This discussion prompted me to read again a book I read a couple of years ago: HOW EQUAL TEMPERAMENT RUINED HARMONY (AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE), by Ross W. Duffin, Norton, NY, 2007. Duffin and Benade were colleagues. Duffin is a professor of Early Music. Trying to wrap my brain commas and the "wolf" and the difference between a Ab and G#, always with the idea in mind of tuning a chanter to drones, it would appear that an important aspect, perhaps even an advantage, to the keyless chanter is that you can tune it more closely to the drones because you have fewer compromises to make, because the chanter is designed to play, basically, in one key.
It would be very interesting if one of the pipemakers lurking here would comment on the above. Is my speculation correct? There is another book, TEMPERAMENT: THE IDEA THAT SOLVED MUSIC'S GREATEST RIDDLE (2001) which I also read. Along with finding it nearly useless as a player an instrument with Just Intonation, the author draws some very extravagent conclusions and makes some historical errors. On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 6:03 AM, Francis Wood <oatenp...@googlemail.com> wrote: > Glad you also think it's good, Bob. > > A little background on Benade here: > > http://acousticalsociety.org/about/awards/gold/12_10_10_benade > > https://ccrma.stanford.edu/marl/Benade/BenadeHome.html > > What I like is that the material links the theoretical aspects of acoustics > to the practical ways in which instruments actually behave - as well as the > modifications which players like to undertake. > > His other excellent book is 'Horns, Strings and Harmony', a rather more > populist work. Despite the title, there's a good bit about woodwind, > including his design for a multi-keyed flute made out of tubing and bits of > tin can. A keen maker, though not a craftsman; he wanted to see how things > could be made to work and how they could be modified to work better. > > Francis > On 11 Feb 2011, at 13:44, BobG wrote: > >> Francis, >> Thanks for the ref to Arthur Benade's book. I've just bought it, and first >> indications are that it is excellent! >> Bob >> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Francis Wood" <oatenp...@googlemail.com> >> To: <julia....@nspipes.co.uk> >> Cc: "Dartmouth NPS" <nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu> >> Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2011 2:38 PM >> Subject: [NSP] Re: Tuning/pitch >> >> >>> >>> >>> On 10 Feb 2011, at 13:43, Julia Say wrote: >>> >>>> a small depression could surely catch a sound >>>> wave at a funny angle and cause it to behave in a less than theoretically >>>> perfect >>>> manner >>> >>> It's really much more like the effect caused by a tiny irregularity in a >>> tooth. It seems massively more important than it actually is. >>> >>> There's absolutely no possibility of "theoretically perfect" behaviour in a >>> woodwind bore, so consequently these insignificant irregularities cannot >>> possibly disturb such perfection. >>> Practically speaking (unless one is unbelievably expert) the factors >>> influencing sound waves in an NSP bore are a good mixture of the laws of >>> Physics and Sod's Law. In varying proportions, obviously. >>> >>> I don't think I've seen Arthur Benade's Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics >>> mentioned in this forum. I certainly can't claim to know it well, or to >>> understand most of it. But I think it is one of the best regarded textbooks >>> on musical acoustics written by a first class scientist who also enjoyed >>> making musical instruments (especially wind) when he wasn't busy with the >>> day job. >>> >>> I'm mentioning this here because it's a book I turn to in curiosity when >>> the behaviour of woodwinds is in question. >>> >>> Francis >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> To get on or off this list see list information at >>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> >> >> >> > > > >
