6
SELECTED TUNING BIBLIOGRAPHY
Compiled by Peter Middleton
August 2012
Books & Articles
Averitt, Frances Lapp. “Tuning with Difference Tones.” Flute Talk, April 1986, 25-27.
Barbour, J. Murray. Tuning and Temperament: A Historical Survey, 2nd ed.
East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1953.
Benade, Arthur H. Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics. Revised edition. New York: Dover Publications, 1990.
Includes good basic information about woodwind acoustics.
Benson, David J. Music: A Mathematical Offering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Thorough coverage of scales and temperaments.
Blackwood, Easley. The Structure of Recognizable Diatonic Tunings. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985.
Boehm, Theobald. The Flute and Flute Playing in Acoustical, Technical, and Artistic Aspects. New York: Dover Publications, 1964.
Bosanquet, R. H. M. An Elementary Treatise on Musical Intervals and Temperament (London 1876). Edited by Rudolf Rasch. Utrecht: The Diapason Press, 1987.
Brown, Rebekah Ann. “Dynamics of Intonation in Performances by Artist Violinists.” Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1996.
Coltman, John. “Flute Intonation in Performance,” The Flutist Quarterly (Fall 1998): 42-47.
Demany, Laurent and Catherine Semal. “Pitch versus Brightness of Timbre: Detecting Combined Shifts in Fundamental and Formant Frequency.” Music Perception, Fall 1993, 1-14.
Study of whether tone color influences perceived pitch. Concludes that pitch and brightness of timbre are independent perceptual dimensions, and that this relationship may depend on context of some tasks and not others.
Denis, Jean. Treatise on Harpsichord Tuning. (Translated and edited by Vincent J. Panetta, Jr.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
One of the first (1650) detailed descriptions clearly directed to practicing musicians of the application of one-quarter comma meantone temperament applied to the harpsichord.
Di Veroli, Claudio. Unequal Temperaments. Buenos Aires: Artes Graficas Farro, 1978.
Doty, David B. The Just Intonation Primer: An introduction to the theory and practice of Just Intonation. San Francisco: The Just Intonation Network, 1993.
Duffin, Ross W. How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care). New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007.
Maintains that the exclusive use of equal temperament in modern performance has compromised harmony.
Ellis, Alexander J. and Arthur Mendel. Musical Pitch. Amsterdam: Frits Knuf, 1968.
Articles covering the history of musical pitch, with Mendel clarifying and extending the work of Ellis.
Folkers, Catherine. “Playing in Tune on a Baroque Flute.” Traverso, January 1998, 1-4.
Fransson, Frans. “The Scale in Played Music.” Swedish Journal of Musicology, 56: 49-54.
Scales played alone by flute, oboe, and violin have intervals stretched upwards as scale ascends. Octaves were stretched about 15 cents.
Goode, Elizabeth. “Fundamentals of Intonation.” Flute Talk, December 2005, 14-20.
Goodway, Martha and Jay Scott Odell. The Historical Harpsichord: The Metallurgy of 17th and 18th Century Music Wire. Stuyvesant, New York: Pendragon Press, 1987.
Includes discussion of the inharmonicity of strings used on the harpsichord, and of stretched tuning on the piano.
Haynes, Bruce. A History of Performing Pitch – The Story of “A.” Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2002.
An extensive survey of European pitch levels from the 16th century to today.
Helmholtz, Hermann L. F. On the Sensations of Tone. New York: Dover Publications, 1954.
A classic early book on physiological and musical acoustics, and probably the greatest single contribution to the psychology of hearing. Helmholtz was a strong advocate for Just Intonation.
Isacoff, Stuart. Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization. New York: Vintage Books, 2001.
The paperback edition includes an Afterword that “expands the technical backdrop on which the original story was placed.” (Isacoff 2001)
Jorgensen, Owen. The Equal Beating Temperaments: A Handbook for Tuning Harpsichords and Forte-Pianos, with Tuning Techniques and Tables of Fifteen Historical Temperaments. Raleigh: The Sunbury Press, 1981.
Jorgensen, Owen. Tuning the Historical Temperaments by Ear. Marquette: Northern Michigan University Press, 1977.
Keislar, Douglas Fleming. “Psychoacoustic Factors in Musical Intonation: Beats, Interval Tuning, and Inharmonicity.” Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1991.
A detailed examination of whether the perception of intonation in music is dependent on the actual interval tuning rather than the beat rate among partials. Excellent bibliography.
Kellner, Herbert Anton. The Tuning of My Harpsichord, 2nd ed. Frankfurt: Verlag Das Musikinstrument, 1980.
