As for God’s Joke—there is definitely another way to interpret this detail than the author provides.
The article refers to the adoption of the “even tempered scale” where each note is tuned slightly imperfectly in order to create conditions to play mostly in tune during music that involves multiple key changes; however, it is possible to tune instruments in a more precise manner, including the piano so that they are perfectly in tune for a certain piece of music written in a certain key or with few or no key changes. This kind of piano tuning is called “just intonation.”
So, the piano or any other instrument could be more precisely tuned so that music in a certain key sounds even better than it would on instruments tuned to a tempered scale. There is the potential for a story of greater perfection inside a story of seeking greater precision. Instead of taking this tack, the author refers to it as a kind of joke, invoking God’s sense of humor, whereas this is actually an artifact of human ingenuity. Beginning in the 18th century, western musicians decided, “yeah, this kind of tuning is good enough” given the trade off of listening to a concert and music that includes the effect of key changes or tuning instruments for every key that the group plays in.
(Look up “truck stop key change” for even more fun and insights.)
As for God’s Joke—there is definitely another way to interpret this detail than the author provides.
The article refers to the adoption of the “even tempered scale” where each note is tuned slightly imperfectly in order to create conditions to play mostly in tune during music that involves multiple key changes; however, it is possible to tune instruments in a more precise manner, including the piano so that they are perfectly in tune for a certain piece of music written in a certain key or with few or no key changes. This kind of piano tuning is called “just intonation.”
So, the piano or any other instrument could be more precisely tuned so that music in a certain key sounds even better than it would on instruments tuned to a tempered scale. There is the potential for a story of greater perfection inside a story of seeking greater precision. Instead of taking this tack, the author refers to it as a kind of joke, invoking God’s sense of humor, whereas this is actually an artifact of human ingenuity. Beginning in the 18th century, western musicians decided, “yeah, this kind of tuning is good enough” given the trade off of listening to a concert and music that includes the effect of key changes or tuning instruments for every key that the group plays in.
(Look up “truck stop key change” for even more fun and insights.)