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CONSIDERING TUNING: FROM BACH

TO 21ST CENTURY TRENDS

OCTAVIAN IACOB

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS

GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MUSIC

YORK UNIVERSITY,
TORONTO, ONTARIO
JUNE 2017

© Octavian Iacob, 2017

 ABSTRACT

This thesis is an exploration of instrumental tuning trends from Bach to

21st Century, considering different areas of musicological and acoustical studies.

While the introduction brings us in a tuning continuum with brief explanations

from the origins, the first chapter details the controversial acoustic theories of

Hermann Helmholtz and Bernhard Riemann over various tuning temperaments.

Considering baroque temperaments having a contoured profile in between all

historical tunings, the present work builds the special interest for the most

influential schemata, which impacted classic and contemporary tunings.

The second chapter makes a case for Werckmeister’s well-tempered

tunings and the mathematical approaches of historical temperaments during

Bach’s time.

The third chapter details the development of the equal tempered tuning

and the evolution from the meantone to classic or equal temperament

I plan to have a closer look into geometrical and mechanical approximations that

led to equal divisions.

The fourth chapter explores the immense spectrum of micro tunings and

digital technologies. At this point I want to underline the rapid ascension of

digital technologies emphasizing the latest discoveries of sound emulation

ii
methods and sample image engendering, drawing the line to inferring from

evidence and reasoning how the temperaments of the future might develop.

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my thanks especially to my supervisor Michael

Coghlan and my committee member Stephanie Martin. Your encouragement and

constructive leadership along the last two years were a real “positive

reinforcement” to my education development. I am so grateful for your decision

to supervise my work and I hope that I succeeded to reach the level expected of

me. Your suggestions and advice on the practical and theoretical related aspects

of this thesis, everything on the premises of your extensive experience as

accomplished musicians and university professors, were decisive in helping me

explore the musicology stream I am passionate about, acoustics.

Similarly, I would also like to thank York music librarian Rob van Der

Bliek for being my right hand in finding the right information, in the right place,

and at the right time. Your comments and kind suggestions played an important

role in helping me pursue this research and complete my thesis.

Mrs. Teresa Tilban-Rios deserves a special mention for her expertise and

professionalism. Thank you so much for your calm, patient, and detailed help

with the organizational aspects of our activity. Your patience and “endurance”

during this long process assured a good fundament for all students to be

successful.

Also, my thanks to all my colleagues and the participants in this research.

iv
A big part of what I accomplished here, is because of really good friends like

you!

Thank you all!

v
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT.............................................................................................. ii

Acknowledgments................................................................................ iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................ vi

LIST OF TABLES................................................................................. viii

LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................... ix

Chapter I: Introduction........................................................................ 1

1.1 Historical tunings......................................................................... 2

1.1.1 Pythagoras................................................................................. 2
1.1.2 Ditonic and syntonic comma…………………………………. 8
1.1.3 Aristoxenus……………………………………………..…….. 10
1.1.4 Claudius Ptolemy………………………………………..…..... 11
1.1.5 Didymus…………………………………………………......... 13
1.2 Meantone temperament……………………………………….… 14
1.2.1 Gioseffo Zarlino and Francisco de Salinas................................ 14
1.3 Regular and irregular meantone temperaments……………......... 18
1.3.1 Kirnberger, Valotti, and Werckmeister……….…………......... 19

Chapter II
2.1 Acoustic Theories of Hermann Helmholtz, Bernhard Riemann
and Max Planck…………………………………………………... 21

Chapter III
3.1 Temperament and tuning during Bach ………….................………. 29

vi
 3.2 Variations of Werckmeister well temperament…………………. 35
3.2.1 Werckmeister I………………………………………………… 35
3.2.2 Werckmeister II……………………………………………… 35
3.2.3 Werckmeister III ………………………................................... 36
3.2.4 Werckmeister IV (VI) ………………………………………... 37

Chapter IV

4.1 Equal Temperament. From Meantone Temperament to Equal

Temperament………................................................................. 40

4.2 Historical temperaments now and then......................................... 44

Chapter V

5.1 Other tunings and digital technologies......................................... 47

5.2 Creative approaches to temperament and tuning……………….. 47

5.3 The origins of microtonality and microtonal tuning…………..... 48

CONCLUSION…………….…………………………………………... 54

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................... 55

DISCOGRAPHY.……………………………………………………… 60

vii
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 1: Pythagorean pure fifths ……………………………………….. 3

TABLE 2: Ratio numbers powers of either two or three………………….. 5

TABLE 3: 13 Usual intervals of medieval music…………………………. 7

TABLE 4: List of frequencies and the distance between them

in cents.................................................................................. 17
TABLE 5: Differences in cents between different temperaments………… 18

TABLE 6: How close are temperaments to the perfect ratios?..................... 24

TABLE 7: ¼ comma meantone temperament…………………………….. 33

TABLE 8: The sizes of the major thirds and perfect fifths on each pitch…. 34

TABLE 9: The frequency chart for Werckmeister III…………………….. 36

TABLE 10: The sizes of the major thirds and perfect fifths on each pitch
(organized by the circle of fifths)…………………………. 37

viii
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1: The title page of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier

from 1722 …………………………………………………… 30

FIGURE 2: Lehman’s interpretation of the scroll; the same graphic

as in Fig. 1, turned upside down, with note names
above their respective loops…………………………………. 31

ix
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Music is a hidden arithmetical exercise of the soul who is unaware

that he/she is counting.
(Gottfried Leibnitz, Théodicée, Preface, 1710)

The tuning of musical instruments most probably developed concomitantly

with the creation of the instrument itself, or perhaps, it is as ancient as the first

attempts of forming a musical structures. Despite this reality, many people believe

that the concern with instrument tuning represents a fairly recent preoccupation

fostered by the enlightenment era and the industrial progress. There appears to be a

generalized opinion that a loss of relevance regarding historical tunings occurred

after the classical music period, or more immediately after the ascension of equal

temperament. Barbour states

if primitive man played upon an equally primitive instrument only two

different pitches, these would represent an interval of some sort — a major,
minor, or neutral third; some variety of fourth or fifth; a pure or impure
octave. Perhaps his concern was not with interval as such, but with the
spacing of sound holes on a flute or oboe, the varied lengths of the strings
on a lyre or harp.
(Murray J. Barbour, Tuning and Temperament,
a historical survey, 1951, pg.1)

Instrument tuning marks an important step up in human civilization being

one of the first endeavors to incipient universal culture, and on the other hand,

1
historical tunings represent the crucial ascendant level for understanding the basic

principles of tuning, and a major development towards the equal temperament.

My purpose in this paper is: 1) to present a brief historical tunings

chronology and brief description detailing of some major theoretical aspects; 2) to

consider how “alternate” tunings might influence contemporary instrumental

performance, and to what extent they could still be relevant in a very advanced

musical world with respect to the technical aspects of instrument construction,

recording, performing and sound engineering; 3) after grasping a good sense tuning

evolution, to infer from evidence and reasoning, how alternate tunings might

develop and evolve in the future.

1.1 Historical tunings

1.1.1 Pythagoras

A brief chronological description of the tuning history must consider

Pythagoras first. Before the invention of meantone tuning, which was the main

tuning schemata in Middle Ages, the French school of polyphony at Notre Dame

(13th and 14th centuries) followed an early medieval convention since Boethius

(4th century AD) in declaring that only a series of perfect or pure fifths could

generate a scale. Pythagoras innovations and his mathematical system of tuning

has had a profound influence upon both the antiquity and the modern world.

2
 Nowadays, having a broad picture of the tuning phenomenon, we can affirm

that a great many irregular temperaments were largely based on Pythagorean in

that they contain many pure fifths. These are not especially difficult to tune.

Considered in relation to the slightly narrow fifths of equal temperament, the pure

fifths are the first stage in the process of tuning a tempered instrument 1.

The Pythagorean temperament is based upon the octave and the fifth, the
first two intervals of the harmonic series. Using the ratios of 2:1 for the
octave and 3:2 for the fifth, it is possible to tune all the notes of the diatonic
scale in a succession of fifths and octaves, or, for that matter, all the notes
of the chromatic scale. Thus, a simple, but rigid, mathematical principle
underlies the Pythagorean tuning.
(Murray J. Barbour, Tuning and Temperament,
Introduction, 1951, pg.1)

Consequently, it is not only one of the easiest to tune by ear, but also it is

based on a mathematically demonstrations of simple ratios. Pythagorean tuning

determines all notes and intervals of a scale starting with the circle of pure on

untempered fifths, with a ratio of exactly 3:2. To acquire a complete chromatic

scale of the kind common on keyboards as early as 13th century, a series of 11

perfect fifths should be displayed where the originating point is middle D:

Table 1: Pythagorean pure fifths

Eb Bb F C G D A E B F# C# G#

1
When a tempered instrument (piano, keyboard, organ) is tuned, firstly the fifths are made pure (no acoustic
beats), and secondly, they are narrowed by an equal part of the Pythagorean comma.

