Re: [Harp-L] tuning

[fjm <bad_hat@xxxxxxxx>]

Michelle points you in some very good directions.  This is a very 
subjective area. JI and ET are good for different things.  My personal 
preference is towards JI and I haven't had people come up to me after a 
gig to let me know how badly intoned I was.  Maybe they're just being 
polite?  19 limit JI is a good compromise between 12T ET and some of the 
more extreme versions of JI like 7 limit.  Although 7 limit is really 
good for what it's good for like playing blues from a certain era.

Not that this answers your question but here's my suggestion.  Buy a 
nice old Marine Band manufactured prior to the second world war.  Play 
it for about a year and see what it is you figure out from that 
experience.  There's an entire world of sound there and a lifetime of 
learning.

12T ET can sound wonderful given the right tuning.  Harmonic minors are 
not nearly as jarring chorded in 12T ET as they are in a major key.  7 
limit has a certain harshness in 3rd position, 19 limit sounds a lot 
better in 3rd to my ear.  The classic complaint about the very flat 5 
and 9 draw notes in a 7 limit JI isn't as black and white as it may seem 
at first listen.  Sure if you play those notes open against other 
instruments you'll sound very very flat.  The trick is in figuring out 
how to play them and not sound so very very flat.  fjm