So that is why my pipes always sound out of tune, and I thought it was just poor musicianship on my part! I have just checked out the deviation on my pipes with a tuner on my Iphone. Very interesting results. I offset the tuner to A398, so that the needle would hold still on the G. I did not use a mamoneter and I rounded out the notes to the nearest five cents. There was some correlation with Mike Nelson's chart, but also some serious differences. The b above g was approx ten cents flat, the upper B more than 25 cents flat. The upper A is 20 cents sharp, which explains why the B always sounds so flat and I try and compensate with the bag. Now my e and f#s are both on the sharp side which is the opposite to Mikes chart. I can see that I need a new chanter, but my question is, why not use equal temperament Now I can see why the fifths on the drones should be tuned pure, but in equal temperament the fifth would only beat one time in two and a half seconds, which is hardly noticeable. Is it so bad to have a little beating on the third and sixth with the drones? It is not like we can play chords on the chanter, unless it is with another set of pipes. Every one else in the world pretty well plays to equal temperament and also use tuning machines to verify their results. I am aware of perfect pitch but never having just intonation. That is very interesting. The whole tuning thing is a bit of a quagmire, and as a solo instrument it is not a problem, but I would like to know how people get around it in recording sessions.
Chris Gregg ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <[1][email protected]> Date: Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 2:40 AM Subject: [NSP] Re: Esoteric tuning relationships To: [2][email protected], [3][email protected] Btw, Rob Say's nsp simulator is in equal temperament. I've discussed this with him and he agrees that it's less than ideal but it's neverthless a good starting point for beginners - which was what is was intended to be. When it tells you that, for example, the G and D drones are in tune, the d is still slightly (2 cents) flat relative to the G, but the just increment is not available - next click and it's sharp. Add the B on the chanter to the "in tune" fifth and you get an equally tempered G major triad, which is OK on a percussion instrument like the piano, where inharmonicity (q.v.) is part of the basic sound anyway and the sound mercifully decays fairly rapidly, but it sounds jarring to the ears of, for example, a sensitive piper or string-player. I hope I can feel confident that Rob will not object to my taking his name in vain. Csirz P.S. Have any fiddlers/violinists out there wondered why it's so difficult to sound in tune in C major - especially if there are lots of double stops and chords (e.g. Paganini's 11th caprice to take an obvious example <g>)? It's because you have to decide at any point whether you want/need to be in tune with the G string or the E string. To be in tune with both, you have to temper (narrow) your fifths, and then the fifths sound rongue. The chord GEbe (open G, first finger E+b, open e) (not encountered in said caprice, btw) is impossible to get in tune unless you tweak the finger sharp as you pass from the E to the b. Anyone really interested should look up "syntonic comma" (which is the difference between five perfect fifths (= open strings of viola + violin) and two octaves and a pure major third). It's the reason why guitarists with sensitive ears are never happy with the tuning of the G and b strings (and why you can't tune the fifth fret harmonic on the b string to the fourth fret harmonic on the g string - although many try to!). Once you've got used to hearing/listening to pure intervals, you realise that these are by no means dry, academic, theoretical considerations. If you haven't yet acquired the taste, you have a treat in store. Go for it. I was actually born with just intonation ears - so my music teacher at school told me (or words to that effect). C To get on or off this list see list information at [4]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- [5]http://www.tuneit.ca -- References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 5. http://www.tuneit.ca/
