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This page presents source materials of three anonymous 18th-century English manuscript instructions for irregular keyboard tunings, and one comparable anonymous Italian instruction. The sources are G. Sargent, \"Eighteenth-century Tuning Directions: Precise Intervallic Determination\", in \'\'The Music Review\'\' (1969) vol.30 no.1, p.27-34, and Mark Lindley, \'\'Stimmung und Temperatur\'\' (see the reference in [Temperament_Ordinaire]). I also make brief comments on the possible realization and use of the instructions.

I have not included Sargent\'s \"intervallic determinations\" for the simple reason that they do not help in interpreting the 18th-century source material. Their precision is spurious, and in at least one case Sargent\'s deductions are incorrect.

!!The \'Newcastle\' tuning instruction
This appears in a manuscript, according to Sargent, \"connected with Charles Avison\" (1709-1790). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Avison

The instructions can be concisely summa]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:39:14 +0000 add http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/Tuning email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited Tuning http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/Temperament_Ordinaire
English and Italian 18th-century irregular harpsichord tuning instructions:
http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregularshttp://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/18th_C_Irregulars
excerpts from Neidhardt's writings:
http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/f/Neidhardt_1724_ascii.html
]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:36:12 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/Tuning email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent renamed English_Irregulars 18th_C_Irregulars ]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:35:19 +0000 mv http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars Introduction
I (T.D.) also make brief comments on the possible realization and use of the instructions.
I have not included Sargent's "intervallic determinations" for the simple reason that they do not help in interpreting the 18th-century source material. Their precision is spurious, and in at least one case Sargent's deductions are incorrect.
The 'Newcastle' tuning instruction
We can then recognize the first five "bars" of the instruction, concerning the notes C, G, D, E, A, as this second type of bearing: the third C-E is first made pure, then the fifths C-G-D-A are tuned flat. The fifth "bar" concerns the notes A and E which have already been tuned, and is thus the check. If this succeeds, i.e. if the tempering of A-E is not too large, then one may proceed.
The sixth "bar" similarly contains the note A, which has been previously tuned: it serves as a check on F which is tempered as a narrow fifth from C. (Given the previous tuning steps, F]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:34:31 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars Then C#-G# is the check: "Prova perche riesce Quinta giusta". (Roughly: Check because a pure fifth succeeds.)
Again we have the initial sequence of meantone flat fifths. Since there is no check of C-E, we cannot assume that this third was pure. However, the tuning cannot actually have succeeded if C-E was much different from a pure third, i.e. if the tempering of the fifths was much different from 1/4-comma. To see this, consider the thirds E-G# and Ab-C. The first of these is tuned via three pure fifths E-B-F#-C# and the check C#-G#, which cannot be much different from a pure fifth. Thus E-G# is practically a Pythagorean third. Now Ab-C is tuned via two flat and two sharp fifths (or indeed fourths), so it too is likely to be about Pythagorean. Thus C-E is about a comma smaller than Pythagorean, i.e. practically pure. The simplest way to deal successfully with the instructions is then to use steps of quarter-comma tempered fifths. This is consistent with the assumption that 1/4-comma meantone was]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:32:27 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars I have not included Sargent's "intervallic determinations" for the simple reason that they do not help in interpreting the 18th-century source material. Their precision is spurious, and in at least one case Sargent's deductions are incorrect.
The 'Newcastle' tuning instruction
a manuscript manuscript, according to Sargent, "connected with Charles Avison" (1709-1790).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Avison http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Avison
The instructions can be concisely summarized in a single stave with simple annotations:
"x" with fermata : "as flat as ye Ear will permit"
"x" without fermata : "as sharp as ye Ear will permit"
In order to make sense of this instruction,To interpret this, it is useful to recall that 1/]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:17:54 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars We can then recognize the first five "bars" of the instruction, concerning the notes C, G, D, E, A, as this second type of bearing: the third C-E is pure and the fifths C-G-D-A are flat. The fifth "bar" concerns the notes A and E which have already been tuned, and is thus the check. If this succeeds, i.e. if the tempering of A-E is not too large, then one may proceed.
The sixth "bar" similarly contains the note A, which has been previously tuned: it serves as a check on F which is tempered as a narrow fifth from C. (Given the previous tuning steps, F-A is likely to be a pure third, or nearly so.) The seventh "bar" asks for Bb to be tuned a pure fourth above F, then the previously tuned note D is a check on the chord of Bb major. Here Bb-D will not be pure, but the overall sound of the chord should still be acceptable. Similarly, after Eb is tempered as a narrow fifth from Bb, G is played to check the chord of Eb major.
This makes is con]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:57:01 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars "x" without fermata : "as sharp as ye Ear will permit"
In order to make sense of this instruction, it is useful to recall that 1/4-comma meantone was a very common keyboard tuning in the Baroque period, and also the simplest historically relevant tuning to set up in practice due to its pure thirds and regularity. There were two more or less equivalent types of bearing plan. The first, starting from C, involved tuning four narrowed fifths (widened fourths) C-G-D-A-E and checking whether the third C-E was pure enough. The second involved setting the pure third C-E at the beginning, then tuning narrowed fifths C-G-D-A and checking on the fifth (or fourth) A-E.
may proceed to the rest of the notes. proceed.
The sixth "bar" similarly contains the note A, which has been previously tuned: it serves as a check on F which is tempered as a narrow fifth from C. (Given the previous tuning steps,]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:27:12 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars Introduction
