Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
16
OUR TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
(Continued from page 13)
and Fifth as I proceed; B flat to E flat to A
flat to C sharp. Then go back to G and take
G to D, to A, to E, and there you have your
circle. Now as I say, some tuners may think
this a 'bunk' circle owing to their difference of
temperament and training. I say, very well,
gentlemen, take the way you can get the best
results and you will be all right. Geo. L,. Mait-
land, Philadelphia, September 1, 1917."
There is simply no use in trying to quarrel
with Mr. Maitland, even if you wish to; which
certainly I do not. He is one of those fighters
who disarms his adversary in advance. But,
after all, is it not a bit dangerous to argue that
any route will do, if it takes one home in
safety? The statement is incontestable subject
to its condition; but that condition is not to be
lightly assumed.
What warrant have I for
saying, for instance, that there are many roads
equally leading to our goal of perfection? There
may be many, but also there may be few; and
the probability is in favor of the latter alterna-
tive. In a word, the road does not matter,
indeed, so that it be the right one; but it is
perfectly plain that some roads have been recom-
mended in these very columns during recent
weeks, that I, for one, would shun.
THE NEW ENGLAND SYSTEM
"Dear Mr. White—For the past several years
I have with great interest read your 'Technical
Department' in The Music Trade Review, and
of late have been interested in the different
letters concerning the 'Temperament.' As Mr.
Faust or, as I have seen, no direct pupil of
his, has had anything to say of the method as
taught by him at the New England Conserva-
tory, I will take up the reasons why he says
the method taught by him, and commonly called
the Third system, has some superior points
to the Fourth-Fifth system. As is said, 'It is
great art in human intercourse to be able to show
friendly opposition on occasion. We should,
among other things, give reasons—not merely
for convenience simply say yes or no, but
try to convince rather than be dictatorial. All
men see in such an appeal to their understand-
ing a proof of respect which gratifies them
and often quite reconciles them to the nega-
tive outcome.'
"In your issue of June 23 you ask four ques-
tions and ask for answers. In answering them
I will first say that I prefer the system as
laid down by Mr. Faust, which is called the
Third system, and is laid in the octave from C
to C and, as is claimed, the beats of this octave
are much slower and can be counted with much
more accuracy, I will take your system as
printed in the June 30 issue as a model which
is the system most commonly used by the
leading Fourth-Fifth tuners. Your first step is
to tune middle C, then the F a Fifth below on
the sharp side. Here can be the first mistake
with the system, as you have nothing tuned
yet and you have no proof that the F is on the
right side, and if a mistake is made here it
goes most of the way through the series be-
fore it is detected; at least in most cases.
"As a comparison the first step in the Third
system is to set the middle C. Then tune a
perfect octave below which can be proved by
getting the C—E flat a minor Third above the
low C, and the E flat to middle C, a major
Sixth, to beat exactly the same. The E flat
is not necessary to be in tune but just mute
and put to beating a major Sixth so the beats
can be heard and then when the minor Third
and major Sixth are both beating the same
you have the first perfect octave and a measure
to put all your imperfections for an octave. You
will now have every step in your temperament
proved by comparative intervals.
"I will say here that I find many tuners have
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musical name
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not discovered that the so-called perfect octave
is very elusive and to the average ear it cannot
be detected just when it is perfect, as there
are no very audible beats when if you prove
the octave by the Fourth and Fifth and then
when tuning up an octave if you will hear the
Fifth beating and a more perfect Fourth you
will know your octave is still flat, and if the
Fourth is beating and the Fifth smooth you
will know that the octave is stretched or sharp.
I have never seen this discussed, but a trial
by any tuner will prove it, and it is one of the
many valuable things Mr. Faust gave to me.
"To continue the temperament the first Third
to be tuned is C to E and as the beats are so
audible they are easily heard, the Third is first
pulled to a pure major Third and then sharp-
ened until you can hear about five beats per
second and can be compared to the five ticks
per second of most first-class watches. Then
tune E to G sharp and compare C—E and
E—G sharp and the E—G sharp should beat
about two beats faster than C—E. The G
sharp to upper C should beat about two beats
faster than E—G sharp. As different pianos
show up more audible beats than others a stu-
dent can compare the sets of Thirds and then
divide the difference very easily. This is the
hardest step in the Third system, but a slight
mistake here in the Thirds is not nearly so
dissonant to the ear as having some Thirds
nearly smooth and others beating uncountable
as the majority of the average Fourth-Fifth
tuners. (Of course, I am not referring to the
tuning of men who can use any system and get
results of artistic quality.) Now from G sharp
to C sharp, a major Fifth below, we tune with
the C sharp on the sharp side, but here we have
the sure proof of the minor Third, C sharp, E
and then compare with E—G sharp and cause
the minor Third to beat about one beat faster
than the major Third above and you have a
contracted Fifth and a C sharp which you know
is correct. Then tune C sharp—F, a major
Third above with a slightly faster beat than the
C—E the major Third below. To prove this F
you have tests of the minor Third F—A flat
and the major Third A flat C above. Every
Fifth is proved the same as mentioned above.