Klop, G. C. Harpsichord Tuning. Garderen, Holland: Werkplaats voor Clavecimbelbouw (distributed in the U.S. by The Sunbury), 1974.
Simple descriptions of various temperaments and how to tune them on the harpsichord.
Kohut, Daniel L. Instrumental Music Pedagogy: Teaching Techniques for School Band and Orchestra Directors. Champaign: Stipes Publishing, 1996.
Includes considerable practical information on tuning and basic musical acoustics.
Kopiez, Reinhard. “Intonation of Harmonic Intervals: Adaptability of Expert Musicians to Equal Temperament and Just Intonation.” Music Perception, Summer 2003: 383-410.
Concludes that “even in expert musicians, intonation is not determined by abstract tuning systems but is the result of interaction among compositional features, the acoustics of the particular musical instrument, and deviation patterns in specific intervals.” (Reinhard 2003)
Krell, John. Kincaidiana – A Flute Player's Notebook. Culver City, California: Trio Associates, 1973.
Includes Kincaid’s suggestions about tuning as well as some difference tone trios.
Levitin, Daniel J. This Is Your Brain on Music. New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Provides a scientific understanding of how humans experience music.
Lindley, Mark. Lutes, Viols & Temperaments. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.
Discussion of issues involved when applying Pythagorean, Equal, Meantone, and Just systems to fretted instruments such as viols and lutes.
Lloyd, L. S. and Hugh Boyle. Intervals, Scales, and Temperaments, 2nd ed. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1979.
Loosen, Franz. “The Effect of Musical Experience on the Conception of Accurate Tuning.” Music Perception, Spring 1995: 291-306.
Violinists, pianists, and non-musicians evaluated scales in various tuning systems. Results showed that violinists preferred Pythagorean scales to equal-tempered scales; pianists preferred equal-tempered to Pythagorean scales; both violinists and pianists judged just-tuned scales to be less accurately tuned than either Pythagorean or equal-tempered scales; nonmusicians did not show any preference. This study confirms that conception of accurate tuning is determined by musical experience rather than by characteristics of the auditory system.
Loy, Gareth. Musicmathics: the Mathematical Foundations of Music. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2006. Thorough treatment of musical scales, tuning, and intonation. Also excellent chapters on the physical, geometrical, and psychological basis of sound.
Mathieu, W. A. Harmonic Experience: Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to Its Modern Expression. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 1997.
Mathieu draws from many musical traditions, and encourages singing and playing various combinations of notes in tune as a way to understand the ambiguities and possibilities of equal temperament.
McLeod, Philip. “Fast, Accurate Pitch Detection Tools for Music Analysis.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 2008.
Describes development of the “Tartini Tuner” real-time pitch measurement software and its applications for musicians.
Neuwirth, Erich. Musical Temperaments. Vienna/New York: Springer-Verlag, 1997.
Explains the principles behind various musical temperaments. Includes many illustrations and a CD-ROM with audio examples demonstrating each temperament.
Obgushi, Kengo. “The Octave Enlargement Phenomenon and Its Origin.” Electronics and Communication in Japan, 62A (6): 11-18.
Describes a theory to predict the psychological octave and why stretched octaves are preferred.
Partch, Harry. Genesis of a Music. New York: Da Capo Press, 1974.
Partch was a visionary composer, theorist, and creator of musical instruments, and a strong advocate of various forms of Just Intonation. Chapter 15 is an excellent overview of the history of tuning and intonation.
Podnos, Theodor. Intonation for Strings, Winds, and Singers: A six month course. Meutchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1981.
Discusses Tartini’s approach to tuning, and Campagnoli’s applications of Pythagorean tuning. More than half the book is devoted to the placement of pitches within various chordal structures. Interesting perspective from a string player’s point of view. Includes pitch analyses of performances by several well known violinists.
Potter, Chris. Seven Steps to Better Intonation. Nashua, New Hampshire: Falls House Press, 2000.
Exercises to improve intonation, and charts to fill in to keep track of progress.
Reynolds, Verne. Intonation Exercises for Two Horns. Century City, California: Wimbledon Music, Inc., 1980.
Includes exercises for each interval from unison to the octave. Can be played by any two instruments and transposed as needed.
Schellenberg, E. Glenn. “Asymmetries in the Discrimination of Musical Intervals: Going Out-of-Tune Is More Noticeable Than Going In-Tune.” Music Perception, Winter 2002: 223-248.
Smith, Fenwick. “Keeping Your Temper: A Flutist’s Guide to Intonation,” The Flutist’s Handbook: A Pedagogy Anthology. Santa Clarita, California: The National Flute Association, 1998.
Useful information, but one of many articles that describe the piano (incorrectly) as being equally tempered.
