[TheOtherHobbes]

It's easy to set up just intonation digitally.

The problem is that most classical music modulates to other keys. So why not just set up some switches or programmed changes?

Because as you modulate there's a grey area in which you're not fully in one key or the other. If you interpolate the intervals as you go through this area, it sounds wrong. If you switch to a new tuning when you land in the new key, that sounds wrong too.

Equal temperament solves the problem by being a good-enough compromise. All the intervals are slightly off, but they're off by a consistent amount, so - paradoxically - key changes become smoother.

[isolli]

Note that violinists (and cellists, and others) are not constrained by their instrument and can play in different temperaments depending on the situation.

[jancsika]

Can and do are two different things. I rarely hear string players talk about more than "sweetening" a note that is an important arrival in a phrase.

I've also never heard about a systematic strategy string players use to a) analyze a tonal piece for pivot points in a modulation, b) temper all the notes going forward from that pivot to fit whatever tuning system they are using.

I've seen various approaches for microtones and idiosyncratic tunings for single pieces of modern music, but those are fairly static things that the players practice and perform. It's not a system they apply dynamically to the standard rep.

Also keep in mind that string players have an added constraint that the keyboard does not-- if you give a cellist a sudden, large leap it can be difficult for them to even find the note at all.

[Tor3]

> Also keep in mind that string players have an added constraint that the keyboard does not-- if you give a cellist a sudden, large leap it can be difficult for them to even find the note at all.

A professional cellist? No. They'll find the note. And that goes for all pro (or just good) string players, fretless instrument or fretted instrument.

[chrisweekly]

Right - because they're fretless. Same goes for slide guitar.

[dharma1]

And the human voice