On October 20, 2003, Dr. Herbert L. Huestis, contributing editor of The Diapason, hosted a "Well-Tuning" seminar for 20 members of the British Columbia Chapter of the Piano Technician's Guild. A collection of keyboard instruments was assembled for the tuning demonstrations: two organs, three harpsichords, and five pianos, including a fortepiano. None of these instruments were tuned in equal temperament.
The tuning demonstration began with a shop organ that serves as a voicing machine, set up with a lightly-winded Italian principal, tuned in 1/4-comma meantone. A number of piano tuners present were hearing meantone tuning for the first time. This initial demonstration was a good way to prepare their ears for the well-tuning temperaments to come.
A second organ was tuned in the Kellner "Bach" tuning, and mention was made of Martin Pasi's recent organ at St. Cecilia's Cathedral in Omaha, where Christian Wegsheider's "20 note wohltemperiert" combines meantone and well-tuning in one instrument featuring octaves with 20 pipes each.
The second part of the presentation was devoted to harpsichord tuning, featuring Vallotti (1750), Young (1799) and Handel (1780) temperaments. The tuning instructions for these three temperaments were explained, using Excel charts as visual aids.
The final segment of this discussion was a presentation of two Victorian temperaments on five pianos, including a fortepiano. Musical examples were played on the Moore and Broadwood temperaments, recorded by Alexander Ellis in 1885. These Victorian tunings were considered "equal" at the time and were collected as a record of the work of tuners in the leading piano manufacturing houses of the day. Several fine pianists were present, and they put the pianos to the test by playing 19th-century music while listening to the increased key color that was available with each temperament. Special accolades went to the playing of Chopin preludes on pianos tuned in the Broadwood temperament. It was interesting that the piano technicians present tended to favor more colorful temperaments, rather than those closer to equal temperament!
Some aspects of machine tuning were discussed, but there was a strong consensus among this group that aural tunings were superior and that electronic devices were most valuable when used to record "best tunings" for specific pianos. At the conclusion of this seminar, it was evident that well-tuning could be a significant factor in bringing out the finest musical qualities of pianos and harpsichords. In western Canada, organ tuning in equal temperament is almost universal, with the exception of the Martin Pasi organ in West Vancouver and a John Brombaugh organ in Victoria. Hopefully, new organs in the area will also share some form of well-tuning as events like this are held to encourage broader thinking in musical terms. However, it was agreed that equal tuning is so entrenched amongst the players that well-tuning of most organs might have to wait for another time and another place.
