source file: m1454.txt Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 00:30:23 EDT Subject: Sound qualities of different keys on mean tone piano From: The contribution to the overall sound of a piano note or chord made by st= rings=0Awhich are excited to vibrate sympathetically with the struck note= (s) greatly=0Aaffects the character of the overall sound and contributes = in an essential way=0Ato the acoustic piano's unique characteristics as a= musical instrument. While=0Afor a piano tuned to 12 TET, the harmonic r= elationships between a string and=0Athe strings above and below it which = will be excited to vibrate=0Asympathetically with it are nearly the same = for all the strings in the same=0Ageneral pitch register, these relations= hips vary greatly between keys for the=0Astrings of a piano tuned to an u= nequal temperament, including (and especially=0Afor) quarter comma MT tem= perament. There are strings at seventh, 14th, etc.=0Apartials for Eb and= Bb (wolf from G# to Eb). There are strings at 5th, 10th,=0Aetc. partial= s for Eb, Bb, F, C, G, D, A, and E. There are strings at 3d, 6th,=0A12th= , etc. partials for all notes but G#. All notes but G# and C# have notes= =0Aabove at 9th, 18th, etc. partials above them. E lacks a note at a 15t= h=0Apartial above it. For lower lying notes, Eb lacks a note one octave = and a=0Afifth below it in the Ab position. Eb, Bb, F, and C lack notes t= wo octaves=0Aand a major third below them. One thing which brought this realization home to me was the very differen= t=0Acharacter of the sounds of Eb and Bb major triadic chords - and the E= b strings=0Aalone or when Eb octaves or open fifths Eb=96Bb=96Eb are stru= ck. These chords to=0Ame have a difficult=96to=96put=96into=96words "sol= id" sound which makes me think of=0Avery neat rectilinearly shaped blocks= of wood. The sounds seem low and deep=0Aand solid rather than bright or= shrill. I believe it's the 7th and 14th etc.=0Apartials which are respo= nsible for this effect. The key of F, which has Bb=0Aplayed in it regula= rly, has a solid sound, but not so much as a series of Eb=0Amajor chords.= Going the other way to the four notes which lack upper notes at=0Athe 5= th, 10th, 20th partial positions, these notes have a very "stringy" sound= =0Awhich can be brought out by playing minor chords on C#, F#, and B. I notice that when Ebs are played with equal force as C#s, the Ebs sound= =0Alouder than do the C#s. Also, the G#s do not seem to have as loud and= =0Acarrying a sound as most of the other notes. As a result of having the good fortune to be able to "play around" with a= =0Apiano which my piano tuner has been able to accurately put into differ= ent=0Atemperaments, I can get a first hand sense of a "new" field of dime= nsions=0Aalong which that amazingly versatile (as we now know) instrument= can be=0Acontrolled so as to produce a wide variety of sounds with diffe= ring=0Acolorations and quality balances.=0A