Re: [Harp-L] tuning - piano octaves stretched

["Doug" <mr4chnt@xxxxxxxxx>]

Iceman,

This is very interesting (about piano octave stretching) and new to me.  Would the middle be at 440, the low end at 439 and the high end at 441?  Over the 88 notes on the piano about how much would the total stretch be?    Am I misunderstanding? 

Is this technique applicable to the harmonica?  Would it help improve major chords on an ET harmonica or make them worse?

Sorry for the barrage of questions.

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: icemanle@xxxxxxx 
  To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Sunday, November 01, 2009 7:18 PM
  Subject: Re: [Harp-L] tuning



   A good read and very accurate. Well documented, etc. Of particular interest is the section on stretching the octave tunings. I didn't find a reason for this listed in this article, so will put forth what I learned concerning stretching octaves from my piano experience. Remember, this is all based on piano tunings.

  When octaves are tuned without stretching, the human ear seems to hear the upper octave note as though it were a bit flat. This isn't an acoustic science experience, but rather a human one. The stretch was introduced to give the ear the illusion that the octave note is in tune. When played together, you can still hear beating because the octave isn't really tuned pure, but at perfect imperfect octave intervals. However, the upper notes on a piano don't sustain very long, so an untrained ear really doesn't hear the pulsing. Also, in real music, you very rarely would sustain octaves like this very long. 

  Stretching as you extend down into the bass section gives the fourths and fifths a chance not to "roll" or "beat" as much, since in 12 tone ET these intervals are also tuned as squeezed or altered from pure. My technique was to tune lower octaves so that, when sustained, they would slowly roll open but never complete a full beat. It also helped give the piano more depth on the low end.
  /listinfo/harp-l