EK> I agree with Neil that, when tuning strings of a hg pure to each other in a EK> noisy environment, an electronic tuner (build in or used with a contact EK> microphon) can be a great help and may give better results than tuning by EK> ear beause of the noise. That works if you have learned the properties of EK> your tuner by tuning by ear and see what your tuner does. I know that I get EK> a pure fifth with my simple tuner exactly at the point where it doubts EK> between pure( green led) or too high (right red led).
I agree. Knowing your tuner is the same as having an expensive one. There are some cheaper tuners which show cents. A very simple and good thing to know is that a pure fifth is "welltempered + 2 cents" and a pure major third "well tempered - 14 cents". So a pure d in a C scale would be +4 (C,G+2,D+4), F is -2, therefore a pure A is -16 a pure B -12 and so on. EK> Forget Kirnberger, Valotti, mean tone temperament and other baroque tunings: EK> they have been conceived for harmony, for changing chords and changing EK> tonalities, not for drone music. They make as little sense for a hg as EK> equal temperament. partly agreed. A lot of baroque tunings make no sense on a modern hg. But they are all compromises between a "beautiful" just temperament and other tunings, eg. just temperaments in other keys. And this we can find also on the hg as soon as one plays not only in C but also in G (first thing when you play just C tuning in a piece in G you will realize your A is too low). So compromises are already needed here. I found Kirnberger II (which is the only tuning from this time that uses just fifths) especially useful for baroque tuning (keys from C,G,D,A,Ab,Eb,Bb and c and g minor). For my modern instrument I use a personal solution with some notes in just temperament, some in well tempered but as well the "-5 cent A" from Kirnberger II (that is high enough to be played in a chromatic context and low enough to have a more beautiful characteristic in C). Matthias ps: kirnberger II C 0.0 Db -9.8 D 3.9 Eb -5.9 E -13.7 F -2.0 F# -9.8 G 2.0 Ab -7.8 A -4.9 Bb -3.9 H -11.7 EK> And yes, Neil, you are almost right: this natural harmonic tuning makes EK> things worse, or even terrible, with different drones, generally. But it EK> works (almost) perfectly if only two drones a fifth or a fourth apart are EK> used, for instance only G and c or only G and d. Details and explanations EK> can be found in my article on tuning the tangents: EK> http://www.orfeo-fiato.nl/hurdy_gurdy_tuning.html EK> Tuning your hg in something like natural harmonic temperament may conflict EK> or not with other players/singers. If you are really playing drone music, EK> there should not be a conflict. But, for instance, playing with a melodion EK> or a guitar, the conflicts are already intrinsic to the combination of a EK> drone and a harmony instrument; so, why not give it a try in such a case as EK> well? EK> Ernic
