Re: [Harp-L] OB's/Intonation

[Paul Bowering <paul_bowering@xxxxxxxxx>]

George Brooks mentioned an intonation threshold. This
is the most pertinant consideration. How much; how
often. While I may not agree with the conclusions of
the original post, the questions which led to it are
entirely legitimate. 

I'm in the camp that prefers soul to technical
perferction. Still, I wonder what is within acceptable
limits. I think the comparison to intonation
difficulties on trumpet or upright bass or chromatic
is valid. If so, then let us ask how much slack is
given these instruments. Each instrument will be more
or less precise than another but all will need to be
at least close enough to be musically pleasing and to
play with those other instruments.

It's not good enough to say this is a work in
progress. Many of the OB guys have been using the
technique for a decade. Now they might spend a
lifetime refining and getting better which would be
okay but if they're not up to performance level by now
then maybe they should reconsider the technique's
value. (Let me stress that I'm not making such a
claim; just posing the question. del Junco is one of
my favourites players. I must admit that I haven't
evaluated his intonation but if he's an example of
poor overbend intonation then it hasn't bothered me.)

Most of the posts so far have come down firmly on one
side of the debate or the other. I'd like to ask what
the listers consider in the ballpark of decent or
accetable intonation in cents. If our playing is near
this mark then yes, keep working at it and improve. It
doesn't have to be perfect, just musical. Maybe Cletus
has perfect pitch or is just too picky. (What do you
think of out of the box SP20 which have a Blow 2 that
is 12 cents flat of 12TET?) 

On the other hand, a note that is 40 cents flat will
be noticable to all listeners. If years of practice
will only improve this to 30 cents shy then it won't
ever be accepted by other musicains. And Miles still
played more 'on' notes than 'off' ones. How do we
stack up?

Paul





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