3
 Tuning a series of pure fifths reveals the one potential pitfall of this

system, in that the fourth or fifth between the extreme notes of the series, Eb-Ab,

an extremely out of tune interval. This fifth, called in the plastic and colourful

language of intonation, the "wolf" interval, has strong acoustic beats which

simply cannot be ignored. The explanation is based on the fact that 12 perfect

fifths do not round off to precisely a pure octave interval, but exceed it by a small

acoustic difference known as the Pythagorean comma2.

Another stage up trying to understand the implications of an un-equal

tuning, is the frequency of using a “wolf interval” in practical music. Gracefully,

the last fifth of the circle in Pythagorean tuning, the Eb-G# (or enharmonically

Ab) was rarely used together as a blocked interval in early medieval harmony,

either because it was purposely avoided, or the development stage of music theory

was still in progress. Even both reasons might be taken into consideration simply

because in that period of music history, this was hardly a practical problem.

All intervals have small integer ratios3 based on the powers of two and

three. The following table shows the Pythagorean tuning being a just-intonation

2 Pythagorean comma is the small interval existing in Pythagorean tuning between two enharmonically

equivalent notes such as C and B♯, or D♭ and C♯. The fractional ratio it is equal to the frequency ratio
531441:524288, or approximately 23.46 cents, roughly a quarter of a semitone (in between 75:74 and 74:73).
This is the comma which musical temperaments often refer to as the one to temper, the Pythagorean comma.
The Pythagorean comma can be also defined as the difference between a chromatic and a diatonic semitone,
as determined in Pythagorean tuning, or the difference between twelve just perfect fifths (3/2) and seven
octaves (2/1).
3
Whole number ratios can be expressed by small-integer ratios, such as 1:1 (unison), 2:1 (octave), 3:2
(perfect fifth), 4:3 (perfect fourth), 5:4 (major third), minor seventh (16:9). In tuning and temperament, those
intervals with small-integer ratios are called just intervals, or pure intervals.

4
scale on a series of perfect fifths, all the ratio numbers powers of either two or

three:

Table 2: Ratio numbers powers of either two or three

Pitch: C C# D Eb E F F# G G# A A# B C

Ratios 1/1 2187/2048 9/8 32/27 81/64 4/3 729/512 3/2 128/81 27/16 16/9 243/128 2/1

Cents: 0 113.7 203.9 294.1 407.8 498 611.7 702 792.2 905.9 996.1 1109.8 1200

From that point of view, the Pythagorean tuning is a form of just intonation based

on the numbers three and nine. In fact,

Pythagorean tuning is described in the medieval sources as being based on

four numbers: 12:9:8:6. Jacobus of Liege (c. 1325) describes a
"quadrichord" with four strings having these lengths: we get an octave
(12:6) between the outer notes, two fifths (12:8, 9:6), two fourths (12:9,
8:6), and a tonus or major second between the two middle notes (9:8).
(from www.medieval.org/Pythagorean tuning/Basic concepts -
http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/harmony/pyth2.html)

This scale was relevant for a musical period in which perfect fifths, fourths

and octaves were the dominant sonority, and in which the other intervals like

thirds were theoretically considered dissonances and consequently avoided at

final cadences. Taking into consideration the austere sonorities created by using

mostly perfect intervals, it is easy to understand why pitches like C#, F#, and G#

5
appeared rarely, and in relation to other “pure pitches” they even received a

certain mystical connotation.4

The remaining “room” in the octave leads to other intervals that could be

subtracted from these basic intervals, revealing in an early medieval music

background, an explicit image of interval ratios with both practical and theoretical

aspects. The differences between primary intervals and the octave procues the key

for calculating the rest of intervals.

The following table demonstrates the relation between standard intervals of

Pythagorean tuning except the pure unison (1:1) and octave (2:1), and the

mathematical calculated perfect ratios. Those intervals are derived primarily from

the circle of pure fifths (3:2), thus having ratios which are powers of 3:2. Here

follows chart of the 13 common intervals of medieval music from unison to

octave as listed by Anonymous I around 1290, and by Jacobus of Liege in 1325.

4
The tritone interval surnamed “Diabolus in musica” is a restless interval, classed as a perfect dissonance in
the history of music from the early Middle Ages. It was treated with caution and frequently avoided in medieval
singing due to its dissonant qualities.

6
Table 3: 13 usual intervals of medieval music

Interval Ratio Derivation Cents

Unison 1:1 Unison 1:1 0.00

Minor Second 256:243 Octave - M7 90.22
Major Second 9:8 (3:2)^2 203.91
Minor Third 32:27 Octave - M6 294.13
Major Third 81:64 (3:2)^4 407.82
Fourth 4:3 Octave - 5 498.04
Augmented Fourth 729:512 (3:2)^6 611.73
Fifth 3:2 (3:2)^1 701.96
Minor Sixth 128:81 Octave - M3 792.18
Major Sixth 27:16 (3:2)^3 905.87
Minor Seventh 16:9 Octave - M2 996.09
Major Seventh 243:128 (3:2)^5 1109.78
Octave 2:1 Octave 2:1 1200.00

(from www.medieval.org/Pythagorean tuning/Basic concepts -

http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/harmony/pyth2.html)

In Pythagorean tuning the major thirds are a ditonic comma5 (about 1/9

tone) sharper than the pure thirds of the harmonic series.

The wide thirds do provide a compelling pull to the perfect fifths they
usually resolve outward to; that is, in a cadence typical of Guillaume de
Machaut (c. 1300-1377), a D and F# 408 cents apart will move outwardly to
C and G.
(Gann, Kyle, An Introduction to historical tunings –
http://www.kylegann.com/histune.html)

5
A ditone (or major third) is an interval formed by two major tones. In Pythagorean tuning, a major tone has a
size of about 203.9 cents (frequency ratio 9:8), thus a Pythagorean ditone is about 407.8 cents.

7
1.1.2 Ditonic and syntonic comma

The foundation of the Greek scale was the tetrachord, a descending series of
four notes in the compass of the modern perfect fourth. Most typical was
the Dorian tetrachord, with two tones and then a semitone, as A G F E or E
D C B. Two or more tetrachords could be combined by conjunction, as the
above tetrachords would be with E a common note. Or they might be
combined by disjunction, as the above tetrachords would be in reverse
order, with a whole tone between B and A. Tetrachord combined alternately
by conjunction and by disjunction correspond to our natural heptatonic
scale.
(Murray J. Barbour, Tuning and Temperament,
Greek tunings, 1951, Pg.15)

Greek music theory had three tuning genres—diatonic, chromatic, and

enharmonic, which are important for their influence on, and contribution to,

modern tunings. It is appropriate to consider Greek tetrachords since the main

consideration in interval tuning was the tetrachord and not the octave. A

tetrachord contains three intervals and four notes. The term literally means four

strings, a clear reference to instruments like harp, lyre, or kithara. The main

distinction between these three genera was defined by the largest of the three

intervals of the tetrachord.

A diatonic tetrachord contained two tones and a semitone variously

arranged, where the tone (approx. 200 cents in size) is the mark of the main and

most common genera. For the chromatic tetrachord, the characteristic interval is

the minor third with a size of approximately 300 cents. The enharmonic

tetrachord displays the characteristic interval of the ditone or the major third.

8
 In the chromatic tetrachord, the second string (as G) was lowered until the
two lower intervals in the tetrachord were equal. Thus, A G" F E represents
the process of formation better than the more commonly shown A F# F E.
In the enharmonic tetrachord the second string was lowered still further
until it was in unison with the third string; the third string was then tuned
half way between the second and fourth strings.
(Murray J. Barbour, Tuning and Temperament,
Greek tunings, 1951, Pg.15)

From the theorists of antiquity, Claudius Ptolemy presented the most

complete list of tunings, and advocated for them himself.6 His field research

suggested three enharmonic, eight chromatic, and ten diatonic tunings. Modern

music systems have been influenced by only two of these seventeen or eighteen

independent tunings - the third and fourth of Ptolemy's diatonic scales, commonly

called the "ditonic" and the "syntonic.”7 As a matter of fact, the first one, the

“ditonic” or “diatonic “(similar to Eratosthenes' diatonic), in reality is the

Pythagorean tuning, with the pair of equal tones forming a major third (ditone)

setting its characteristic name. The second one has a slightly larger stretch and is

the temperament known today as Just intonation.8

6 Claudii Ptolemaei Harmonicorum libri tres . Latin translation by John Wallis (London, 1699).

7
The syntonic comma, also known as the chromatic diesis, the comma of Didymus, the Ptolemaic comma, is a
small comma type interval between two musical notes, equal to the frequency ratio 81:80 (around 21.51 cents).
The comma is referred to as a "comma of Didymus" because it is the amount by which Didymus corrected
the Pythagorean major third (81:64, around 407.82 cents) to a just major third (5:4, around 386.31 cents).

8
The Pythagorean comma existing in Pythagorean tuning between two enharmonically equivalent notes such
as C and B♯ it is equal to the frequency ratio 531441:524288, or approximately 23.46 cents, roughly a quarter of
a semitone. The comma which musical temperaments often refer to tempering is the Pythagorean comma,
which can be also defined as the difference between a chromatic and a diatonic semitone, as determined in
Pythagorean tuning.

