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To: algore

“He worked with unequal temperaments (like well-tempered tuning)”

How is music played when a nonstandard temperament is used? A piano is always tuned to the standard, isn’t it? If not, music would sound different and unpleasant if played in different keys.


54 posted on 12/09/2025 7:51:09 AM PST by cymbeline
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To: cymbeline

you can tune a piano any way you want but you cannot tuna fish.

pianos back when Bach was writing were not common, he wrote much of his stuff for harpsichord and organ.

There are organizations like the academy for ancient music that specialize in using period instruments and sometimes with period tuning. It sounds quite different.

I asked a random AI if you could do this with a modern synth and it said

Yes, you absolutely can and should tune a harpsichord to a Bach-period temperament (unequal temperament) to hear how Bach intended, using specific “recipes” like Vallotti or Kirnberger, rather than modern equal temperament, which makes keys sound distinct, but it requires specialized apps or tuning by ear with a tuner for those specific intervals, not reprogramming electronics.

Digital keyboards can often switch temperaments, but a physical harpsichord needs manual adjustment for each string to achieve these historical settings, following patterns that vary by key.


56 posted on 12/09/2025 8:19:07 AM PST by algore
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