Re: Change Ringing

--- In MakeMicroMusic@y..., jacky_ligon@y... wrote:

> This is yet another spectral tuned composition where the tuning is
> derived from a composite sample of the four timbres used. The
> compressed octave tuning used here is as follows:
>
> Cents
> 0
> 188.423
> 361.020
> 457.515
> 949.843
> 1057.155
> 1198.347
>
> For those like myself, who are interested in Just Intonation, and
> have been following the recent threads about Spectral Tuning, allow
> me to say that this is *another* kind of JI - that which is tailor
> made for inharmonic timbres. It is a quest in itself and an
expansion
> of the concepts of conventional JI with harmonic timbres. Even
though
> we may not be able to speak about the same quality of consonance
that
> we experience with JI ratios played on harmonic timbres - because
> inharmonic timbres frequently have "beating" within the timbres
> themselves - when one matches the tuning to the partials of the
> instruments being used in the music, then the ensembles sound more
> consonant in their own unique way, because as one can easily see
and
> hear, when one plays dyads (or chords with more notes resulting
from
> combined melodies), in which the intervals align to the partials
> found in the timbre, it has an overall more resonant and sweet
sound.
>
> This whole idea is a matter of hot dispute amongst some, and in
> discussions I've have with former group member Kraig Grady, and
> others, they have stated that they feel the fundamentals are the
most
> important thing to tune by (please note: I have also tuned
inharmonic
> timbres to JI a plenty as well). *But* in the sense they were
> speaking of, the instruments had Helmholtz resonators (which make
> them able to produce strong fundamental tones). Idiophones however
do
> not (gongs, etc...), nor can we really say that inharmonic
electronic
> timbres do either, even though they may sometimes functionally
behave
> so.
>
> All I can affirm though, is that it is beautiful to me ears, and
IMHO
> it is such a rich and fertile field for creative exploration. One
> hugely important and fun part of this for me is how one may use
such
> ideas to create tunings fitted for the unique inharmonic timbres
> being used in a given composition, which can have radically
different
> partial structures, and yield totally different scales each time.

Hi Jacky,

This was a wonderful and inspiring statement, and I completely
understand where you're coming from!

Wouldn't it be fair to say, though, that the scales you're deriving
are simply the analogues to a single harmonic series in ordinary JI?

May I suggest that, just as most music with harmonic timbres is not
based on harmonic series scales but rather on JI and tempered
periodicity blocks, that an analogous means of construction (based on
the intervals in the spectra you're working with) could be a most
fruitful approach for taking fuller advantage of the effects you've
described above, while also adding melodic features you'll probably
like?

Should you be interested in persuing this further, you could respond
on the main tuning list, perhaps with a spectrum or two of interest.

Highest regards,
Paul

--- In MakeMicroMusic@y..., jacky_ligon@y... wrote:

> What is your opinion about this method of deriving the tuning from
an
> FFT of a composite sample of all the timbres used in a composition?

Hmm . . . one would probably be interested in sub-systems of this
where different instruments play different notes depending on what
other instuments are playing . . . sounds complicated. Let's explore
the one-timbre case first, on the tuning list . . . that alone could
get really interesting!

> 3. The easy one. Finding a tuning for a single pre-exisiting
timbre.
> This is where to me, playing the spectrum as a scale can be the
most
> effective.

Well, I think we can do even better . . .