Zarlino (1558)
Smith (1749)
Aaron (1523)
Huygens (1661)
Holder (1694)
Keller (1707)
Holden (1770)
Silbermann (1714)
Marsh (1809)
Romieu (1755)
Zarlino (1558) |
Smith (1749) |
Aaron (1523) |
Huygens (1661) |
Holder (1694) |
Keller (1707) |
Holden (1770) |
Silbermann (1714) |
Marsh (1809) |
Romieu (1755) |
Above, the meantone temperaments all had four keys unplayable; you can see the four M3 which are expanded far beyond the red horizon line representing the width of major thirds in ET. These also had a single expanded "wolf" fifth on Ab, quite unpleasant to the ear.
Below, the "modified meantone" attempts brought the wolf fifth down, and spread the M3 imperfections across more of the M3s. Notice that the shape of the chart starts to resemble extreme Well temperaments.
 Fisher (1818) |
 D'Alembert (1752) |
 Hawkes (1807) |
 Britannica (1797) |
 Secor #3 (1975) |