Tune that Harp in a Casket

Ahhh, blogging. I remember when I first heard the term. ?? !! ?? !! It was the thing to do, so I started a blog...back in '05. Who's got time to write? Who take time to read? All too busy on facebook.

I never quite got it I guess, yet all this is here to mull over. My Journal.

My lonely adventures into the actual world of musical sound continue. Only now I'm doing the unthinkable. TUNING PIANOS !!

Aren't pianos the enemy? The reason for Temperament? Well it's not so much the system of hammers and dampers that keep the pure music from singing off those harps strings...it's simply the manner in which they have been mis - tuned.

I am experiencing JOY when I sit down at my Salvation Army special "JUST TUNED PIANO" organic, no preservatives!

What a difference a few cents here and there make!

If we start with the famous "C" on the piano forte and consider it to be "0 cents". We tune "G" to 700 cents. there are 1200 cents in the 12 T E T system. Here are the cent values for my MODERN JUST TUNING.

C= 0

F= 500

G= 700

C=1200

D=193

E= 386

A= 886

B = 1086

F#= 586

Eb=314

Ab= 814

Bb= 1014

Db= 214

IDEALLY an instrument which could produce 36 tones per octave would provide full and free movement.

12 TET @ 0 cents

12 TET @ +14 cents

12 TET @ -14 cents

If one could choose one of these with a piano key, then both purity in harmony and modulation would be easily achieved.

What this tuning provides harmonically is PURE C Major, PURE Ab Major, PURE C minor, G Major, with a narrow 2nd, F Major with a wider 4th, Eb Major with another unique feature. The list goes on...and the exciting thing is, every KEY is a little DIFFERENT. Fresh intervals that our ears are longing to hear. What it means is a piano that will stay "just tuned" for a lot longer.

I'll explore this in further detail in future posts.

take care