source file: mills2.txt Date: Sat, 4 Nov 1995 09:17:44 -0800 Subject: Re: Question: Equal temperament in ancient China? From: Johnny Reinhard Since the clavichord was introduced, this is no basis for equal temperament. As many know, the clavichord is structurally designed so that the pitch rises when a key is pressed harder. Essentially, pitch is substituted for dynamics when the player increases the pressure on the keys. If the Chin - a Chinese Zither hanging on the wall of Chinese philosphers - with its ancient notation that often leaves the player playing even after the sound has ceased to become audible, was matched with the barely audible clavichord, it is probably on this esoteric level that the clavichord was introduced. Johnny Reinhard Director American Festival of Microtonal Music 318 East 70th Street, Suite 5FW New York, New York 10021 USA (212)517-3550/fax (212) 517-5495 reinhard@ios.com Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Sat, 4 Nov 1995 19:24 +0100 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id JAA23194; Sat, 4 Nov 1995 09:24:44 -0800 Date: Sat, 4 Nov 1995 09:24:44 -0800 Message-Id: <9511041723.AA29653@muttley.UCSD.EDU> Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu