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It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

RE: Um, dunno if we are speaking the same language...

Maybe, but I used to tune a harpsichord entirely by ear, and maybe I didn't do a perfect job, but I'll bet it sounded a lot more like equal temperment than anything else. IMO most listeners get used to the equal tempered fifth, and anything else will sound strange, at least at first. [ed. - Actually the equal tempered fifth is very close to the just tempered fifth, other intervals are much further off. I guess it would be interesting to see if my harpsichord was closer to equal or just temperment.]

There used to be a series of tests online where you could test your musical ears, including a test that played two tones around 500 Hz closer and closer together until you couldn't tell which was sharper and which flatter. When I took the test repeatedly with no rest breaks, my ears grew progressively less sensitive to the difference in pitch. IMO, my ears and brain wanted to hear the two closely similar pitches as the same and gradually but increasingly rejected the dissonant difference. And so people get used to and accept the errors of equal temperment.



Edits: 11/14/11

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  • RE: Um, dunno if we are speaking the same language... - rbolaw 13:53:40 11/13/11 (0)

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