On Tuesday 10 July 2001 13:54, you wrote:
> Wendy Galovich wrote:
> This is obvious if you're going to break the tempered scale down to that
> degree.
>
> Comment:
> 1. What is obvious?
..Uhhhh.. the statements you made in the paragraph to which I was responding:
that in a literal sense it is impossible to play *exactly* in, or tune an
instrument *exactly* to, equal temperament, because we aren't even capable of
hearing the minute differences in pitch to enable us to do that. At least
that is what I understood you to be saying, but if not, please correct me.
> 2. I didn't break anything down. The ratio 1.059 is by definition the
> interval of a semitone in the equal tempered scale. More about this
> later.
Ummmmm.. First, if you're going to quote me, I'd very much appreciate if
you'd do me the courtesy of including enough of the quote so that what I
originally said is clear. Maybe you misunderstood the context I was referring
to.. was that why you omitted the rest of the paragraph when you quoted me
above? Anyway, for clarity's sake, here it is again, this time in its
entirety. Especially pertinent to the point I was trying to make is the last
sentence:
"This is obvious if you're going to break the tempered scale down to that
degree, but it doesn't address the context of my original comment, which was
a response to your assertion about fiddlers playing, as you said, "out of
tune". From the perspective of common sense it's clear that in that context
we must necessarily speak of tempered or alternate scales as far as they are
discernible *by the human ear*."
When I said "break the tempered scale down to that degree", I wasn't being
*literal*, but simply merely pointing out that the level of precision you're
referring to is overkill in a discussion that was originally about using
alternate scales in one's playing.
However, that doesn't mean it isn't useful information. I did very much enjoy
the refresher on string properties and equal temperament.. thank you for
posting that!
Wendy
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