9
 With a piano keyboard tuned in equal temperament, a group of four

tempered fifths (700 x 4 = 2800 cents) is exactly equal to two octaves (1200 x 2 =

2400 cents) plus a major third (400 cents). Either variant we choose, starting from

a C, both combinations of intervals will finish at E. However, using justly tuned

octaves (2:1), fifths (3:2), and thirds (5:4) with no acoustic beats, will result in

two slightly different pitches with the ratio of (81:80) between their frequencies.

That very small interval called the syntonic comma (21.51 cents), is the most

important of the musical commas for the notation of musical intervals.

While the ditonic or pythagorean comma aids in the construction and

analysis of tuning systems, the Syntonic comma defines the way thirds are
notated in chords. The syntonic comma is defined as the difference between
a pythagorean major third (made from the difference twixt 4 just 3/2 perfect
fifths up and 3 octaves) and a 5/4 major third.
Brian McLaren, Encyclopedia of microtonal music theory,
http://www.tonalsoft.com/enc/s/syntonic-comma.aspx

1.1.3 Aristoxenus

Another seminal figure in the history of Greek tunings is Aristoxenus. His

theory opposed the opinion of Pythagoras’ disciples that arithmetic rules were

considered the ultimate judge for intervals and temperaments. The general idea of

antics that in every system there must be found a mathematical coincidence before

such a system can be said to be harmonic, influenced centuries of theoreticians

after that. Aristoxenus tried to find the answer to an essential question: Are the

10
mathematical calculations of theorists as important as the observations of

musicians themselves?

From very early in human history the abstract concepts of mathematics would

be perceived as different...or "too" pure in comparison with what human ear

eventually would admit to be logical.

In his second book Aristoxenus asserted that by the hearing we judge of the
magnitude of an interval, and by the understanding we consider its many
powers. The nature of melody is best discovered by the perception of sense,
and is retained by memory; there is no other way of arriving at the
knowledge of music.
(Sir John Hawkins, General history of the science and practice of music,
Chapter XIV, Pg.67, 1868)

Aristoxenus’ protest was focused mainly against the rigidity of

mathematical theories, and his specific conclusion was that the judgment of the

“musical” ear with regard to intervals was superior to mathematical ratios. From

the whole list of seven temperaments or scales proposed, he has one which is

composed of equal tones and equal halves of tones, fact that influenced the

sixteenth century theorists to sustain that he was in fact, the inventor of equal

temperament.9

1.1.4 Claudius Ptolemy

After these two antagonistic theories which had been more or less seeking

mathematical proofs, there was the third great figure in early tuning history,

9
'The fourth is two and a half tones' is exactly what Aristoxenus states at several places. The geometrical
methods instead of arithmetical methods, were the way he explained to his contemporaries about the harmonic
relationships as ratios, which is closer to the equal temperament

11
Claudius Ptolemy. For Ptolrmy the main concern was the agreement, or the

common ground, between music and mathematics. This was the right movement

for that generation, an excellent principle in tuning knowledge: the tuning is best

for which ear and ratio are in agreement. He advocated for understanding, and he

claimed that it is possible to reach harmony between mathematicians and

musicians. The need to announce the results and help other sciences to reach their

goals, probably would be a result of a compromise on both sides. This new

“friendly way” of different sciences of explaining the nature around us, was on

the opposite side with the aggressive and exclusivist methods.

To Ptolemy the matter was much simpler, a tuning was correct if it involves
tetrachords and octaves and used super-particular ratios, such as 5:4, 11:10,
etc., not to relate mathematics of music only with the specific ratio of 3:2 and
2:1 like in Pythagorean tuning. Ptolemy's syntonic diatonic has especial
importance to the modern world because it coincides with just intonation,
system founded on the first five intervals of the harmonic series—octave,
fifth, fourth, major third, minor third.
(Murray J. Barbour, History of tuning and temperament, 1951, Pg.2)

12
 1.1.5 Didymus

The "comma of Didymus" named after him, was the amount by which he

modified the size of the Pythagorean major third (81:64, around 407.82 cents) to a

just major third (5:4, around 386.31 cents). From his proposed temperaments,

Didymus' diatonic used the same ratios for his intervals, but in slightly different

structure. The antiquity schemata of just intonation, in either versions by Ptolemy

or Didymus, though unknown throughout the Middle Ages, was the aesthetic

ideal of the Renaissance theorists.

The just intonation temperaments of early medieval music were “comfortable”

for the unisonal Gregorian chant, because its small semitones are excellent for

melody composition and its sharp major thirds sounded satisfactory. When the

first incipient attempts at “harmony” produced the parallel octaves, fourths and

fifths of organum, Pythagorean tuning was secure continued in use for many

centuries.

Starting with Cantus Gemellus, thirds and sixths were freely used and they

were considered imperfect consonances rather than dissonances based on the

process of tempering. Didymus questioned whether these thirds and sixths were as

rough as they would have been in the strict Pythagorean tuning, and he begun the

process of softening or tempering of the Pythagorean major thirds. The just tuning

practice influenced many ancient musical cultures and is still used in our modern

times.

13
 1.2 Meantone Temperament

1.2.1 Gioseffo Zarlino and Francisco de Salinas

A very interesting study is represented by the history of the meantone

temperament, since various theorists in addition to Gioseffo Zarlino and Francisco

de Salinas had contradictory ideas as to the amount by which the fifths should be

tempered in order to save the purity of thirds. Another name to be mentioned here

is Silbermann, the baroque famous keyboard instruments builder. His

temperament of 1/6 comma for the fifths is the most important for modernity,

because it corresponds to the more conservative tuning practice during the time of

Bach and Handel, when new ideas and innovations were displayed to the eager for

new world.

References to tuning systems that are unquestionably referring to

meantone systems were published as early as 1496 (Gafurius) in Practica musica,

and 1523 (Aron), who describes the most appropriate tuning for organs being the

meantone temperament, which has every fifth tempered by 1/4 comma, or about

1/18 semitone. Consequently four fifths would produce a pure major third.10 This

temperament and its various modifications, was to be the strongest opponent of

Equal temperament, at least so far as the tuning for the keyboard instruments,

during the next two or three hundred years.

10
In meantone temperament, pure thirds were favored. Previous to meantone temperament, Pythagorean
tuning was primarily used where pure 5th were favored.

14
 From the middle of the sixteenth century, all the theorists agreed that the

fretted instruments, lutes and viols, were tuned in “equal temperament”, while

Vicentino made the first known reference to this fact, going so far as to state that

both types of instrument had been so tuned from their invention, and the fretted

instruments in general had always been tuned in equal temperament.

As for the keyboard instruments, Zarlino declared, that temperament was

as old as the complete chromatic keyboard and further on, Gafurius stated among

the eight rules of counterpoint that “organists assert that fifths undergo a small,

indefinite amount of diminution called temperament (participata). 11

Salinas (in De musica libra septum) presents three different meantone

temperaments: the 1/3 comma system (he is the likely the inventor of the 1/3

meantone system), the 1/4 comma system (the most common meantone

11 The tuning is to be made in three successive stages.

1. First, the major third, C-E, is to be made "sonorous and just." But the fifth C-G is to be made "a little flat."
Same idea for the fifth G-D, D-A and A-E.
2. In the second stage of tuning, the fifths F-C, Bb-F, and Eb-Bb are tempered exactly the same as the diatonic
fifths had been.
3. Finally, in the third stage, C# and F# are tuned as pure thirds to A and D respectively. The name "meantone"
was applied to this temperament because the tone, as C-D, is precisely half of the pure third, as C-E. Practically
when you tune an instrument in meantone temperament, you have to start with tuning four perfect fifths upward
from C, which produces a major third C-E that is wide by 21.5 cents, so in order to produce a perfect major third
C-E, these four fifths are each narrowed by one fourth of 21.5 cents = 5.375 cents. Then B is tuned up a perfect
major third from G, and F is tuned down a perfect major third from A, which should complete the naturals. Next
step is sharps which are tuned upward a perfect third, and flats which are tuned downward a perfect third. It can
be shown that tuning a G# up an perfect third is equivalent to continuing to tune up from E by using fifths each
narrowed by 5.375 cents:
E - B - F# - C# - G#
Similarly, tuning an A flat down a perfect third is equivalent to continuing to tune down from C by using fifths all
narrowed by 5.375 cents:
C - F - Bflat - Eflat - Aflat - Dflat
The discrepancy between an associated sharp and flat then is 21.5 (3) – 23.46 = 41 cents. Because this
temperament is regular, all associated sharps and flats differ by 41 cents (sharps are 41 cents flatter than
associated flats).

15
temperament), and the 2/7 comma system described in detail by him and Zarlino,

apparently independently. Zarlino called the meantone temperament a "new

temperament" and said that “it is very pleasing for all purposes when used on

keyboard instruments.”

(from Gioseffo Zarlino, Dimostrationi armoniche, Venice, 1571, p. 267)

Although meantone is best known as a tuning environment associated with

the earlier music of the Renaissance and Baroque, it continued to be used as a

keyboard temperament well into the middle of the 19th century. Meantone

temperament has had considerable revival for early music performance in the late

20th century and in newly composed works specifically demanding meantone by

composers including John Adams, György Ligeti, and Douglas Leedy. Further to

my previous affirmations, I want to propose a comparison between those tuning

systems.

