Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 19:17:56 -0400
Subject: Re: [CB] [CB Digest]
From: Timothy J Tikker
On Saturday, October 9, 2004, at 06:30 PM, List Server
wrote:
> Willard Martin made a harpsichord with nineteen notes per
octave.
> It was intended for playing a twelve note
scale, but with split
> keys for modulations. He had interchangeable
keyboards with
> normal key and octave spacing, but with different sets of
seven
> notes split for playing in different keys. The
strings had to be
> re-tuned for the keyboard configuration, but one has to
tune a
> harpsichord daily anyway. I found that this keyboard
made the
> most sense to me after a year of Werckmeister and a
lifetime of WT.
Xenharmonikon magazine years ago had an article & cover
photo re a clavichord with 19 tones per octave. There were sharps
above the naturals, and flats below! It looked beautiful, though
obviously would require extending one's usual keyboard technique...
- Tim Tikker
---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 19:22:51 -0400
Subject: Re: [CB] [CB Digest]
From: Timothy J Tikker
On Saturday, October 9, 2004, at 06:30 PM, List Server
wrote:
>>> Just try building a piano or organ that allows you
to shift notes.
We could mention again the Fisk organ at Stanford
University. The Brustwerk manual has the split accidentals I
mentioned earlier, but the other three manuals and pedal allow choosing
between two different tunings: meantone (I think 1/5-comma) and a
well-tempered system. This is accomplished by providing two
completely different sets of accidentals pipes. A large lever
above the console allows one to choose between the two. Thus the
organ has 17 tones per octaves in these divisions. I believe the
Brustwerk only has the 1/5-comma meantone, just with the split keys.
The organ was built just 20 years ago. There are various
recordings of it...
- Tim Tikker
---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2004 11:01:30 -0500
From: Chip Owen
Subject: Re: [CB] [CB Digest]
While we're bringing up keyboard solutions to tuning, we
shouldn't forget Mersenne.
Mersenne discusses several organ keyboards for the purposes of
perfecting tuning. In addition to two versions of 12 semitone
octaves, he also describes keyboard with 17 keys, two with 19 keys, a
"perfect keyboard" with 27 keys to the octave and, a "very perfect
keyboard" with 32 steps to the octave.
The problem with all various tuning systems is that they seek to
make perfect something that can't be made perfect. Perhaps it
might have been possible at one time when instruments needed to play
only in a single mode. It's not going to happen with any modern
omnitonic instrument. It's an interesting subject that provides
more proof of the intimate relationship between music and mathematics.
Chip Owen
***End of Contrabass Digest***