 1999, Steven J Goldman, MD wrote:

> As today, the string and wind players would try to keep intervals pure

It is with a great deal of trepidation that I post this comment, as this
is likely to re-open the "Great Tuning and Temperament War." But,
acoustical study after acoustical study has shown that that is *not* what
musicians do in performance. There are references in Carl Seashore's
"Pshycology of Music" from the late 1930's, and in "The Acoustical
Foundations of Music" by John Backus from the mid-1960's. There are many
others. We have fought this battle several times on the flute list and
the doublereed list. I can't remember which re-hashing of it is which, or
whether we have already covered the topic on KLARINET.

Let me try a different approach to the question. Can anyone supply any
research or even any speculation as to the origins of the deep-seated
belief of many musicians that "pure" intervals are some kind of panacea or
ideal? I've read many times that experiments have been unable to confirm
the supposed advantage of such temperaments, but many people will disagree
with these assertions, even in the absence of coroborating evidence for
their position. What is the history of this point of view?

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

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