16
 Table 4: List of frequencies and the distance between them in cents

(comparison of Equal, Pythagorean and Meantone temperaments)

Equal Temperament

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C

Cents 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200

Distance 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Meantone Temperament

C C# Db D D# Eb E F F# G G# Ab A A# B C

Cents 0 76 112 193 269 311 386 504 580 697 773 814 890 1007 1083 1200

Distance 76 112 117 81 75 118 117 76 118 76 117 76 117 117 76 117 76 117

in cents C-C# C-Db C#-D Db-D D-D# D-Eb D#-E Eb-E E-F F-F# F#-G G-G# G-Ab G#-A Ab-A A-A# A#-B B-C

Pythagorean Temperament

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C

Cents 0 112 204 316 386 498 603 702 814 884 1018 1088 1200

Distance 112 92 112 70 112 105 99 112 70 134 70 112

17
1.3 Regular and irregular meantone temperaments

Meantone temperaments in which the good fifths are all the same size

(except for the wolf fifth), such as Aaron, Salinas, Zarlino and Silbermann’s are

called regular, while the irregular meantone temperaments are characterized by

having more than one size of good fifths (and thus thirds) 12 such as Kirnberger,

Valotti, and Werckmeister.

Typical within the regular meantone temperament range is Silbermann's

(used in the high Baroque for organs) in which the fifths are tempered by 1/6 of a

syntonic comma or nearly four cents. The following table shows that the good

major thirds are about seven cents sharp and the good minor thirds about eleven

cents flat, and that the wolves are still present though a bit mellower.

Table 5: Differences in cents between different temperaments

Temperament Pythagoras Salinas Aaron Silbermann Equal

1/3 comma 1/4 comma 1/6 comma 1/11 comma
Fifth 0 -7.3 -5.5 -3.7 -2
Dim. sixth -24 +56.7 +36.5 +16.3 -2
Major third +22 -7.3 0 +7.3 +14
Dim. fourth -2 +56.7 +42 +27.3 +14
Minor third -22 0 -5.5 -11 -16
Aug. second +2 -64 -47.5 +31 -16
Diff. enharm. -24 +64 +42 +20 0

12
Irregular meantone temperaments are characterized by having no wolf intervals to limit modulation (as in the previous
temperaments except equal), and by having a more or less orderly progression in the acoustic quality of the triads.

18
 The second group of meantone temperaments, the irregular (also known as

well temperaments), which are now believed to have been very important in the

past (especially during the Baroque), have generally speaking, the ditonic comma

(-24 cents) distributed unevenly.13

1.3.1 Kirnberger, Vallotti, Werckmeister

Kirnberger's method of compensating for and closing the circle of fifths

was to split the "wolf" interval in half between two different fifths. That is, to

compensate for the one extra comma, he removed half a comma from two of the

formerly perfect fifths in order to complete the circle. In so doing, he allowed the

remaining fifths to stay pure.

Vallotti

Here, the comma is distributed equally to six consecutive fifths, those

involving no raised keys, the others being pure, while the major thirds vary from

not quite pure (six cents sharp) to Pythagorean, and similarly for the minor thirds.

Werckmeister

The three fifths between C and A are tempered in such a way to allow a

slightly wide major sixth, plus the other tempered fifth between B and F# closing

the circle. The fact that the tempered fifths are not consecutive makes this

13
Most of it is given to the fifths of the near keys, and little, if any, to the fifths of the remote keys (in some
cases, such as the French temperament ordinaire, the first fifths are tempered a bit too much, with the result
that the last fifths of the circle have to be a bit sharp).

19
temperament less symmetric and less unequal than the Kirnberger temperament,

even though the fifths are tempered essentially the same in both. More than that,

the pattern of the thirds and fifths is very similar to Vallotti's temperament.

20
 CHAPTER II

2.1 Acoustic theories of Hermann Helmholtz, Bernhard Riemann and Max Planck

In 1863 Hermann von Helmholtz, professor of physiology at the University

of Heidelberg and professor of physics at the University of Berlin, launched his

volume “On the sensations of tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of

Music”, the result of a research based on the attempt to connect the boundaries of

two sciences, music and acoustics. Beside his most significant developments in

physics and philosophy of science in the 19th century14, Hermann von Helmholtz

(1821–1894) achieved a staggering number of scientific results and his voice was

to be heard even in the domain of acoustics and music theory.

The acoustics constantly employs conceptions and names borrowed from

the theory of harmony, and speaks of the 'scale,' 'intervals,' 'consonances,'
the numbers of vibrations,' and fixes their 'ratios' for the different intervals.
(…) Physical knowledge may indeed have been useful for musical
instrument makers, but for the development and foundation of the theory of
harmony. It has hitherto been totally barren.
(Helmholtz, On the sensations of tone, 1895, pg.27)

The German scientist and philosopher of 19 th Century, raises the idea that

the scientific basis of music is to be found in the properties of vibrating, inert

14
His achievements underline the proof that Euclidean geometry does not describe the only possible visual and
physical space, and marked the shift from physics based on actions between particles at a distance to the field
theory.
His main scientific contributions were: the formulation of energy conservation, the vortex equations for fluid
dynamics, the notion of free energy in thermodynamics, and the invention of the ophthalmoscope.
His constant interest in the epistemology of science guarantees his enduring significance for philosophy, as
well.

21
bodies, such as strings, tuning forks, pipes, and membranes, and for the scientific

development level of those times, his researches were simply revolutionary.

The sensation of a musical tone is due to a rapid periodic motion of the

sonorous body; the sensation of a noise to non-periodic motions.
(Helmholtz, On the sensations of tone, Noise and musical tone,
The propagation of sound, 1895, pg.8)

He understood that the fundamental musical tones are sine waves of various

frequencies, and defined musical tones “as periodic vibrations of the air”, while

every other tone is merely a superposition of added-up sine waves, called

"overtones" or "harmonics." That being said, the next stunning discovery was the

consonant attribute of musical intervals determined by properties of the "overtone

series", which is simply called the whole-number ratios of pure sound

frequencies15.

These are all the consonant intervals which lie within the compass of an
Octave. With the exception of the minor Sixth, which is really the most
imperfect of the above consonances, the ratios of their vibrational numbers
are all expressed by means of the whole numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… This
relation of whole numbers to musical consonances was from all time
looked upon as a wonderful mystery of deep significance.
(Helmholtz, On the sensations of tone, pg.14, 15)

15 1 : 2 Octave
2 : 3 Fifth
3 : 4 Fourth
4 : 5 major Third
5 : 6 minor Third

When the fundamental tone of a given interval is taken an Octave higher, the interval is said to be inverted.
Thus a Fourth is an inverted Fifth, a minor Sixth ^ an inverted major Third, and a major Sixth an i nverted minor
Third. The corresponding ratios of the pitch numbers are consequently obtained by doubling the
smaller number in the original interval. From 2 : 3 the Fifth, we thus have 3 : 4 the Fourth, 4:5 the major Third,
5:8 the minor Sixth, 5:6 the minor Third, 6 : 10= 3 : 5 the major Sixth

22
 From this standpoint, the German scientist and researcher made the

assumption that the virtue of the whole numbers has a correspondent in the purity

of perfect intervals, or there is an obvious similitude in between them. Knowing

that any kind of temperament is in fact, a modification or a step aside from the

purity of a perfect interval, was not too difficult to “radicalize” the instrumental

tuning domain.

As a result, he found well-tempering and equal-tempering were so far away

from the “natural tuning” of whole-number ratios, and demanded that musicians

choose the original, the natural (in some cases even the Pythagorean

temperament), which acts much better on the account of the immaculacy for

perfect intervals, and not necessarily on the account of frequent modulations, and

not distant modulations.

An interesting comparison between Pythagorean, Well and Equal

temperament is found in the chapter XVI called The system of keys. Modulation

leads to Tempering the Intonation of the Intervals Pg. 312. Here, the author

militates for the general ideal of interval purity, explaining why certain intervals

are sounding better in a different instrumental temperament. For instance, on page

213 from the same writing, On the sensation of tone, he states that “The Thirds

and Sixths of the equal temperament are nearer the perfect intervals than are the

Pythagorean.”

23
Table 6: How close are temperaments to the perfect ratios?

Intervals Perfect Equally tempered Pythagorean

ratios cents ratios cents ratios cents

Semitone 16/15 182 18/17 100 256/243 90

Minor third 6/5 316 6/5x121/122 300 6/5x80/81 294

Major third 5/4 386 5/4x127/126 400 5/4x81/80 408

Minor sixth 8/5 814 8/5x126/127 800 8/5x80/81 792

Major sixth 5/3 884 5/3x122/121 900 5/3x81/80 906

This liberal philosophy of "natural tuning" or the return to the origins of

sound, owes its present power and influence in large part to the acoustical theories

of Hermann Helmholtz, the nineteenth-century physicist and physiologist.

