One of the science channels I subscribe to on YouTube posted this video. It's a good explanation of what is Temperament about, using a piano to explain it.
There is also a good article that I have posted before on the subject from Slate that I have posted before that goes into the history. There have been lots of different ways to tune pianos over time and this explains some of that. Unfortunately the article is old and the audio links don't go to samples anymore, but it's still a good article.
I found that interesting. Thanks for posting. I go back and forth on temperaments, but in some ways we are lucky we have an instrument where it is practical to have a choice.
Piano tuning is the art of tuning imperfect intervals perfectly.
One thing not covered in the video is that piano wire has a factor of stiffness at the fixed points, changing the ratios a little as the upper harmonics come into play. Not so noticeable on longer strings in which that stiffness factor is a very small percentage of the overall string length. ---------- The Iceman
On reading the article Nate posted some time ago, I bought the book being reviewed, "How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care), by professor Ross W. Duffin", and found it quite interesting.
The video above sums up the main point quite well.
