(Neo-)Medieval midis: Machaut in Peppermint

Hello, everyone, and Aaron's great renditions of medieval pieces in
neo-medieval tunings (Peppermint and a 14:11 eventone, like a meantone
but with the regular major third equal to 14:11 rather than 5:4) have
encouraged me to try some retuned Peppermint versions of pieces by
Guillaume de Machaut sequenced into midi by other generous people who
made them available on the Web. Instrumentations have sometimes been
revised.

<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/Machaut-pourquoy-pep12.mid>
<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/Machaut-b11-pep12.mid>
<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/Machaut-b12-pep12.mid>
<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/Machaut-b25-pep12.mid>
<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/Machaut-b35-pep12.mid>

I chose these pieces especially in response to a question by Gene Ward
Smith as to medieval pieces with prominent thirds. Machaut often uses
them, for example as a "pregnant pause" at the end of a phrase or
section of music where their instability creates a feeling of forward
motion or "suspense" as we await some resolution. Either the third or
the sixth, or both together in a piece with three or more voices, can
play this role.

The first piece, actually a lament on domestic violence and abuse from
a woman's point of view, has lots of expressive unstable intervals.
The next to last, Machaut-b25-pep12.mid, has an opening with a pause
on a prolonged sonority of a third and sixth above the lowest voice,
maybe an "interrupted cadence" that might bring out the qualities of a
tuning.

Interesting questions are how clearly or distinctly the Scala pitch
bend adjustments make the sound "neo-medieval" -- and how successful
the result is for different listeners. I know that I loved Aaron's
arrangements, which were based on tuning tables rather than pitch
bends, sometimes a more reliable and efficient solution.

In Peppermint the regular major and minor thirds are around 416 and
288 cents, close to 14:11 and 13:11; the whole tone is around 208
cents, a bit larger than 9:8, and the semitone around 80 cents, close
to 22:21. Thus as applied to regular diatonic steps and intervals, it
is mostly a form of "accentuated" Pythagorean tuning, with the fifths
slightly impure (~2.14 cents) in the wide direction.

Again, thanks to Aaron for his fine midi renditions.

Peace and love,

Margo Schulter
mschulter@...