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Re: A = 440 Hz OR 432 Hz?



In early Medieval times perfect fifths and fourths were prevalent. Pythagorean temperament, with its pure fifths, works well for this music. With the advent of tertial based music, forms of meantone temperament allowed for thirds which were pure or much closer to pure. To state the obvious, it depends a lot on what kind of music is being played which temperament is best. With the kind of key modulation used in the 19th century, they had no recourse but equal. It is quite something how the ear will adapt though.
On the Renaissance lute, it amazes me how it just happens to work out that moving frets about (6 comma meantone) works out across all strings. I use a "tastini", little fret just for two strings, for sharps (which are lower than flats) below the first fret. Some gamba players split the first fret for sharps and flats. Others, particularly continuo players, just make sure they play the sharp in another position. But there really are very few problems for the prevalent keys.

I'm very anxious to explore the temperament Per was describing in Logic that shifts depending on the tonal center. 

On Nov 17, 2012, at 3:38 AM, astralmnemonics@gmail.com wrote:

church organ, violin/viol family, choral, orchestra(if no piano involved)
 none of those play in equal temperament, and they aren't known for out of tuneness.
 It's a "textbook/academic thing" that equal temperament is(or was ever) ubiquitous,
 not even Bach used it.