Re: tuning question

Roland Hutchinson  wrote:
>Hans Aberg wrote:
>> On the one hand, well-tempered tunings aims at playing well in several
>> keys, as many as possible, but stick to rational intervals. (The idea
>> goes back to the Ancient Greeks.)
>
>I don't get this.
>
>Certainly the vast majority of familiar well temperaments (e.g., 
>Vallotti, Werckmesiter III) as well as "semi-well" temperaments (such 
>as temperement ordinaire and varities of "modified meantone") use 
>irrational intervals.

Well, I'm assuming that he meant that they "stick [as close as possible] to rational 
intervals."  In other words, it was an attempt to balance "transposability" and 
acoustics; as contrasted with 12tET which lays fully on the transposability end of the 
scale.

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Brad Beyenhof