His 1863 volume, Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen als physiologische

Grundlage für die Theorie der Musik (The Theory of the Sensations of Tone as a

Foundation of Music Theory) became, generally speaking, one of the standard

reference works on the scientific bases of acoustic and music, and remains

relevant in understanding different stages of tuning advancement in the history of

music.

Despite this acclaimed reputation, his postulates generated a fervent

scientific argument and controversy in his time, and continued from that point on.

One of the reasons for that amplification process would be the geometric

24
progression of scientific development of acoustics and physics in the 20 th

Century.

Nowadays, we understand a sound wave as an electromagnetic process

involving the rapid assembly and disassembly of geometrical configurations of

molecules, not only a “vibration of the air”. The notion of “soliton”16 or the

"Wave of Translation" in modern physics, demonstrates the moving of sound

waves through the air at a constant velocity. Although much more detailed

experimental work needs to be done, we know in principle that different

frequencies of coherent solitons correspond to distinct geometries on the

microscopic or quantum level of organization of the process. Moreover, any

attempt of temperament in human civilization we know, was a step up.

This was already indicated by the work of Helmholtz's contemporary,

Bernhard Riemann, who refuted most of the acoustic results of his colleague

mathematician in his 1859 paper on acoustical shock waves. He tried to explain

for example, from a modern point of view, why the sense of human hearing is so

accurate.

He therefore looked to the physical properties of the parts constituting the

human hearing organ which could be the scientific proof of its high level of

performance.

16
It was first described in 1834 by John Scott Russell (1808–1882) who observed a solitary wave in the Union
Canal in Scotland, and ulterior he reproduced the phenomenon in a wave tank.

25
 Describing the experiments that brought to the attention the high

sensitivity displayed by the ear in detecting sounds, he inquired into which means

made it possible to transform a sound wave into the refined perception of Die

Klang, while they keep intact the harmonic characteristics, now with standing

they had to amplify the sound strength scattered in the space.

It was in this context that Riemann carried out acoustical experiments

concerning the tempered tuning in comparison with “natural”, “pure” or “just”

scale. He tried to explain why musicians prefer the tempered versions to the

detriment of the “natural.”

The difference of opinions between Helmholtz and Riemann attracted the

attention of the scientific world over the years. Another name concerning the

tempered versus natural tuning, is Max Planck (1858 -1947), the German

theoretical physicist and discoverer of quantum energy, laureate of Nobel Prize in

Physics (1918). Planck declares in one of his music and acoustic inclusions:

One can straight adjust his hearing to a higher or lesser degree of

adaptability. The ear of a person who follows with a great attention a
concert is much more adaptive when this person is attending the concert for
pleasure or to act as a critic (…) To me, this moment of transition (toward
natural), is an immediate source of artistic pleasure (…) The adaptation is
achieved the easier and can be driven the furthest, the less the interval is
consonant…This clearly shows how our ear gets used with the tempered
tuning.
(Max Planck, in Die naturliche Stimmung in der modern
Vocalmusik, Pg. 423)

26
 In addition to the many dilemmas that a conductor faces when performing a

musical piece, Planck enumerated the tuning aspect, but he did not offer any

solution. He gave the last word to the composer, and when it was impossible to

get, he referred to the artistic effect one wished.

Because art finds its justification in itself, and no theoretical system of

music, even if it was logically founded, and developed in a consistent way,
is in the position to fulfill all the requirements of art which is in continuous
exchange with the human spirit. In this “spirit”, the “natural” has indeed no
advantage to the tempered one.
(Max Planck, in Die naturliche Stimmung, 1894, Pg. 424)

Later, in his scientific autobiography, he remembers:

I had the task to study the “natural” tuning on this instrument (Elitz’s
harmonium). I did this with great interest, in particular in relation to the
issue about the role played by “natural” tuning in our modern vocal music,
without instruments. In this process I obtained the unexpected result that
our ear prefers the tempered tuning to the “natural” one in any
circumstance. Even in a chord with harmony in a major tonality, the
“natural” third sounds slack and without expression in comparison with the
tempered one. Without doubt, this fact goes back to habits which have been
developed over many years and generations.
(Max Planck, Die naturliche Stimmung, 1894, Pg. 383-384)

From Helmholtz who had made “natural” Zarlino’s scale by beats and

overtones and advocated a return to perfect fractions and whole numbers, to

Riemann who sustained the geometries on the microscopic or quantum level of

solitons organization, and finally to Planck who inclined to the musicians’

perspective and sensorial experiences in detriment of pure mathematics, we

encounter a vast exposure of a complex process. From the genesis “purity” of no

27
temperaments, to the well, equal or even microtonal tunings, where should we set

our preferences?

28
 CHAPTER III

3.1 Temperament and Tuning during Bach’s era

In his article “Well tempering based on Werckmeister Definition”, Johan

Broekaert notifies us about the existence and the actual use of a multitude of

historical temperaments during the life of J. S. Bach, as well as the different

tuning categories of that time. Bach himself introduce one of these systems in

the title of his 1722 collection amongst a large variety of non-equal

temperament systems which were then in common practice.

Over centuries, up to the present, musical requirements led to more than

one hundred historical musical temperaments, while most composers or

theoreticians were involved in acoustic and temperament studies.

Music composition pioneers were often artistic and technical trend

openers with the decisions of “music and temperament making” in their own

hands. It is challenging to think of the masters of baroque composition as persons

who would use temperaments designed by other researchers, especially in an

époque of an unprecedented development in all domains. It seems probable that

tuning decisions were made following the charts of Werckmeister’s Musicalische

Temperatur.

First of all, attempts to reconstruct Bach’s temperaments were made by a

number of musicologists, from Kirnberger and Marpurg in the 18th century to

29
20th-century musicologists Herbert Kellner and John Barnes, and 21 st century

Bradley Lehman.

In the February and May 2005 issues of Early Music magazine, Lehman,

the harpsichordist and mathematician, referred to 21 temperaments, claimed to be

Bach-temperaments. While examining the title page of the Well-Tempered

Clavier from 1722, Lehman noticed that the decorative scroll above the text

features 11 loops of three different kinds (simple, double, and convoluted).

Figure 1: The title page of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier from 1722, with

labels added by the author of this article

(from Tamar Halperin, 2009, The Ongoing Quest for Bach's Temperament in
The Juilliard Journal,
https://www.juilliard.edu/journal/ongoing-quest-bachs-temperament)

He observed that 11 is the number that would describe the temperament of

12 fifths (if the first note is given, it would also be the last note of the circle,

30
rendering the “12th loop”). It occurred to him that the letter C is attached to the

first loop from the right, and then he decided to turn the loops upside down for a

better prospective.

Figure 2: Lehman’s interpretation of the scroll; the same graphic as in Fig. 1,

turned upside down, with note names above their respective loops

From Tamar Halperin, 2009, The Ongoing Quest for Bach's Temperament in
The Juilliard Journal,
https://www.juilliard.edu/journal/ongoing-quest-bachs-temperament

The researcher states that in the Baroque period the normal amount of

tempering a fifth was 1/6th of a Pythagorean comma, which, he observed that is

represented in the squiggle by the convoluted spiral (Figure 1). The next step up

was to interpret the double-spiraled loops representing the tempering of 1/12th of

a Pythagorean comma, and the simple loops to indicate pure fifths.

The result of this analysis was a well temperament supposedly the one (or

one of the them) used by Bach. In Lehman’sopinion, it brings out qualities of

Bach’s composition that are hidden in Equal temperament.

31
 Well temperament means a mathematical-acoustic and musical-practical
organization of the tone system within the twelve steps of an octave, so that
impeccable performance in all tonalities is enabled, based on the extended
just intonation (natural harmonic tone system), while striving to keep the
diatonic intervals as pure as possible. This temperament acts, while tied to
given pitch ratios, as a thriftily tempered smoothing and extension of the
meantone, as unequally beating half tones and as equal (equally beating)
temperament. (Andreas Werckmeister, Orgelprobe, 1681)

For the first time in music history, the terms “well-tempered” and “well-

temperament” were created in 1691 by German theorist Andreas Werckmeister,

referring to the temperament in which the fifths are of different sizes, but none of

the fifths is too false to be easily noticed as a “reason for acoustic discomfort.”

In those years, the meantone was widely used and considering its endurance

(around 400 years, from the late 15th century, all the way through the 19th

century), one can conclude that it was the most successful tuning before the

invention of the equal temperament.

The generating principle behind meantone temperament was embedded in

the primacy of clean thirds, in other words, it was more important to preserve the

consonance of the major thirds than it was to preserve the purity of the perfect

fifths. There are acoustical and theoretical reasons for this, namely that the thirds

and fifths belong to different consonance categories, perfect and imperfect.17 The

17
It should also be noted that the concepts "consonance" and "dissonance" are highly context-related.
The way sonance factor is perceived, depends on several music-psychological factors: temperament,
genre (in atonal music, consonances are scarce), timbre, the exposure to consonant or dissonant music, or the
extent of the interval (can be several octaves), and so on.
More than that, the difference between perfect and imperfect consonance is explained by the ratios and
common harmonics.
For example, Pythagoras thought that two tones are consonant, when their ratio consists of whole numbers with
an even division: consonant: octave 1:2, 5th 2:3, 4th 3:4, maj.3rd 4:5, while dissonant: maj.2nd 8:9, maj.7th 8:

32
notes in a slightly out-of-tune third, being closer together than those in a fifth,

create faster and more disturbing beats than those in a slightly out-of-tune fifth.

