Klarinet Archive - Posting 000600.txt from 1999/03

From: "Steven J Goldman, MD" <sjgoldman@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Pitch over the years
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 03:01:53 -0500

Why the trepidation? You are absolutely correct. However it is what the
instrumentalist perceives/thinks that he/she is doing (unless consciously
tuning to a keyboard). And wind and sting players do not play anything like
the equal tempered scale of today's keyboard when not playing with one. And
as to historical tuning, certainly in the 18th century much ink was spilled
imploring wind and string players to keep the intervals pure. And equal
temperament was almost universally rejected, even by keyboard players of the
time (Bach's temperament(s?), whatever it was, was not equal).

Now we will never know how close these players came to their ideal, but it
was probably much closer to it than modern players, whose ears have become
accustomed to equal temperament, and they certainly thought that the better
players achieved it.

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: Edwin V. Lacy [mailto:el2@-----.edu]
Subject: RE: [kl] Pitch over the years

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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