On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 01:37, <[email protected]> wrote: > Well there's nothing wrong in being reminded of how people used to think. > But what was done for centuries isn't often what is correct - which is why > being objective is the best way to go. >
Real (mathematically) just playing can only be accomplished within a very narrow frame within a certain key, and even a lot of simple children songs will step outside this frame momentarily, creating problems if you want to tune every single interval "right" and still end up where you left. For me we're no better of than they were, and there has been no real progress in tuning. Just change. (these two concepts seem to get mixed up a lot) Tuning in the 18th century evolved together with the music to play in as much keys as possible and still have as many intervals as possible really well tuned. An impossible task, and the extensive studies into ways to accomplish this ended up with some extremely well thought-out, rich and interesting tuning systems that gave each key a unique sound. When composers started to modulate "around the clock" instead of back and forth*, equal tuning was the way to go. (or is it the other way round and did equal tuning start the modulation madness? ;) ) I'm not sure we're better of, have "advanced" or are doing "what is correct" in having this system now where every single key has the same murky brownish-grey color and there is not a single interval really in tune. It is just _a_ way to solve a bunch of problems and I don't think you can objectively decide which is the best way. Michiel van der Linden Bruges, Belgium * For the uninitiated: baroque and classical composers would start in a certain key, lets say C maj., and then move to other keys closely related, like those with one more flat or sharp, or to the minor parallel of the main key etc. They would repeat this proces a few times and would then move back down the ladder they created, back to C. Romantic composers started to make bolder leaps to other keys and would sometimes continue jumping, until at the end they ended up not in C but in B sharp. On the piano it's the same key, but if you do the maths it's a completely different one. _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