The aesthetic motivation for meantone temperament was that composers

and their audiences found the clarity and the “acoustic logic” of the major third,

and their generation felt the responsibility to complete the relevant acoustic

spectrum for a humanity in a full scientific and artistic progress. All these

endeavors not because the medieval austerity of open perfect fifths and octaves

are not representing viable artistic ideals, but in fact, as a historical attempt to add

the relevant portion to the panoramic picture, meanwhile respectfully conserving

what previous generations discovered.

The following is a chart of a ¼ comma meantone temperament defined in

1523 by Pietro Aaron.

Table 7: ¼ comma Meantone temperament

Pitch: C C# D Eb E F F# G G# A A# B C
Cents: 0 76.0 193.2 310.3 386.3 503.4 579.5 696.8 772.6 889.7 1006.8 1082.9 1200

15. The complicated ratios were seen as a sign of imperfection (for example the tempered 5th with 293:439
ratio), and the even and clean ratio, an “acoustic image” of perfection (eg. octave 1:2)
Hermann von Helmholtz, the great German physician and phys icist of 19th Century, thought that tones are
consonant or perfectly consonant, when one or more of their harmonics fall together, if the frequency values
have common multiples.

33
Table 8: The sizes of the major thirds and perfect fifths on each pitch

Major third Cents Perfect fifth Cents

C-E 386.3 C-G 696.8

Db-F 427.4 Db-Ab 696.6

D-F# 386.3 D-A 696.5

Eb-G 386.5 Eb-Bb 696.5

E-G# 386.3 E-B 696.6

F-A 386.3 F-C 696.6

F#-A# 427.3 F#-C# 696.5

G-B 386.1 G-D 696.4

Ab-C 427.4 Ab-Eb 737.7

A-C# 386.3 A-E 696.6

Bb-D 386.4 Bb-F 696.6

B-D# 427.4 B-F# 696.6

Unlike meantone temperament, in well-temperament the fifths are smaller

than pure fifths (some of them and scarce, bigger), which makes all the tonalities

being playable, yet they vary in their purity and timbre. The different “colors” of

the various tonalities enhanced by non-equal temperament were considered an

advantage and this is conducting our thoughts to the concept of variety, an

important part of Baroque aesthetics.

34
 While the Pythagorean tuning includes eleven pure fifths, and a reduced

fifth, that can be fixed on G#-D# (or Eb), well temperaments requires the best

possible purity for fifths and thirds and keep the diatonic intervals as pure as

possible. The same idea of even division, for example of the Pythagorean comma

over the twelve fifths, leads to fifths that all become slightly reduced, and quite a

gain in purity for major thirds that were Pythagorean before. As a general

outcome, the over-all impurity and acoustic beating phenomenon, has been

reduced to a limit of minimum, fact that is witnessing for a big step up toward

equal temperament.

3.2 Variations of Werckmeister well temperament

3.2.1 Werckmeister I or the "correct temperament" - based on 1/4 comma

divisions

Similar to the purity of fifths of the Pythagorean tuning, this temperament

uses mostly perfect fifths, only four of them (C-G, G-D, D-A and B-F♯) are

tempered by 1/4 comma. Based on the acceptable level of consonance of all

tonalities, Werckmeister designated this tuning as particularly suited for playing

chromatic music. These clear indications contributed to its popularity as a tuning

for J.S. Bach's music in recent years, and it could be just the beginning for a

different approach and prospective.

35
3.2.2 Werckmeister II - based on 1/3 comma divisions

In Werckmeister II the fifths C-G, D-A, E-B, F♯-C♯, and B♭-F are

tempered narrow by 1/3 comma, and the fifths G♯-D♯ and E♭-B♭ are widened by
1/3 comma, while the other fifths are pure (most of its intervals are close to sixth-
comma meantone temperament). Werckmeister himself organized this tuning for
playing mainly diatonic music and rarely or never use accidentals.

3.2.3 Werckmeister III - additional temperament based on 1/4 comma divisions

In Werckmeister III the fifths D-A, A-E, F♯-C♯, C♯-G♯, and F-C are
narrowed by 1/4, and the fifth G♯-D♯ is widened by 1/4 comma, meanwhile the
other fifths are pure. The number of tempered intervals and the amount in cents
for each modification, leads to the conclusion that it is closer to Equal
temperament than the previous two.

Table 9: The frequency chart for Werckmeister III

Pitch C C# D Eb E F F# G G# A A# B C
:
Cent 0 90.2 192. 294.1 390.2 498.0 588. 696. 792. 888. 996. 1092. 120
s: 25 18 35 25 45 27 09 18 27 09 18 0

It is noticeable that no pitch is more than 12 cents off when compared with

Equal temperament. The following perfect fifths are 3/2 ratios of 701.955 cents

each: Gb - Db - Ab - Eb - Bb - F - C, as well as A - E - B. The Pythagorean

comma is distributed among the remaining fifths, C - G - D - A and B - F#, each

of which is 696.09 cents.

36
Table 10: The sizes of the major thirds and perfect fifths on each pitch

(organized by the circle of fifths)

Major third Cents Perfect fifth Cents

C-E 390.225 C-G 696.09

G-B 396.09 G-D 696.09

D-F# 396.09 D-A 696.09

A-C# 401.955 A-E 701.955

E-G# 401.955 E-B 701.955

B-D# 401.955 B-F# 696.09

F#-A# 407.82 F#-C# 701.955

Db-F 407.82 Db-Ab 701.955

Ab-C 407.82 Ab-Eb 701.955

Eb-G 401.955 Eb-Bb 701.955

Bb-D 396.09 Bb-F 701.955

F-A 390.225 F-C 701.955

3.2.4 Werckmeister IV (VI) the Septenarius temperaments

It is based on a division of the monochord length into 196=7x7x4 parts

where the various notes are defined by which 196-division one should place the

bridge on in order to produce their pitches. Mathematically speaking, it is quite

logical and distinct from the “irrational” tempered values of the other well

variations, while in practice, both involve pure and impure sounding thirds and

fifths. Werckmeister described the Septenarius as "an additional temperament

37
which has nothing at all to do with the divisions of the comma, nevertheless in

practice so correct that one can be really satisfied with it."

Septenarius temperament has the fifths C-G, G-D, D-A, B-F♯, F♯-C♯, and

B♭-F tempered narrow, while the fifth G♯-D♯ is tempered wider than pure and the

other fifths are perfect.

Werckmeister addressed his readers as fully professional, and he carefully

avoided to indicate that he could teach them anything at all. He said, in the

Musicalische Temperatur near the end of the foreword,

Just as it was not my intention in my Musicalischen Wegweiser to prescribe

anything to any outstanding Musico, inasmuch as I find myself much too
humble for that, and would commit a huge mistake: Similarly, in the
present Tractat no experienced Musico will be burdened with how to tune a
tempered keyboard instrument.

A little later, Werckmeister continues:

In this book, I demonstrate to those who are eager to learn it, how the
temperaments can be formulated and arranged in various ways. One may
place the beatings of the fifths in whichever keys one wants; it is just that
the perfect consonants should not be treated too much. It is enough when a
keyboard is so tempered that it is usable throughout (that is, only as many
fifths should be tempered as needed for the instrument to be playable in all
keys).
(Andreas Werkmeister, Musicalische Temperatur,1686, Pg. 57-58)

38
Conclusion

It appears that Andreas Werckmeister did not have the intention to inforce

any particular tuning upon his contemporaries. Instead, they were granted the

freedom to develop well temperaments of their own, and not just use the ones that

he had published.

39
 CHAPTER IV

4.1 Equal Temperament

From Meantone Temperament to Equal Temperament

The whole music industry began to switch to equal temperament at the end

of the 18th century, one of the reasons being the Industrial Revolution, the time

when many instruments were redesigned, and standardized, even though the piano,

the harp, and the organ had switched to well temperament at an earlier point

because it was difficult to re-tune those instruments. Wind instruments and brass

instruments, which had previously been flexible enough to adjust pitch as the music

required, were changed; "instruments were standardized to play a chromatic scale

such that the ‘centers’ of their pitches corresponded as closely as possible to the

pitches of twelve-tone equal temperament."18

Orchestras became common, and there had to be standardization between

the orchestral instruments, pianos being used as instruments in the orchestras, as

soloists, and since they were tuned already in an equal temperament (and so did the

other instruments), they were the predominant instrument for musical training.

Musicians began to be trained in equal temperament, as opposed to meantone

temperament, and that meant if composers wanted to hear their works performed,

they had to expect the music to be performed in equal temperament. The change to

18
Doty, David B. The Just Intonation Primer. "The Just Intonation Network". URL:
http://www.dnai.com/~jinetwk/primer2.html (26 Apr. 1997)

40
equal temperament happened at different times in different countries, but it is

thought to have first started in France and Germany in the last quarter of the 17th

century with keyboard instruments.

