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6) Temperament Setting
The CA piano offers not only equal temperament (the modern standard) but also immediate access to tempera-
ments popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. It should be interesting and educational to try
some of the different temperaments, although the equal temperament is dominant today.
The following temperaments are available:
Equal temperament (piano)
(Equal P. only)
Pure temperament <major>
(Pure major)
Pure temperament <minor>
(Pure minor)
Pythagorean temperament
(Pythagorean)
Meantone temperament
(Meantone)
Werckmeister III temperament
(Werckmeister)
Kirnberger III temperament
(Kirnberger)
Equal temperament (fl at)
(Equal Flat)
Equal temperament
(Equal Stretch)
User temperament
(USER)
Step 1
After pressing the VIRTUAL TECHNICIAN button, use the MENU buttons to select the temperament
function.
6 Temperament
= Equal(P.only)
The second line shows the temperament type.
This is the default temperament. If a piano sound is selected the tuning is
stretched like an acoustic piano (EQUAL TEMPERAMENT). If any other type of
sound is selected the tuning will be EQUAL (FLAT). An explanation of EQUAL
TEMPERAMENT and EQUAL TEMPERAMENT (FLAT) is provided later in this
section. If a piano sound is used in a layer with any other sound then both sounds
will use the EQUAL TEMPERAMENT (Stretched) tuning.
In this temperament, dissonance for thirds and fi fths is eliminated. Performance
using this temperament can be frequently observed in choral music.
Pure temperament <major> and pure temperament <minor> are different. The
same result can be obtained for minor keys.
In this temperament, dissonance for fifths is eliminated. This temperament is
characterized by the fact that it produces more beautiful melody sounds than chords.
In this temperament, dissonance of thirds is eliminated, and the extreme
discordance of the fifth in pure temperaments has been corrected. This
temperament produces more beautiful chords than pure temperaments.
For music with few accidentals, this temperament produces beautiful chords that
are similar to those of the meantone temperament, and as accidentals increase,
the temperament produces beautiful melody sounds that are similar to those of the
Pythagorean temperament. This temperament can realize the "nature of tonality"
intended by composers of classical music.
This is an "unstretched" equal temperament that divides the scale into twelve equal
semitones. This produces the same chordal intervals in all twelve keys, and has
the advantage of limitless modulation of the key. However the tonality of each key
becomes less characteristic and no chord is in pure consonance.
This is the most popular piano temperament. The hearing ability of a human is
uneven and is not as accurate with high frequency and low frequency as it is with
the middle range. This temperament's tuning is stretched to compensate for this so
the sound will be heard naturally to the ears. This "Stretched" equal temperament is
a practical variation of the "unstretched" equal temperament which was invented on
a mathematical basis.
You can create your own temperament by raising or lowering the pitch for each half
step.
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