> And I'm sorry, but I find that much of the ET repertoire played in well
> tempered tunings only sounds bizarre.
Agreed, but only if we limit this statement to acknowledge that not all
these "well tempered tunings" are the same as one another. I'd say only
that MOST of those temperaments that we typically encounter today are
somewhat problematic in that regard, not because they're unequal, but
because their inequalities are poorly balanced. The basic problem is
that tonal music going beyond two or more flats starts to sound
especially misshapen and (frankly) ugly. That's tied to layouts where
the interval Ab-C is wider than E-G#. They tend to have the flats tuned
too low to serve well as tonics.
I've analyzed this problem, providing measurements from a 1/6 comma
standard, and commenting further about those practical and theoretical
aspects of tonality. That's especially in the May 2005 printed half of
this paper:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/outline.html
and with some additional remarks (and a graph) in its follow-up:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/clavichord.html
That is: not all those so-called "good temperaments" (being more
grammatical than "well-temperaments") are stuck with the problem of
having Ab-C wider than E-G#. Some of them have those two intervals the
same size as one another, and some of them have E-G# a bit wider than
Ab-C.
> [snip]
> Has no one mentioned that NONE of these unequal tunings
> were meant to be used for congregational and/or choral
> accompaniment [end snip]
Take a look at Sorge's 1758 temperament that was specifically advertised
for _Chorton_ organs (i.e. accompanying both these types of singing).
It has a terrific sound, with resonances in the simple keys based in 1/6
comma practices, but enough adjustment elsewhere that all the other keys
also work nicely. It has no problems with going beyond two flats, or to
any number of sharps either; and it doesn't sound like these typically
"bizarre" well-temperaments either, but rather very moderate and congenial.
My setup instructions for it are here (partway down the page):
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/practical.html
and it's also discussed in more detail in that same paper, comparing it
with other temperaments around it:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/outline.html
Yes, I've also considered Vallotti's temperament, plus the two much
later ones by Young that have patterns related to it in two different
ways. A bunch of others, too.
But this Sorge 1758, and another somewhat similar 1/6 and 1/12 comma
system that I believe was Bach's before that (itself the main focus of
my papers, by a series of historical and practical inferences...), both
give smoother musical effects than those Youngs, or Vallotti, or equal.
They chart a course down the middle, where the flat keys do better,
and where there is enough expressive variety to be interesting. Their
sharps are tuned high enough to serve smoothly as flats.
Bradley Lehman
http://www.larips.com
http://www.last.fm/music/Bradley+Lehman/+albums
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/cd1002.html
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/cd1003.html
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/cd1001.html
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