The equal temperament came into use in Germany before it was introduced
into France. In the second volume of Matheson's Critica Jusica, which
appeared in 1752, he mentions Xeidhard and Werckmeister as the inventors
of this temperament, Johann Sebastian Bach had already used it for the
clavichord {clavier), as we must conclude from Marpurg's report of
Kirnberger's assertion, that when he was a pupil of the elder Bach he had
been made to tune all the major Thirds too sharp. Sebastian's son, Emanuel,
who was a celebrated pianist, and published in 1753 a work of great
authority in its day 'on the true art of playing the clavier,' requires this
instrument to be always tuned in the equal temperament.
(Helmholtz, On the sensations of tone,1895, Pg.322)

Meantone temperament was the common system in France until the mid-

18th century, and England still used meantone temperament until the mid-19th

century. Like the systems of Agricola in the sixteenth century and of Dowland in

the early seventeenth century, many of the numerous irregular systems of the

eighteenth century contained more pure than impure fifths. The instruments of the

violin family, tuned by fifths, have a strong tendency toward the Pythagorean

tuning.19

19 There is an interesting fact materialized in an question: At what extend could a pupil studying violin hearing

different than the other studying piano, so being exposed from very beginning to more pure fifths. And from this
point, another question arise: It is equal temperament something what we inherit “genetically” from our parents,
or we develop that getting in contact with musics and instruments using it?!

41
 The history of equal temperament continues in Middle Age with two

German methods of organ temperament. The earlier of the two was Arnold

Schlick's temperament, an irregular method for which his directions were

somewhat vague, but in which there were ten flattened and two raised fifths, as

well as twelve raised thirds. Actually, from Schlick's own account, the method lay

somewhere between the meantone temperament and the equal temperament. More

definite and certainly very near to equal temperament was Grammateus' method,

in which the white keys were in the Pythagorean tuning and the black keys were

precisely halfway between the pairs of adjoining white keys.

The first precise mathematical definition of equal temperament was given

by Salinas:

We judge this one thing must be observed by makers of viols, so that the
placing of the frets may be made regular, namely that the octave must be
divided into twelve parts equally proportional, which twelve will be the
equal semitones.
(Francisco Salinas, De musica libri, 1577, Pg. 173)

On the continuum for the history of temperament, he first tuning rules that

might be interpreted as Equal temperament were expressed by Giovanni Maria

Lanfranco, in his Scintille de musica (Brescia, 1533, p. 132), and they were for

clavichords and organs (Monochordi & Organi), eventually extended for fretted

instruments. Lanfranco's essential rules concern the tempering of the fifths and

the thirds:

42
 The fifths are to be tuned so flat "that the ear is not well pleased with them,
and the thirds as sharp as can be endured.
The enlargement of the major third, the diminution of the minor third, the
equivalence of the notes C# and Db , F# and Gb—these are essential
departures from his contemporaries.
(Otto Kinkeldey, Orgel und Klavier in der Musik
des 16 Jahrhuderts, 1910, Pg.77)

For keyboard instruments, Lodovico Zacconi recommended

Aron’s meantone temperament, while "for the other instruments, such as the
viola da braccio, viola da gamba, violins, and others, he indicates clearly
how each one is to be tuned.
(Lodovico Zacconi, Prattica di musica, Venice, 1592, Pg. 218)

In Zacconi's day and long before it, the fretted instruments were said to
have equal semitones. To Zarlino, Salinas, and Galilei this meant equal
temperament, with all semitones equal. To Grammateus and Bermudo, only
ten semitones were equal, the others being smaller; to Artusi, and
presumably also to Bottrigari and Cerone, there were ten equal semitones,
the other two being larger. But, of these three types of temperament equal,
modified Pythagorean, and modified meantone— only equal temperament
had both flat fifths and sharp thirds in addition to equal semitones.
(Murray J. Barbour, Tuning and Temperament,
Equal temperament, 1951, Pg. 46)

Taking into consideration the excellent tuning methods of Lanfranco's

immediate predecessors, Grammateus and Schlick, it is conceivable that

Lanfranco had the idea of equal temperament for all instruments of a full Baroque

symphony orchestra of his time.

Another name to be considered, taking into account his largely circulating

tuning rules, was Godfrey Keller, the German keyboard player and composer

active like Handel, in England. His tuning concerns were basically concentrated

43
on the amount of tempering the fifths of harpsichords or spinets, and he affirms

that they should be as flat as the ear will permit.

Barthold Fritz gave tuning rules for equal temperament20 that merited the
approval of Emanuel Bach, to whom he had dedicated his little book.
Emmanuel Bach said that "in his few pages everything had been said that
was necessary and possible, and that would satisfy far more needs than the
sundry computations with which many a man has racked his brains”
(Murray J. Barbour, Tuning and temperament,
Equal temperament, 1951, Pg. 47)

Hence older musicians especially recommended the equal temperament for

the pianoforte alone. Matheson, in doing so, acknowledges that for organs
Silberman's unequal temperament, in which the usual keys were kept pure,
is more advantageous.
Emanuel Bach says that a correctly tuned pianoforte has the most perfect
intonation of all instruments, which in the above sense is correct.
The great diffusion and convenience of pianofortes made it subsequently
the chief instrument for the study of music and its intonation the pattern for
that of all other instruments.
(Helmholtz, On the sensations of tone, 1895, Pg.323)

4.2 Historical temperaments now and then

For the last century, the topic of temperament has been relegated to the "tall

weeds" in the field of musical discussion, while the supremacy of equal

temperament is world recognized and appreciated. However, fairly recent

researches now strongly indicates that modern tuning is quite different from that

used in most composers’ time, and as a consequence, it is easy to imagine for

20 Barthold Fritz, Anweisung wie man Claviere, Clavicins, und Orgeln, nach einer mechanischen Art, in alien

zwblf Tonen gleich rein stimmen k onne, Leipzig, 1780

44
example, a Beethoven piano sonata played in Equal temperament, which sound

fundamentally different from the same music played in a temperament of his period,

regardless of whether the instrument used is a fortepiano or a modern concert grand

piano.

Instrument use with the "colors" of Well temperament and the music of a

bygone era that was created with them, produces dazzling effects in the modulatory

passages; the flowing changes of musical tension are enhanced by the contrast of

dissonance and consonance, musical effects that the composers certainly were

aware of, effects that could be enhanced in historical temperaments and faded in

Equal temperament.

The "acceptable" amount of tempering has changed over the course of

history when composers and audiences have demanded and created different style

of music for different occasions, at different times. For instance, in the meantone

era, when music experienced an intricate yet relevant influence from theology and

politics21, a good third or fifth was a pure third or fifth, and everybody knew

where the wolf lurked. On the opposite, today, with the ubiquitous use of Equal

temperament, we have come to accept the diaphanous and dimming exposure of

pure intervals and contrast between the tonalities, with the sensible understanding

21
Theology and politics as a unibody leading organism of a certain society as expressed in detail by Raymond
Plant in his “Politics, Theology and History”, Cambridge University Press, 2001

45
that we have deprived ourselves in a way, of some depth and meaning that was

conveyed by the masters through their mastery.

Starting with the original Pythagorean temperaments and Just Intonation

of later tuning history, where the purity of fifths and octaves tried to express

something from the purity of the unique universal ideals of truth and beauty, and

continuing with the Well temperaments of the Classical Era, created during a time

when art, science and religion diversified and expanded toward new limits,

historical tunings mark a prime and substantial cultural exponent of different

historical periods.

The trend of instrument tunings advanced from purity and extreme

dissonance (Pythagorean, Just Intonation), passing through the mixture of pure

and tempered intervals, where we hear the “calm and the storm” (meantone

temperaments, well temperaments), and finally, resting on the field of perfect

balance and beneficial accommodations for all the instruments of the symphony

orchestra (equal temperament).

46
 CHAPTER V

5.1 Other tunings and digital technologies

As the research and evolution of tuning and temperament progressed, a

certain stability was created once equal temperament controlled more and more

musical terrain. Musical concepts like harmony, rhythm, tempo, dynamics,

structure, and sound emission, to mention just a few, have been influenced and

ultimately developed to such a fluid and systematic tonal base theory. Even

though the tonal system is vast and detailed, the need for more creative musical

outlets has guided composers and theorists to create sophisticate landscapes of

sound using different systems, for example microtonality and atonalism. In this

chapter I want to outline microtonal tunings being a fundamental part when

managing microtonality.

5.2 Creative Approaches to Temperament and Tuning

As a professionally active piano tuner and academically trained organist I

have always had an intense interest in the art, history, and science of instrument

tuning methods, tuning systems, historical tuning trends and schemes, alternative

tunings, and the potential of new tuning systems to influence the creative process

of composition. This interest involves the application of pure academic research

47
in the form of compositions in various alternate tunings, micro-tunings, as well as

the creation of original tuning systems.

