The low-down on temperaments from Carey Beebe
Carey Beebe – Australian harpsichord maker, restorer and maintainer /pic Ron Jones
Carey Beebe is a globe-trotting harpsichord maker, based in Sydney Australia, and I recommend his website to organists if they really, really want to get to grips with tuning and temperaments. He explains the Pythagorean comma before launching into a discussion of no fewer than 18 different temperaments, with instructions of how to tune each one.
So now I understand Pythagorean, Kirnberger and Werckmeister and Valotti – the latter a popular temperament for late Baroque and early Classical ensemble music apparently, though considered a little down-market by some musicians because of its all-purpose nature. Temperament snobbery isn’t new – Johann Georg Neidhardt, a early 18th century German temperament freak, went so far as to name which were suitable for a village, a small city, a large city, or the Court itself (the latter apparently favouring Equal Temperament).
The link to the temperaments FAQ and more on Carey Beebe’s website is here.
On the way, you might get diverted by the Mould Gallery (very worrying pictures for instrument owners in the tropics), or his Klop continuo organ for hire complete with its own wooden flight case.
You can follow Carey Beebe on Twitter as he sets off on his international maintenance tours – next up is one of his regular trips around Asia/Pacific coast. CBH Carey Beebe @hpschdnu
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