salinas

I received the following request from Christopher Stembridge, the early
music harpsichordist and authority on split-key instruments. Can anyone
help?

>X-Sender: stembridge@popmail.iol.it
>Date: Thu, 03 Jun 1999 15:55:41 +0200
>To: alves@hmc.edu
>From: Christopher Stembridge <stembridge@iol.it>
>Subject: salinas
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>
> Hi!
> I play various intruments including the 19-note chromatic hpd (I will
>probably be at the SEHKS conclave in Greensboro March 9-11 next with
>Willard Martin's reconstruction of such an instrument). As you may know
>Salinas had an organ made for him in Rome wch he took back to Spain.
>Unfortunately he never described it. From his discussion of tuning I infer
>that this instrument had a keyboard with enough split keys (including 2
>different Ds) to give just intonation. Have you, or do you know anyone who
>has, dealt with this aspect of Salinas?
>
>Best
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Christopher Stembridge, Wiesen 167, 39040 PFITSCH (BZ), Italy.
>Fax/Tel +39 0472 76 73 66
><http://www.continuo.com/stembridge/chris.htm>
>

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^ Bill Alves email: alves@hmc.edu ^
^ Harvey Mudd College URL: http://www2.hmc.edu/~alves/ ^
^ 301 E. Twelfth St. (909)607-4170 (office) ^
^ Claremont CA 91711 USA (909)607-7600 (fax) ^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> From: alves@orion.ac.hmc.edu (Bill Alves)
>
> I received the following request from Christopher Stembridge, the early
> music harpsichordist and authority on split-key instruments. Can anyone
> help?
>
> >X-Sender: stembridge@popmail.iol.it
> >Date: Thu, 03 Jun 1999 15:55:41 +0200
> >To: alves@hmc.edu
> >From: Christopher Stembridge <stembridge@iol.it>
> >Subject: salinas
> >Mime-Version: 1.0
> >
> > Hi!
> > I play various intruments including the 19-note chromatic hpd (I will
> >probably be at the SEHKS conclave in Greensboro March 9-11 next with
> >Willard Martin's reconstruction of such an instrument). As you may know
> >Salinas had an organ made for him in Rome wch he took back to Spain.
> >Unfortunately he never described it. From his discussion of tuning I infer
> >that this instrument had a keyboard with enough split keys (including 2
> >different Ds) to give just intonation. Have you, or do you know anyone who
> >has, dealt with this aspect of Salinas?
> >
> >Best
> >

The 19-tone Salinas instrument is considered to have tuned in meantone, and as
Salinas was the first to propose 1/3-comma meantone and give its measurements, the
instrument could in fact have been virtually in 19-tone equal temperament. See
Barbour or Jorgenson for more info. As for the specific organ mentioned here, I
don't know.