[ARSCLIST] Temperament--was: Are we at the end of the road musically??

[Steven Barr <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Olhsson" <olh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Don Cox wrote:
> >...many of these arguments fall down because so many instruments today
> >are tuned in equal temperament, so that almost all chords are slightly
> >wrong.
>
> It's ironic that only synthesizers have ever actually been tuned to equal
temperament. We have enough computational power available for synthesizers and
samplers to actually play in tune these days but we haven't sophisticated enough
music education for most musicians to understand the need for this. Instead we
use signal processing to tune real instruments and singers to equal temperament.
>
> It's a situation that would be hilarious if it weren't killing the market for
music.
>
The question would be this: given that trying to calculate from either "end"
of a musical scale will inevitably result in different "theoretical frequencies"
for the notes...is "equal temperament" actually possible?

Steven C. Barr