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5. Press General Cancel to implement the change and exit the Console menu.
Note: The Console Display reads TRANSPOSER 0 TUNING 440.0 (default setting) when Master
Tuning is unlocked.
Adjusting Pitch
1. Unlock the Master Tuning (see Locking and Unlocking Master Tuning above).
2. Rotate the Alpha dial to adjust the tuning.
3. Press Cancel to implement the change.
Note: When the organ is turned off, tuning reverts to the default setting (A=440.0).
Temperaments
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in authentic interpretation of organ literature
written before the adoption of Equal Temperament tuning. Until the middle of the 18th century,
the relative pitches of the notes of the scale were chosen to favor music written in key signatures
with few sharps or flats; more remote keys produced varying degrees of aural distress. Many
composers of the day utilized moderately out of tune intervals to evoke momentary tension to the
listener. With the adoption of the Equal Temperament (Well-Tempered) tuning system, almost
universal today, all keys became equally out of tune, and the intentions of these earlier composers
were lost, to some degree.
The Rodgers T807 offers a choice of eight temperaments: Equal, Mean-Tone, Kirnberger,
Werckmeister I, Werckmeister III, Young I, Young II and Pythagorean. This selection of
temperaments allows the organist to hear these historical works as their composers heard them,
or to explore the application of unequal temperament to new music.
Ancient Temperaments
Pythagorean: Pythagoras (582-500 B.C.) was a brilliant Greek theorist and mathematician.
The Pythagorean temperament is characterized by pure fifths and fourths. The Pythagorean
theory founded a diatonic scale which served as a model throughout the Middle Ages.
Mean-Tone: Mean-Tone temperament improves on the Pythagorean tuning by slightly
contracting each of the four fifths needed to generate a major third. Major thirds and in-tune
fifths are slightly narrow, and the differences between the major and minor seconds are
smoothed out. Many artists now prefer Mean-Tone temperaments when performing 15th
through 17th century repertoire.
J.S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, written in 1722 and 1738-42, is a collection of 24 paired
preludes and fugues written in every major and minor key. The title refers to the use of a
temperament in which all keys are satisfactorily in tune, but not necessarily an absolutely equal
temperament.