und Temperatur. Temperatur (see the reference in Temperament_Ordinaire). I also make brief comments on the possible realization and use of the instructions.
I have not included Sargent's "intervallic determinations" for the simple reason that they do not help in interpreting the 18th-century source material. Their precision is spurious, and in at least one case Sargent's deductions are incorrect.
The 'Newcastle' tuning instruction
This appears in a manuscript "connected with Charles Avison" (1709-1790).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Avison Thttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Avison
The instructions can be concisely summarized in a single stave with simple annotations:
"x" with fermata : "as flat as ye Ear will permit"
"x" without fermata : "as sharp as ye Ear will permit"
In order to make]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:10:44 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars s : sharpish
p : perfect
Quasi-Pythagorean tuning instruction
The third instruction was written down on a copy of Rameau's Traité de l'Harmonie (first published in 1722) and is a simple, but rather vague, list of tuning steps. It can be summarized as follows.
The pitch is set to F (presumably in the tenor octave).
D - A and A - E are "very little flat"
Then "all the rest of the fifths perfect".
I have called it "quasi-Pythagorean" because it proceeds only by fifths, without checking any thirds or chords, and because most notes will end up being tuned by pure fifths. Note that there is no requirement (unlike in Temperament Ordinaire) for the circle of fifths to close, since the instructions do not specify any checks that would ensure there was no leftover tempering around the circle after F-C-G-D-A-E are tuned. The instructions could only be satisfied exactly if the tempering of F-C-G and D-A-E adds up to the Pythagorean comma; but t]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:16:41 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars I have not included Sargent's "intervallic determinations" for the simple reason that they do not help in interpreting the 18th-century source material. Their precision is spurious, and in at least one case Sargent's deductions are incorrect.
The 'Newcastle' tuning instruction
Avison" (1709-1790): see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Avison. The (1709-1790).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Avison T
The instructions can be concisely summarized in a single stave: stave with simple annotations:
"x" with fermata : "as flat as ye Ear will permit"
"x" without fermata : "as sharp as ye Ear will permit"
TheHarleian manuscript instruction
The second is an anonymous tuning instruction in a British Museum manuscript (Harl. 4160):]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:05:22 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars This page presents source materials of three anonymous 18th-century English manuscript instructions for irregular keyboard tunings, and one comparable anonymous Italian instruction. The sources are G. Sargent, "Eighteenth-century Tuning Directions: Precise Intervallic Determination", in The Music Review (1969) vol.30 no.1, p.27-34, and Mark Lindley, Stimmung und Temperatur. I also make brief comments on the possible realization and use of the instructions.
I have not included Sargent's "intervallic determinations" for the simple reason that they do not help in interpreting the 18th-century source material. Their precision is spurious, and in at least one case Sargent's deductions are incorrect.
The 'Newcastle 'Newcastle' tuning instruction
This appears in a manuscript "connected with Charles Avison" (1709-1790): see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Avison. The instructions can be concisely summarized in a single stave:
"x" with fer]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:00:20 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars This will be a recordIntroduction
This page presents source materials of three anonymous 18th-century English manuscript instructions for irregular tunings. The source is keyboard tunings, and one comparable anonymous Italian instruction. The sources are G. Sargent, "Eighteenth-century Tuning Directions: Precise Intervallic Determination", in The Music Review (1969) vol.30 no.1, p.27-34. p.27-34, and Mark Lindley, Stimmung und Temperatur. I also make brief comments on the possible realization and Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:59:49 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/Tuning email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited Tuning Overview and discussion of sources for the French Temperament Ordinaire:
http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/Temperament_Ordinaire
English 18th century and Italian 18th-century irregular harpsichord tuning instructions:
https://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars
http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars
excerpts from Neidhardt's writings:
http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/f/Neidhardt_1724_ascii.html
]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:49:06 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/English_Irregulars email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent edited English_Irregulars tunings.
The The source is G. Sargent, "Eighteenth-century Tuning Directions: Precise Intervallic Determination", in The Music Review (1969) vol.30 no.1, p.27-34.
I have not included Sargent's "intervallic determinations" for the simple reason that they do not help in interpreting the 18th-century source material: their material. Their precision is spurious, and in at least one case Sargent's deductions are incorrect. incorrect.
The first is the so-called 'Newcastle' tuning. This appears in a manuscript "connected with Charles Avison".
"x" with fermata : "as flat as ye Ear will pe]]> Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:50:42 +0000 mod http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/f/Newcastletemp.gif email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent uploaded Newcastletemp.gif]]> Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:34:25 +0000 upl http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/f/Harl4160temp.gif email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent uploaded Harl4160temp.gif]]> Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:34:25 +0000 upl http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/Newcastletemp.gif email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent removed Newcastletemp.gif]]> Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:34:07 +0000 rm http://harpsichords.pbwiki.com/Harl4160temp.gif email.hidden@example.com (Thomas Dent) Thomas Dent removed Harl4160temp.gif]]> Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:33:51 +0000 rm