Pianotech

We occasionally get subjects in these threads dealing with historic temperaments, sometimes referred to in an abbreviated way as unequal temperaments. There were hundreds of historic temperaments in use that easily date back four or five hundred years, even as our modern Equal Temperament standard (12 TET based on the octave) was also being investigated. These historic temperaments were all intended for fretted string instruments and fixed keyboard instruments, not for violins, violas, and such. And while all the historic temperaments were based on a pure octave, they tempered the other intervals in a myriad of different ways.

I want to recommend the videos of Dr. Alice M. Chuaqui Baldwin as a very good introduction to the historic temperament topic. It still takes an effort (for me at least) to follow all that she is presenting/teaching, but for those interested in the topic I recommend them. Learn about enharmonics (only in an ET), the differences among genres of historic temperaments (mainly meantone and well temperaments), which are the more prominent historic temperaments, why the standardization on ET for pianos, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6iwiQwVUIc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=309gNT_72Nc&t=47s

Have you any other educational-oriented videos that you recommend, including maybe already previously posted here? Thanks. Regards, Norman.

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Norman Brickman
Potomac Piano Service
Potomac, Maryland
potomacpiano@verizon.net
https://potomacpiano.com
(301) 983.9321
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These essays span several Journal issues. They provide a lot of historical context which I found fascinating as the "world view" was so different from ours. More sensorial, less abstract; more tribal, less global. 

We (tuners) tend to consider tuning schematically, the way a physiologist might see the human body. But certainly in the past tunings held cultural significance, distinguishing one region from another, and could at times be subversive.

They start Here