Ah...I see what you mean Andrew! In reply to Rainer, Martin and Martyn: perhaps I'm being incredibly naive, but I've always managed to tune octaves and unisons on my theorbo with no beating, whether or not I set the frets equal or to some variety of meantone. Of course I don't count, for example, g-sharp to a-flat as an octave or unison. I simply stick on tastino if I need a different note, or use alternate fingerings if I'm playing continuo. Do you really suggest that one should tune, for example, the 6th course so that it beats with the 1st and 13th when using temperaments other than equal? Perhaps we misunderstood each other?
All the best, Sam 2008/10/4 Andrew Gibbs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > You're right - it's not a circular process if the fretting system has > been worked out properly. As I said, I've been using David van > Ooijen's instructions for tuning in 1/6 comma and it's a straight- > forward process. > > But I was referring to the historical instructions found on the LSA > Fret Placement Chart, which (no disrespect to the Ancients) haven't > been passed down to us 100% accurately. So there's some to-ing and > fro-ing between frets and open strings to figure out that Gerle, for > instance, was aiming at approx. 1/6 comma. Obviously, having > established this, I don't need to repeat the process - I can just > tune straight to 1/6 comma... > > > On 3 Oct 2008, at 23:39, Sam Chapman wrote: > >> In any tempered fretting system that's been worked out properly you >> need to first set the frets, then tune the strings to each other in >> perfect octaves or unisons, since these intervals must be pure in all >> schemes. If this doesn't work and your lute sounds out of tune, then >> the fret placement has been wrongly calculated. There should be no >> need for a "circular process" (unless you're interested in inventing a >> new temperament by trial and error). > > > -- > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > -- Sam Chapman Oetlingerstrasse 65 4057 Basel (0041) 79 530 39 91
