source file: m1448.txt Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 13:49:55 EDT Subject: Sixth comma meantone temperament: "per comune opinione perfettissimo" From: I've been playing my piano which was retuned from quarter comma meantone= =0Atemperament to sixth comma MT last week and want to put down some impr= essions=0Awhile they're fresh. A year ago, I had my other piano - an old= er one with a=0Awarm, not bright tone quality retuned from equal temperam= ent to sixth comma MT=0Atemperament. As I played that piano over the nex= t days and weeks, my initial=0Asense of amazement that a piano, of all in= struments, could sound so pleasingly=0Aharmonious grew even greater. The= change in tuning did wonders for that=0Apiano's overall resonance, givin= g it an almost awe-inspiring "big" sound. The=0Afact that I'd never seen= or really seriously imagined a "change of heart" in a=0Apiano of this na= ture before contributed to the overall impression. Despite the overall reduction in sharpness of the major thirds from about= 13.5=0Acents to a little over 7 cents (I'm sure there were deviations fr= om target of=0A1, 2, and even three cents here and there), the sharpness = of the thirds in=0Asixth comma MT was prominent in its overall sound. Th= e harmonies were warmer,=0Abut had a mild "impressionistic" vagueness whi= ch I associate with 12 TET=0Aharmonies. I had a desire to hear a piano t= uned with the sharpness of the=0Athirds reduced even more and later began= working with a rented piano tuned for=0Aa brief time to 5/24 comma MT (t= hirds 3 and a half cents sharp) and then,=0Abecause even in that tuning t= he sharpness of some of the thirds sometimes drew=0Aattention, quarter co= mma MT temperament. The increasing flatness of the=0Afifths which was ne= eded to get the thirds down to just was so gradual that I=0Adidn't notice= it at all until reaching the full quarter comma temperament. Now, my rented Yamaha upright with a very bright tone quality - capable o= f=0Asounding loud and harsh - has been retuned in the other direction fro= m quarter=0Acomma MT to sixth comma MT. My first impressions of the chan= ge are a slight=0Asense of disappointment. To me, overall the piano does= n't sound quite as=0Asmooth and harmonious as it did in quarter comma. I= n fact, it almost sounds=0Aas though it had been put into equal temperame= nt - but the wolves - with=0Athirds now only 28 cents sharp rather than 4= 0 cents sharp remove any doubt as=0Ato the fact that it's not in equal te= mperament. When I play pieces, trying to get them to sound really nice and harmoniou= s, I=0Afeel some frustration. Getting a good balance with the melody not= es clear and=0Athe full harmonies continuously present is more difficult = - at times upper=0Anotes which are thirds above the root will surge too l= oud, or else they will=0Abe unexpectedly drowned out by lower notes. The= harmonies overall don't sound=0Aas smooth and pleasant. However, in one piece - Long, long Ago - which I play with some 7th and 9= th=0Achords marking important points in the piece - the sixth comma MT pe= rformances=0Areally sound better and more musical than the quarter comma = ones. To me,=0Athere didn't seem to be anything out of place at all in u= sing a just 5/4 for=0Awhat might be intended as a 9/7 in playing such a c= hord in quarter comma MT -=0Aafter all, it's a twelve=96note=96per=96octa= ve instrument. But these chords have a=0Acertain sweetness and flexible = musicality in the sixth comma MT - the sense of=0Athe different harmony o= f the ninth chord as contrasted with that of a major=0Atriad - really com= ing through - which isn't there in the quarter comma=0Arecordings. Thus = it seems that widening a 5/4 third by only 7 cents can make=0Ait a lot ea= sier to "hear" it as something like a 9/7. It may be that 12 TET=0Agives= this same effect and that for many people who are less put=96off by the= =0Adissonant (and for most contexts too=96sharp) thirds, the improved "re= alism" of=0Aseventh and ninth chords in 12 TET outweighs its drawbacks. There's another thing about the sixth comma MT which distinguishes it cle= arly=0Afrom both quarter comma MT and 12 TET. This is the quite noticeab= le pulsating=0Aeffect, a quakiness or shakiness, which seems to be presen= t most of the time -=0Aa wa=96wa=96wa=96wa=96wa kind of sound going on wi= th a pulsation rate of about 2 to 4=0Aor 5 waves per second. I believe t= his is an effect of the reinforcement of=0Athe beating of the fifths, whi= ch are flat by about one part in 480, and the=0Amajor thirds, which are s= harp by exactly twice that amount - one part in 240.=0AWith the bright po= werful Yamaha, this pulsating is quite noticeable, but it=0Ahadn't caught= my attention (although it was present) with the other piano last=0Asumme= r. It is possible - maybe there are writings about this - that one of the=0A= "fathers" of the piano, Gottfried Silbermann, has his name attached to th= is=0Atemperament - the Silbermann temperament - because he wanted to give= his=0Ainstrument a natural vibrato and could best achieve this effect by= this=0Aparticular temperament. An Italian writer on music described thi= s temperament=0Aas "temperamento per comune opinione perfettissimo" in a = work published in=0A1786. Later today my piano tuner is coming again to put the piano into 12 TET a= nd=0AI'll have a chance to see if that causes the piano to seem appreciab= ly=0Adifferent than it does now in sixth comma MT, which now seems to me = almost=0Alike 12 TET already. Maybe I should enjoy the short time I have= before he=0Acomes! Just a couple additional observations: The major semitones are wide from = a=0Ajust 16/15 in quarter comma by 5.4 cents, but they are narrow from 16= /15 by=0A3.6 cents in sixth comma MT - a difference of 9 cents. The whol= e tones are=0Avery slightly wider (by 3.6 cents) in sixth comma MT, and t= his also affects=0Athe overall impression.=0A