what's real?

Haverstick here...a good discussion about the nature of the harmonic
series, eh? Here's a quote from Danielou's book which is very interesting
to me..."As noted by Raouf Yekta Bey, `Music, like the other mathematical
seciences, is a science whose laws are fixed and invariable. Just as two
and two make four in the East as well as in the West, the fundamental
laws of music apply at all times and for all peoples.`"
I know I'm out of my element just a bit in the math end of things,
but the basic principles are the issue here. Forgive me if I didn't get
it quite right, but I believe Starrett said that the Harmonic series was
more of a mental construct than a physical reality, because nothing in
Nature vibrates precisely at the frequencies of the Harmonic series. If
this be the case, then what's all the fuss about "just intonation" in the
first place? However, the above quote by Bey seems to be pointing to some
profound issues about music, issues which I have been giving great
thought to in the last few months. I have a feeling that there ARE exact
mathematical correspondences in the very fabric of sound, correspondences
of deep significance, relationships that, in the "old" days (and maybe
even now), could be applied to healing and other forms of extra musical
activities. It's been mentioned here before, but various texts mention
rather "magical" occurences connected to certain musical sounds, as in
the Book of the Hopi (by Frank Waters), when the Hopi spiritual leaders
healed themselves of severe wounds by the beautiful sounds of their
flutes. Danielou also mentions scales that were used for healing in the
ancient Middle East, and don't forget the battle of Jericho, when blasts
from trumpets made walls collapse.
For me, this is a serious pursuit, and one which I know next to
nothing about; but, I truly believe that there may be a lot more to music
than we know at this time. I believe it is quite possible that we (mainly
westerners and those influenced by our way of life) have lost a lot of
important knowledge pertaining to the foundations of sound, and how sound
can be used in more ways than just making music for our enjoyment or
entertainment. I believe that the Harmonic series is real, but perhaps
there's more to it than I know at this time.
If it IS true, as Bey says, that the laws of music are "fixed and
invariable", than what are we really doing when we create temperaments
that deviate from the purity of these laws? Do we know, or care? Do we
even believe there is a Creator who created the Harmonic laws? Again,
this is no joke to me, and this is a subject that I think is worthy of
much thought and study, as it may have a direct relationship to our
existance in this world. I also have noticed that, at least up to this
time, this is probably the least talked about subject on this forum; or,
anywhere else, for that matter. That is curious to me...Hstick

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You're probably best off starting with the Boston Microtonal Society.
Unfortunately I don't have their ph# here, but you can start with Julia
Werntz at ... oh heck, I can't get to my list of addresses from here. One
of the two is probably in the Boston phone book.

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There is a small microtonal scene inside Berklee College. Richard
Boulanger certainly teaches "non-standard" ideas, and people like
Elaine Walker still play 19ET rock on teh local scene. I would sugest
a contact with
Dr. Richard Boulanger
Professor
Music Synthesis Department
Berklee College of Music
1140 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02215-3693

email: rcb@media.mit.edu - rboulanger@berklee.edu
Berklee phone: 617 747 - 2485 - Berklee fax: 617 536 - 2257
might not be wasted.

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-------------------- Begin Original Message --------------------

Message text written by INTERNET:tuning@ella.mills.edu

"Elaine Walker still play 19ET rock on teh local scene. I would sugest
a contact with
"


-------------------- End Original Message --------------------

By the way, her name is Elaine Mullen now, and her group "Zia" also does
a fair amount of stuff in Bohlen's tuning (Pierce-Bohlen, whatever), and in
10TET.

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