The challenge of moving beyond fixed pitch instruments, such as the

piano and organ, towards a theoretical approach to temperament and tuning which

can be made manifest by digital and electronic methods. This approach will

enable creative analysis and experiments related to instrumental tuning. As is

observed in the unfolding of different periods in music history, every homogenous

music époque and related form of artistic expression, had its own methods and

instruments to formulate and articulate the leading ideals and the new directions.

Almost all historical music “eras” advanced unique tuning systems, or at

minimum displayed several possible systems as viable artistic options.

5.3 The origins of microtonality and microtonal tuning

Antiquity is perhaps best defined by the Pythagorean experiments and

system and a great array of research in tuning temperaments by scholars such as

Aristoxenus, Claudius Ptolemy, and Didymus. The middle ages could be

represented by a continuation of different Pythagorean tuning variations, but

starting with Renaissance period, the theoretical and practical solutions were

created and thrived in various different locations. If Renaissance musicians

revived and developed tuning models and temperaments, then general interest in

the area was more completely advanced during the Baroque. The number of

48
theorists, treatises, and practitioners interested in tuning as a means towards

artistic truth and expression is considerable.

Over many centuries, from the ancient Greeks to modern times, a rich and

complex line of research, musical exploration, and artistic speculation led to more

than one hundred unique musical temperaments. Numerous composers and

theoreticians have involved themselves in acoustic and temperament studies in

pursuit of artistic excellence. (e.g., Pythagorus, Aristoxenus, Boethius, Aaron,

Ramos, Zarlino, Vicentino, Werckmeister, Valotti and Young, Kirnberger,

Marpurg, Barnes, Stockhausen, Carlos, Partch, etc.)

Many of the pioneers of western music composition were artistic and

technical trend setters and some made influential decisions regarding “music and

specific temperaments.” It is challenging to think of earlier composers using

temperaments designed by other researchers, especially during époques of

unprecedented development in various domains.

It seems likely that “personal” tuning decisions, perhaps with the aid of

charts similar to Werckmeister’s Musicalische Temperatur as a guide, were made

as part of the compositional process. This idea, linking or re-linking

compositional process and decisions to different temperaments forms the basis of

my proposal.

49
 A very basic survey of some limited aspects of the world of alternate tunings

(e.g., non-Equal temperament) follows and offers some context for the complexity

and creative potential of this research.

Moreover, I want to pinpoint another segment of great interest for this

research, which offers a complete and spectacular prospective. Micro-tuning or

micro-tonal tuning systems were used from antiquity22, especially the Hellenic

civilizations of ancient Greece, which recognized three genera of tetrachords: the

enharmonic, the chromatic, and the diatonic. Knowing that the intervals were of

many different sizes, microtones too, the enharmonic tetrachord featured notably

intervals of a distinctly "microtonal" nature and not necessarily equal to half of a

semitone, 50 cents, where a contemporary semitone is 100 cents.

Later on, in the Renaissance era, the Italian composer and theorist Nicola

Vicentino (1511–1576) worked with microtonal intervals and built a keyboard

with 36 keys to the octave known as the archicembalo. The main exception from a

contemporary keyboard is that the sharp keys are divided in two sections, one for

a flatter accidental and one for the sharper variant.

Using the archicembalo, it was possible to play acoustically satisfactory

intervals in any key, and therefore some of the innovative music composed in a

chromatic style, which was only in tune when was sung by a vocal group, could

22
We have the most music information about Greek antiquity, but by extrapolation one can conclude that
microtonality was largely used in ancient times by all or most civilizations.

50
of be played on the keyboard, as well. The Italian theorist divided the octave into

31 equal parts, achieving a good intonation for the thirds and sixths but dealing

somewhat with the acoustic beats of narrow fifths.

While theoretically an interpretation of ancient Greek tetrachordal theory, in

effect Vicentino presented a circulating system of quarter-comma
meantone, maintaining major thirds tuned in just intonation in all keys
(Murray J. Barbour, Tuning and Temperament, 1951, Pg.117-118)

Later on, along with other composers, Claude Debussy was one of the

prominent names who had a great influence for the spread of the new – old micro-

tuning spectrum. Musicology writings have ascribed Debussy's subsequent

innovative use of the whole-tone (six equal pitches per octave) tuning in such

compositions as the Fantaisie for piano and orchestra and the “Toccata” from the

suite Pour le piano.

The basic interest in the microtonal intervals found between the higher

frequencies of the overtone series is the compositional foundation of Debussy's

works like L'isle joyeuse, La cathédrale engloutie, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un

faune, La mer, Pagodes, Danseuses de Delphes, and Cloches à travers les

feuilles.

In modernism, electronic instruments facilitate the use of any kind of

microtonal tuning and allow “gallivanting with micro steps” at all times. In 1954,

Karlheinz Stockhausen built his electronic Studie II on an 81-step scale starting

51
from 100 Hz with the interval of 51/25 between steps, and in Gesang der

Jünglinge (1955–56) he used various scales, ranging from seven up to sixty equal

divisions of the octave.

In the United States, Wendy Carlos as well, experimented microtonal

systems including just intonation, and used alternate tuning scales combining

music from old world cultures with new musical ideas. Upon graduation from

Columbia University where she earned a MA in Composition in 1965, she worked

as a recording engineer and befriended Robert Moog, thus helping him by

promoting the popularization of the Moog modular synthesizer. Her composition

career began with 1968 album Switched-On Bach and almost immediately the

recording acheived platinum sales status, which propelled the Moog synthesizer

into the public consciousness. The album won three Grammy Awards.

In 1969 Carlos refined her techniques in The Well-Tempered Synthesizer

album, and introduced the use of vocoders for synthesized singing in her score for

Stanley Kubrick's film, A Clockwork Orange. This was many years before the

synthetic voices became common in cinematography music.

The continuous blend between symphonic orchestra and digital and analog

synthesizers, an often imitated combination, was one of her main attraction as a

composer. Digital Moonscapes album (1984) introduced the "LSI Philharmonic

Orchestra," a digital replica of orchestral timbres virtually indistinguishable from

their acoustic instrumental counterparts.

52
 Another important 20th Century artist was Harry Partch whose experimental

ideas were realised in his work as composer, music theorist, and creator of

musical instruments. Partch divided the octave into 43 unequal tones derived from

the natural harmonic series. This “corporeal music” was one way he described his

music and distinguished it from abstract or astral, which he envisioned as the

dominant direction in Western music since the time of Bach. If every era and

culture in the universe of world music is marked by a specific or unique tuning

systems, why not undertake historical and theoretical research which informs our

understanding and enables future artists to more easily to select artistically

appropriate systems for musical creations which are esthetically pleasing and able

to express the best of musical culture?

53
 Conclusion

Musical tuning and temperament changed (standardizations, both of pitch

and of temperament) from Antiquity passing the Middle Ages, Baroque, Classic

and Romantic Period. This phenomenon strongly demonstrates that instrument

tuning marks an important step up in human civilization being one of the first

attempts to incipient universal culture and human development.

More than that, historical tunings represent the decisive tool for

understanding the basic principles of tuning and the interesting journey for the

equal temperament, being the perfect indicator for measuring “times and ages”.

Since many composition circles nowadays are leaning towards a return to

historical temperaments, and many scientific research projects on all continents

are fostered to enhance and rejuvenate the bygone musical atmosphere, is not too

difficult to infer that this is likely what will occur in the next period of time.

Through the interest for tuning and temperament, we can comprehend the

human priorities at certain points in our civilization, we can perceive the ancestral

aspiration for perfection at work, and we can see the limits of our exquisiteness,

and we can touch with our human nature, the infinite and the absolute.

54
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59
Discography

Carlos, Wendy. (1986). Beauty in the beast. US Audion Recording Co SYNCD

200. Compact disc
Carlos, Wendy. (1998). Wendy Carlos's complete original score: Clockwork
orange. Minneapolis, MN: East Side Digital. Compact disc
Carlos, Wendy & Elkind, R. (1998). Sonic seasonings: Land of the midnight sun.
Minneapolis, MN: East Side Digital. Compact disc
Carlos, Wendy, Elkind, R., Folkman, B., Bach, J. S., Monteverdi, C., Scarlatti, D.,
& Handel, G. F. (1999). Switched-on boxed set. Minneapolis, MN: East Side
Digital. Compact disc
Partch, H., Schwartz, H., DRAM, Gate 5 Ensemble., & DRAM (Online service).
(2007). The Harry Partch collection. New York, N.Y.: DRAM.
Partch, H., Coleman, T., McKenzie, J., Mitchell, D., Gentry, E., DRAM., Gate 5
Ensemble., Harry Partch Ensemble., & DRAM. (2007). The Harry Partch
collection. New York, N.Y.: DRAM.
Blackwood, E., Kust, J. (1994). Microtonal compositions. Chicago: Cedille
Records. Compact disc
Johnston, Ben & Bush, P. (1997). Microtonal piano. Port Washington, N.Y.:
Koch International Classics. Compact disc
A collection of 36 medieval songs in historical tunings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCq-
hEOKorI&list=PL4D5F8764B8BF4A47&index=9
Pachelbel's Canon in 3 tunings: Just intonation, Meantone and 12-equal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2I1zNw2w-c
Steinway piano demo of historic tuning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z3o0x4dKJI

60