et/ji discussion

Basically, although it's been said many times before, it's worth
saying again...equal temperaments were evolved to play music that
modulates to distant keys. The discussion about ji this or eq that is
rather academic, I feel, with little substance at this point. I certainly
agree that pure tunings are part of the Universal structure, and to be in
harmony with the Universe is the most worthy goal of life...however, if
you like music with chord changes, as I do, you gotta use some sort of
eq...at least, as far as I know, you do. So, we sacrifice the pureness
that comes with modal oriented music, and at what cost, I know not. But,
I love jazz, Bach, Bartok, Debussy, and lots of other music that
modulates...what's a feller to do? And, I do indeed love modal music as
well, and am studying like crazy to understand the mysteries of the
harmonic series better. Theoretically, on a fretless instrument, one
could play absolutely every note purely, in any key...can this be done in
reality? I don't know...to play "Donna Lee" by Charley Parker on a
fretless axe, with every note perfectly aligned with a natural ratio,
would be tough, indeed...perhaps possible, though.
Rather than engage in fruitless speculation about eq versus ji (which
for me is a non issue), or which eq is better than that one, we should
look at different issues, such as: which tuning will bebop sound best in?
How about bluegrass, or reggae, or Celtic folk music? Which tuning best
expresses what the Bedouins of Arabia feel? How about a guy in Argentina,
singing about how lonely he is...what tuning works best for him? What
about a European (say, German) keyboard player, who hears music with 4 or
5 voices...what tuning should he play in? What if a composer wants to
write about the death of his wife, whom he dearly loved...which tuning
system best expresses such feelings?
My point is simple...I am interested in music and composing, and I am
concerned about how to 1. say something meaningful and profound 2. learn
to play the shit out of my instrument, because the better my proficiency,
the deeper my expressive powers, plus I enjoy the challenge of trying to
"master" the guitar, which is an impossible task, but a worthy goal for
this life. The discussion of tunings without a corresponding body of
music to supplement it is quite boring, I'm afraid, and I increasingly
see this forum heading in exactly that direction. In fact, I know several
people who are losing interest in the forum for exactly this reason. Of
course, that's neither here or there, and the minds I encounter on my
computer are quite stimulating at times. Again, however, I find the
amount of great music, or virtuoso players (and that is indeed a
deceptive word, I know, but I am making a point) connected with alternate
tunings to be quite small, as opposed to the endless theorizing about
this or that tuning, or which one is "better". Yikes, guys...let's make
some monster music that touches people in their hearts, that makes the
world a better place to be, that fights injustice, that changes people's
consciousness for the better. Use a tuning that fits your musical needs,
that allows you to say the things you need to say. And, learn to play
your instruments and compose on a level that's much deeper than most of
the microdoodling that I've heard up to this point. Practice and
study...that's what it takes. We don't need to hear someone demonstrate
how cool a "just" scale sounds on a cheesy sounding synth; we need
masterful compositions, with skillful playing. Are we gonna get it? I
sure hope so. Because if we don't, the world at large is just going to
view us as a sort of quirky, fringe group, talking about vague subjects
that have little meaning to anyone's real life...and, that's a shame,
because there is such potential to use other tuning systems to change
music for the better...Hstick

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