Then try F with the C below and see how the
Fourth sounds.
The next Third is F—A,
which should now be a little faster than the
E—G sharp which you have tuned just below,
and to prove A is right try it with the E, a
Fourth below, and to prove a correct beating
Sixth try the A with the C below and the Sixth
C—A should beat about one beat faster than
the first Third you tuned, C—E.
"This has taken up the different intervals, and
to sum it up I think that when you have in
your mind the speed of the first Third C—E
you then have a comparison of about every in-
terval.
"A discord in the Thirds will be noticed much
more quickly than a Fourth or Fifth. If you
have the Thirds from the first C—E about
five beats per second and each Third increasing
slightly until you have reached G sharp—mid-
dle C I feel sure you will find no very bad
Fourths and Fifths. Mr. Faust first teaches us
how to tune the major and minor Thirds per-
fect, and then by steps we are taught how to
expand the major Thirds, Sixths and Fourths
and contract the minor Thirds and Fifths. We
are also taught to know how the natural untem-
pered scales would sound, but, of course, we
have no octaves then.
"I have tried the Fourth-Fifth system in the
F octave and did tune this way for some time
when I worked in a factory in New York, and
the reason I changed back to the Third system
is because of the more perfect results I felt I
had. As stated before, the beats are more
easily counted in the C—C octave, and to use the
proof of minor Thirds and even major Sixths
in the F—F octave is much more difficult as
PIANOS
the minor Thirds are so fast they are hard to
use for comparison.
Some have said they
liked the Fourth-Fifth system because there
were not so many different beats with their
speeds to use, but I consider that to learn and
know these different speeds is broadening our
education, and we can learn to know the speed
of these as we learn to know the different
words of our language.
"At various times I have instructed the men
who have come to my shop to work and have
tuned by the Fourth-Fifth system and in show-
ing them even the proofs of the correct Fifth
without guessing which side it is on and the
major Sixth, most of them have shown great
interest to know more about the Thirds, and
personally I think that while in your system you
use Thirds for proofs there are few Fourth-Fifth
tuners know anything about how Thirds should
beat and my experience for the past eleven years
with some of the best factory tuners has shown
they know nothing about them, and a large
per cent, of the pianos that come from the
factory have their Fourths and Fifths on the
wrong side, and any time I hear a piano that
sounds like a major scale was being played
when, by its composition I know it is minor, I
think of the tuner who has not been enlight-
ened on the Third system and the contracted
minor which will make a minor chord sound
as it should. Now I don't think it is because
the tuners don't want to learn how to set a
good temperament, but there are many striving
toward perfection who don't have the informa-
tion at hand to attain that perfection. If the
Fourth-Fifth men and the Third men will all
strive to help (also the Fourth-Fifth men try
and add a few Thirds to their knowledge) I feel
certain there will be more artistic work done
in the future than in the past. Personally, I
have always tried to share my opinions with
my striving fellow workers, and I always en-
joy exchanging personal experiences; and
some very valuable knowledge has been gained
by asking questions. So I am going to ask
you to tell us all you can about regulating
ivory by sets and the kind of equipment neces-
sary for a small shop now equipped with elec-
tric power and where the equipment can be
purchased. Respectfully yours, Floyd L. Ken-
yon, Greensboro, N. C."
Thanks, Mr. Kenyon. But you are wholly
wrong in supposing that a preliminary error
in tuning the first Fifth in my system will
necessarily or even probably be repeated through
the rest of the process. By my system any
such error must be detected at the Third step,
on the note D, by the trial of the Sixth F—D.
It seems hard for Thirds and Sixths men to
grasp the elementary fact that my system has
as many proofs, as close proofs, and as con-
venient proofs as theirs. We are not all guess-
workers who use my system. Tuners who have
studied my system with me know that exact-
ness is its leading feature. I might add that
the minor Third major Sixth proof for octaves
has been preached in these columns for at least
ten years. I also tune by Thirds and Sixths;
but I get them through the Fourths and Fifths;
thus insuring double accuracy.
All these matters, I hope, will now be brought
to a close within the next two weeks. J. C.
Miller, W. B. Manning, C. E. Hall, and one or
two others are to be heard from yet, and then
I hope to sum up the evidence and render an
opinion from the bench.
Communications for this department should
be addressed to William Braid White, care The
Music Trade Review, 373 Fourth avenue, New
York.
Geo. and Myron Glaser have purchased the
jewelry and music store of O. J. Weseman,
Pratt, Kan., and will conduct the business in
the future.
ORGANS
E5TEY PIANO COMPANY NEW YORK CITY-
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