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unequaltemperament

The Art
Of Piano Tuning

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About Us

Unequal Temperament is a project devoted to preserving the art, science, and history of piano tuning.

View the graphs
Data visualizations of historical tunings

Listen
A live recording of a key-cycle program: the personalities of 10 different keys, exploited by this tuning, with music of Bach, Rachmaninov, Chopin, and Mendelssohn.

Study
Reading and listening. History, eleven different tunings, and 432 musical examples.

Content

What We Do.

We preserve research into the field of piano tuning though data presentation, teaching, and tuning.

Data sources

The graphs are rendered from three primary collections: my dissertation; extracts from the Scala library; and extracts from the Piano In Blue library.

Instruction

Instruction and presentations on this topic come in forms of college lectures, group instruction for tuners, and individual tuning services.

The Graphs

Interpreting sound data

Graphs are laid out in a circular pattern, based on the circle of fifths. Intervallic dissonances create waves of interference, and patterns of purity in keys can be seen as key relationships.

View the graphs
Data visualizations of historical tunings

Listen
A live recording of a key-cycle program: the personalities of 10 different keys, exploited by this tuning, with music of Bach, Rachmaninov, Chopin, and Mendelssohn.

Study
Reading and listening. History, eleven different tunings, and 432 musical examples.

Skaterboy
The Circle

Logic becomes evident through cyclical patterns

The Circle

Going around the circle of fifths, we see different shapes for each triad. Outer circles are fifths, green inner circles are major thirds, and red inner circles are minor thirds.

Shutterbug
Equal Vs Pure

Beats and dissonances appear from a pure standard

Equal Vs Pure

The differences between equal-tempered intervals and pure intervals are shown with different textures.

Explore
Historical patterns

Architecture

Architecture

Musical compositions have structure in time, just as buildings have in space. Tuning systems have structure in sound.

Minimalismo
Instruction

Theory visualization

The history of tuning

Obvserve the change of tuning systems throughout time.

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Science confirming historical writing

  • A leering key, degenerating into grief and rapture. It cannot laugh, but it can smile; it cannot howl, but it can at least grimace its crying.--Consequently only unusual characters and feelings can be brought out in this key.

    Author image
    Db Major Werckmeister III

  • Penitential lamentation, intimate conversation with God, the friend and help-meet of life; sighs of disappointed friendship and love lie in its radius.

    Author image
    C# Minor The Lehman

Contact

Get In Touch.

This topic attracts interesting people.

Contact Information
Where to Find Us

Email Us At

wgmilleriii@gmail.com