Musical Temperament, -^Mr. Hawkes's System ^ <^c. 7 



refrain from again endeavouring to call the attention of some 

 gentleman, possessed of good Instruments and the necessary 

 knowledge and experience in making experiments and cal- 

 culations in harmonics, and requesting him tj> employ the 

 best .professional Tuners to tune his instruments, without 

 any intimation to the Tuners, of his intentions or object ; 

 and before such instruments are put out of tune by use or 

 standing, to ascertain exactly, by the heats of the dilferent 

 conchords, by a monochord ; and by other methods also 

 for further satisfaction, the exact value of every interval in 

 an Octave, using single strings only : these experiments 

 varied and repeated, on Organs and Piano-Fortes, tuned by 

 as many good tuners as possible, would, by their results, 

 enable us to say, how far any one system whatever has been 

 adopted, or can be accomplished, by the method of tuning 

 in use, and within what limits the different tuners, or the 

 same persons at different times, do in practice fix each note. 

 Such an one would doubtless perform the most valuable 

 piece of service to the practical musician, and perhaps enable 

 him to profit from the labours of theorists in harmonics, 

 by enabling him with more certainty and facility, to ac- 

 complifch the '^tuning,*' with which by practice his auditors 

 are become acquainted, and wherewith most of them are 

 satisfied*, if the same did not lead to an amelioration of the 

 system* With such information before them, the musical 

 public would perhaps 'be enabled to judge, of the preten- 

 sions of the many musical quacks, who are almost every 

 year bringing forth some new and fanciful system of tem- 

 perament, (of which an almost inexhaustible fund yet lay 

 behind,) and crying up the same with a confidence, equalled 

 only by that with which rival empirics condemn them: 

 until at length the Science of Harmonics^ and the valuable 

 discoveries of Dr, Robert Smith oh the nature of imperfect 



* Let It always be recollected, that performances on perfect InsfnLmcnls of by 

 Voices, are free from defects %n harmony if skill and goed ears but direct them, 

 and that the present inquiry is limited to the use of Instruments with 12 

 strings or pipes in an octave, where, or evcu with double that nmmber of 

 fixed sounds, tcijiperameQts, or errors in harmony ere impossible to be Qvoitled. 



A 4 consonances * 



