Customer Reviews

Musical Temperaments

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is only a skimpy 70 pages long, not even 80 as the blurb says. It doesn't explain much more than the very basics of a few historical tuning systems. If you want the scoop in only 70 pages, more comprehensive info is available on the web. This is only of interest to university or other libraries who might want to stock a copy. Maybe useful for the CD examples if you really need this interactive tour. Note that the program that is installed by this CD does not run on Windows XP Home edition: MFC30.DLL is not found. Well, if you can find MFC30.DLL it might run...

I am the author of Musical Temperaments.

The technical problem a reader/reviewer described is solvable.
On Windows XP just go to the NT4ENG subdirectory of the CDROM
and run SETUP.EXE there. This will install the software, and all the necessary files will be installed.

The CDROM was designed and implemented before Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, therefore START.EXE will not recognize these OS's. Manual install of the Windows NT version will work.

Then, all the almost 400 sound files will be accessible.

I got the book as a used book, minus the CD-ROM, and for only $20, on Amazon Marketplace. The skimpy 70-page book isn't really even worth $20. I've seen much better books around for reasonable prices, and I rather wonder why the publisher expects anyone to pay nearly $100 for the book. As the anonymous customer who reviewed it earlier said, perhaps if you really want the CD it might be worth putting out the money, but as a reference on musical temperaments, even $20 is too much.

This book, short as it is, presents the rationale behind the development of the major Western musical temperaments in a clear and readable fashion. It is technically accurate and the sound examples are well-designed to make the differences between Pythagorean, pure, meantone, and tempered tunings as apparent to the ear as the text makes them clear to the mind.

You might want to look at Dr. Neuwirth's site first. This product is essentially a CD with an instruction book, and a $29.95 price would seem more in keeping with the amount of content, if undervaluing the quality of the work.