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Adjusting the Piano Sound to Your Taste (Piano Designer)
Temperaments
What is the Duplex Scale?
The Duplex Scale is a system of sympathetically vibrating strings sometimes included in grand pianos.
These sympathetically vibrating strings are not struck directly with hammers, but sound by vibrating in sympathy
with the vibrations of other strings. By resonating with the overtones, these strings add richness and brilliance to
the sound. These sympathetic strings are added only to the high register above approximately C4. Since they do
not have a damper (a mechanism that stops them from sounding), they will continue sounding even after you play
a note and then release it to stop the sound of the string that was actually struck.
Temperament Qualities
Equal
In this tuning, each octave is divided into twelve equal steps. Every interval produces about the same
amount of slight dissonance.
Just Major
This tuning eliminates ambiguities in the fifths and thirds. It is unsuited to playing melodies and cannot
be transposed, but is capable of beautiful sonorities.
Just Minor
The Just tunings differ from major and minor keys. You can get the same effect with the minor scale as
with the major scale.
Arabic This tuning is suitable for the music of Arabia.
Kirnberger
This is an improvement of the Meantone and Just tunings that provides a high degree of freedom of
modulation. Performances are possible in all keys (
III).
Meantone This scale makes some compromises in just intonation, enabling transposition to other keys.
Pythagorean
This tuning, devised by the philosopher Pythagoras, eliminates dissonance in fourths and fifths.
Dissonance is produced by third-interval chords, but melodies are euphonious.
Werckmeister
This temperament combines the Meantone and Pythagorean tunings. Performances are possible in all
keys (first technique,
III).
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