what the world needs now (is not another love song)

Wally et al,

used to be a monocord and a small lyre/ harp were the bomb for getting
started.

I guess thats just old school thinking.

I can't recommend enough just picking up a guitar or making a cheesy harp
and playing either open strings of fretted things, or plucking strings whose
sound is found.

Train your ear? Find a perfect fifth above a drone, and find out how many
"other" perfect fifths you can find.

Twiddle sound, not knobs. I'm not a technophobe. I am now chest deep in
state of the art gizmos, and loving it. But I didn't start here. I don't
mean to say that the route your on is wrong, it is fine. But all this talk
about electric this and that for learning JI is rubbish. The greatest
thinkers EVER in JI never even used electricity to learn. Ears work in the
dark.

Rant over, good luck!
GZ

G,

{you wrote...}
>Twiddle sound, not knobs. I'm not a technophobe.

Just a heretic. <g>

>I am now chest deep in state of the art gizmos, and loving it.

Sounds like Dick Cheney.

>But all this talk about electric this and that for learning JI is rubbish. >The greatest thinkers EVER in JI never even used electricity to learn. >Ears work in the dark.

So true, G. There are many paths to hearing the things we want to hear, so don't close the door on any of them. I know plenty of people who have built simple Harmonic Canons, including:

http://www.corporeal.com/art_inst/showinst/inst96.html

and

http://www.corporeal.com/art_inst/showinst/inst96.html

...so, yes, G is right as well: non-electric works, vocalizations work, retuned guitars, etc, etc. One only need supply willingness!

Cheers,
Jon

[George Zelenz wrote:]
>Twiddle sound, not knobs. I'm not a technophobe. I am now chest deep in
>state of the art gizmos, and loving it. But I didn't start here. I
>don't mean to say that the route your on is wrong, it is fine. But all
>this talk about electric this and that for learning JI is rubbish. The
>greatest thinkers EVER in JI never even used electricity to learn. Ears
>work in the dark.

Well, I have to disagree. Sure, acoustic instruments are the cat's
meow, but twiddling electronic knobs is the best way to listen to
various tunings precisely. "Rubbish"? Not in my book! I can't claim
to belong to the cadre of "greatest thinkers ever" (in JI or anything
else), but I _can_ lay claim to having benefitted greatly from having
tunable electronic synths under my hands. If I can ever retrofit
adaptive tuning to an acoustic piano, I'll be in heaven!

I guess I don't see why electronic and acoustic instruments should be
pitted against each other, with one declared a "winner" by one camp,
and a "loser" by the other. I would rather encourage everyone to make
use of all available instruments of every sort.

I agree that ears work best in the dark. Luckily it is perfectly
possible, even easy, to listen to music, acoustic or electronic, in any
lighting conditions one desires.

JdL

Hi, George. I definitely agree that spending a lot of money on
electronic goodies is not necessary. A $50 sound-card in a PC or Mac
is plenty to start with, with a used 61-note keyboard a nice addition.
Free software such as Midi Relay, Scala, and FTS (not quite free, but
close) completes the picture for basic (or even not-so-basic) tuning
exploration.

I guess your use of the word "rubbish" pushed my button. Thanks for
the clarification!

JdL

Hi there,

added a little improv. in Werckmeister III to my improvisations
page, this time in 7/4 as 4/4 + 3/4 which is a favourite
time sig.

http://members.tripod.com/~robertinventor/tunes/improvisations.htm

Looks as if my p.c. may need to go in for repair;
if so, may be off-line for a few days,...

Robert

Hi George

Maybe I need to better explain myself. I believe it was I who started
this string of posts when I mentioned some inexpensive way to get
started with exploring tuning theory and JI using the computer.

I in fact have sat at my Hammond organ and sang scale steps to a
drone and was very happy when I (for the first time) heard a true
perfect fifth as well as a third. I then played the specific tone on
the keyboard itself which was a third above the tonic and a fifth
above the tonic and to my surprise they sounded different!

However, my ultimate goal aside from learning about JI is to
MakeMicroMusic;) using the computer so I can upload my music to this
group for others to hear. That's it in a nut shell!

You have a point when you said, "Twiddle sound, not knobs." But I'm
pretty sure I'll eventually "wind up like yourself - chest deep in
state of the art "software" and gizmos, and loving every moment of
it. You gotta admit, flicking on the computer is alot easier than
hooking up rack load of audio gear!

I'm going to settle in with Scala and FTS for now as well as a real
inexpensive audio and midi sequencer by Power Tracks Called Power
Tracks Pro Audio. It only costs $29 US dollars belive it or not. I
don't think it allows for alternate tunings but at least its a start
in sequencing.Check it out at,
http://www.powertracks.com/powertracks.htm

Your correct in saying, "The greatest thinkers EVER in JI never even
used electricity to learn". Believe me I totally agree! I'm reminded
about it everytime I attempt to learn the math involved!

Please, don't get me started on the math, its Friday!:)

Stay Well
Wally

--- In MakeMicroMusic@y..., George Zelenz <ploo@m...> wrote:
> Wally et al,
>
> used to be a monocord and a small lyre/ harp were the bomb for
getting
> started.
>
> I guess thats just old school thinking.
>
> I can't recommend enough just picking up a guitar or making a
cheesy harp
> and playing either open strings of fretted things, or plucking
strings whose
> sound is found.
>
> Train your ear? Find a perfect fifth above a drone, and find out
how many
> "other" perfect fifths you can find.
>
> Twiddle sound, not knobs. I'm not a technophobe. I am now chest
deep in
> state of the art gizmos, and loving it. But I didn't start here. I
don't
> mean to say that the route your on is wrong, it is fine. But all
this talk
> about electric this and that for learning JI is rubbish. The
greatest
> thinkers EVER in JI never even used electricity to learn. Ears work
in the
> dark.
>
> Rant over, good luck!
> GZ