Snow, Donald Bradley. “A Conductor’s Guide to Wind Instrument Deficiencies: A Practical Addendum to the Undergraduate Conducting Text.” D.M.A. dissertation, University of Southern Mississippi, 2006.
Spell, Eldred. “Scales: An Incomplete Look at What Every Flutist Should Know,” The Flutist Quarterly (Spring 2012): 20-23. Excellent overview of efforts to improve the modern flute scale written by a real expert.
Steblin, Rita. A History of Key Characteristics in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth
Centuries. 2nd ed. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2002.
Sullivan, Anita T. The Seventh Dragon: The Riddle of Equal Temperament. Lake Oswego, Oregon: Metamorphous Press, 1985.
Takes a new look at equal temperament through the eyes of a piano tuner and presents some of the alternatives.
Tipton, Albert. “An Approach to Just Intonation by Employment of Difference Tones,” The Flutist’s Handbook: A Pedagogy Anthology. Santa Clarita, California: The National Flute Association, 1998.
Vos, Joos. “Purity Ratings of Tempered Fifths and Major Thirds.” Music Perception, 1986, 3: 251-257.
Study showing beats to be important for perceived intonation of both intervals and musical passages.
Weisberg, Arthur. The Art of Wind Playing. Galesville, Maryland: Meredith Publications, 2007.
Detailed and highly practical information about the woodwind instruments and their use in ensembles.
Werckmeister, Andreas. Musicalische Temperatur (Quedlingurg 1691). Edited by Rudolf Rasch. Utrecht: The Diapason Press, 1983.
White, Joanna. “Intonation - Just and Tempered.” Flute Talk, April 2002, 8-13.
Wilkinson, Scott R. Tuning In: A Basic Guide to Alternate Scales, Temperaments and Microtuning Using Synthesizers. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Books, 1988.
Good overview of the basic principles and history of tuning and temperament, and includes a section on how we perceive and distinguish musical sounds (psychoacoustics).
Wye, Trevor. Practice Book for the Flute, Volume 4: Intonation. London: Novello, 1983.
Includes discussion of the harmonic series and its application to the flute, just and equal tempered scales, application of difference tones to tuning, and numerous excellent exercises to help develop tuning awareness.
Wye, Trevor. Proper Flute Playing: A Companion to the Practice Books. London: Novello, 1988.
Discusses general intonation issues as well as specific suggestions for note endings, and playing loudly and softly in tune.
Wye, Trevor, William Bennett, and Eldred Spell. “Cooper’s Scale Revisited.” Bennett, Spell, Wye, March 2011.
Young, Robert W. Making Sense Out of Cents. Oak Brook, Illinois: C. G. Conn, 1976.
Includes tables of frequency ratios and corresponding cents in equally tempered and just scales.
Web Sites
British Flute Society (www.bfs.org.uk)
Note Robin Jakeways’ “Hoots, Hertz, and Harmonics” series
Flute Acoustics (www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/flute)
An excellent and comprehensive site devoted to flute and other woodwind acoustics. Includes the "ultimate" flute fingering chart.
Smart Music (www.smartmusic.com)
Accompaniment software that includes a versatile tuner, metronome, and recording capability.
http://www.ppexpressivo.co.uk/
Excellent site with a clever tuning calculator that shows effects of each tuning system on the intervals within the system.
http://www.pianosupply.com/tuners/490st.html#appendixc
Charts showing the measured amount of deviation from Equal Temperament for pianos of various sizes. Excellent graphics that show pianos are clearly not equally tempered, though a concert grand comes closest.
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-centsratio.htm
Excellent cents calculation tools.
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-pitchchange.htm
Calculators for change of pitch with change of temperature.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Excellent free recording software.
Tuning CDs and Other References
Schwartz, Richard A. The Tuning CD. Cherry Hill: Richard A. Schwartz, 1997.
(Order from www.thetuningcd.com or P.O. Box 1703, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-0090.
The Tuning CD is also available on iTunes and as an Amazon MP3 download.
http://www.dwerden.com/soundfiles/intonationhelper/the_tuning_cd_booklet_free_version.pdf
Excellent details about using a tuning CD, and basic instrument acoustics
http://www.nfaonline.org/Annual-Convention/Convention-Chronicles/
All of the materials contained in the packet mentioned at the beginning of the presentation are available on the NFA website under “Convention Chronicles” for 2012.
Acknowledgements
I would like to add a special note of thanks to Penelope Turgeon and Zachary Weiss who provided invaluable suggestions on ways to improve the Power Point presentation.
Anyone with questions related to the presentation is welcome to contact me at: