I tuned a Baldwin Acrosonic today using the EBVT III, Tunelab and the numbers that Robert Scott developed using his temperament software. WOW what a difference it made in the sound of that little piano. I tuned the piano almost a year ago, and was not really pleased with the overall sound & tone. It was too bright and shallow. After I finished the tuning today, I could not believe the difference!!!!! It had such a nice rounded, sound. The owner really noticed the difference.

I am finding out with the EBVT III that the fewer sharps and flats in the key, the more mellow the sound, and as you progress through key signatures with more sharps and flats the sound gets a little brighter...but never too bright. Is anyone else finding this to be true with the temperament?

Ryan Hassell
Hassell's Piano Tuning
Farmington, MO

Ryan, "mellow to bright" is true for all cycle of 5ths based temperaments: well tempered, meantone and modified meantone. Each has their own characteristics but all have the general character you mention. You can find some quick and easy information on the many kinds of temperaments there are at www.rollingball.com. Wikipedia also has some good information for those new to the subject.

Many of the 17th & 18th Century styles are considered too overboard for general use on the modern piano. Both versions of the EBVT are intended to be used on any piano for any kind of music.

I love the sound of EBVT. However, I'm getting confused--the instructions for setting the temperament on Bill Brenner's site set the bearing\temperament from F3 to F4. However, the chart on his site lists cent changes starting on C, and the chart above from DavidB lists the changes starting on A.

Are these charts setting the temperament in different octaves? They don't go from an F to an F, so they don't seem to be just including the bearing range while starting with a C or an A. The above chart, more specifically, seems to start with the 440 A and starts setting the bearing in the next step by moving to the A# a half step above it.

The instructions to set the temperament aurally are given so that you work on F3-F4 and then extend the temperament to the rest of the piano. Those instructions are given in a specific order so that you can apply specific aural tests to specific notes, in an order that is considered practical and efficient. In this case, the order is REALLY important, because the essence of the temperament is implied in the instructions.

Cent offsets can be given in any order, because they take the model of an equal temperament as a reference (and just show the differences). Those are meant to be used on an ETD, and you can tune in whatever order you like when using an ETD.

Somehow I worry that the tuning wouldn't stay exactly the same in each octave, since the 4th's and 5'th aren't being tuned to partials on the same notes an octave below.

Just worrying too much? Does the cent change remain exactly the same, note by note, from say F2 to F5 (before any stretching to compensate for ih or to create mindless octaves)?

Exactly, the cents deviation for each note remain the same, this way the temperament is respected.