On this issue, I would have to admit that there are no perfect
solutions  for keyboard instruments because dividing up the
octave no matter how it's  done shows the deficiency somewhere.
Perfect solutions don't exist, but the  issue of temperaments and
congregational singing were handled by keyboard  musicians 
through out the history of organ playing. Keys were very carefully  chosen
for hymns. and probably accompaniments were improvised,  parallel
fifths and octaves avoided, and "close" keys favored. Many of  the
older organs in Europe are still tuned in their original  temperaments,
and still used to this very day to accompany congregational  singing.

This skirts the major issue, organs contain mixture work,  mutations,
reeds, as well as individual tone families: Flutes, Principals,  hybrid
string tone. The harmonics of individual stops as well as the build  up
using over tone stops and mixtures and the blaze of sounds  reeds
produce have a chance of sounding clearer and better in  temperaments
other than ET. Why? They are much closer to being in tune  with
natural harmonic over tones found in natural pipe speech, which is my  point.
People who claim the organ is too loud are actually reacting to  clashing
natural harmonics, to the forced closure found in ET. No matter  how
perfect the tuner works to perfect tune to unison it's still out of  tune
to the natural harmonics of natural pipe overtones. Old masters  knew
good tone didn't come cheap, and stuck with temperaments for that  reason
alone. Thus a flawed system made better, bugs and all.

I tuned  a unit organ in Vallotti with derived mutations including a derived
tierce  and nazard sounded much more acceptable. Why? They were
more closely aligned  with the natural over tones found in pipe speech,
and could actually work in  the ensemble, and sound amazingly good.
This vindicated my theories about  natural harmonics of unison pipe 
speech and unified mutations and wired  mixtures. The transformation
worked and beautifully so. Most of us have never  had the luxury during
our playing years of playing on anything but small unit  organs, or 
organs with unit mutations. I didn't even have to be careful  about choosing
keys for hymns. That told me I was right all along, I had my  proof.
Was it perfect? The answer is no, just better.

Ron Severin 
 

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