Vallotti
Balanced well-temperament: natural keys pure, remote keys gently colored.
Quick Facts
- Creator
- Francesco Vallotti (c. 1754)
- Historical Era
- Baroque / Classical
- Formula Type
- cent-offsets
- Key Advantage
- Balanced well-temperament: natural keys pure, remote keys gently colored.
- Key Limitation
- Less dramatically distinct key character than Werckmeister III.
- Typical Use
- Late Baroque and Classical keyboard music; popular choice for historically-informed performances.
Mathematical Basis
This well temperament distributes the Pythagorean comma unevenly across the circle of fifths, giving pure or near-pure intervals in closely-related keys while making distant keys progressively more tempered.
Sound Character
Well temperaments feature varied key color: keys near C major sound purer and more consonant, while distant keys (many sharps or flats) have more harmonic tension and a brighter, more chromatic character. This gives each key a distinctive musical affect, making well temperaments particularly suited to multi-key keyboard repertoire.
Vallotti Frequency Table — All 12 Notes at A4=440Hz
| Note | Equal Temp. (Hz) | Vallotti (Hz) | Cents from Equal |
|---|---|---|---|
| C4 | 261.626 | 262.515 | +5.87 |
| Db4 | 277.183 | 277.497 | +1.96 |
| D4 | 293.665 | 293.998 | +1.96 |
| Eb4 | 311.127 | 312.536 | +7.82 |
| E4 | 329.628 | 329.255 | -1.96 |
| F4 | 349.228 | 350.809 | +7.82 |
| Gb4 | 369.994 | 369.994 | 0.00 |
| G4 | 391.995 | 392.881 | +3.91 |
| Ab4 | 415.305 | 416.244 | +3.91 |
| A4 | 440.000 | 440.000 | 0.00 |
| Bb4 | 466.164 | 467.747 | +5.87 |
| B4 | 493.883 | 492.769 | -3.91 |
Frequencies in Hz at A4=440Hz. Positive cents = sharper than equal temperament. Negative = flatter. Formula: f = f_equal × 2(cents/1200)
Historical Context
Vallotti originates from the Baroque / Classical era, developed by Francesco Vallotti (c. 1754). It was primarily used for Late Baroque and Classical keyboard music; popular choice for historically-informed performances..
Well temperaments emerged in the Baroque era as practical compromises between meantone purity and equal temperament flexibility. J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (1722) may have been composed with a specific well temperament in mind.
Who Uses Vallotti Today
Well temperaments are used today by harpsichordists, fortepiano players, and historically-informed keyboard performers. Many period instrument specialists choose specific well temperaments to match the repertoire being performed.
Tune with Vallotti — Get Tunable.
Tunable supports Vallotti and 15 other tuning systems including equal temperament, Pythagorean, just intonation, and well temperaments. See exact Hz values in real-time as you play.