tired of et/ji discussion?

Aline Surman writes:

> The discussion about ji this or eq that is
> rather academic, I feel, with little substance at this point.
> ...
> 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 ...

As the source of ignition for the current fire, I feel responsible to answer
this charge. Well, I hate to admit it but you have a point there. In
looking back over the discussion I find that I myself got caught in the trap
of using words denoting value like "better" and "superior," which are
subjective and relative in the context of the judgement of a scale in its own
right. Sorry!

On the other hand, I would have to contend that our speculation has not been
entirely fruitless. My original question was *Why*, and was a genuine
attempt to understand the motivations people have for studying ET scales, as
well as an attempt to get us all thinking and talking about why we do what we
do. It can really help clarify your own vision of your work to think at that
level now and then, kinda the old forest/trees thing, ya know. I'd bet that
some of the people who had to scratch their heads to answer my question have
a better grasp of the purpose of their studies than they had before. I also
hoped it would spin off a number of other good topics, but that didn't pan
out as much as I would have liked.

So, I now have a pretty good understanding (I think) of the need to study ET
scales, although I'm still not convinced it's the most promising path for
musical developement at this historical juncture, and I'm quite sure I won't
be doing it any time soon. That's not a criticism of anyone who chooses to
do so.

> ... 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?

Do you have any absolute answers for these, or similar, questions, Aline? If
so, I'd be interested to see them. They seem to me rather like asking "What
car will be best for a vacation?" They depend on so many factors other than
those enumerated. In the cases involving music already written, chances are,
the scale used to write them is best. In the case of what someone feels,
whatever scale(s) the person is most comfortable with would generally be
best. It seems to me that the question belongs the other way around - "How
can I best express what I feel through a given scale"; and that the questions
of the appropriateness of any given scale are related more to principles of
theory than emotional content or message.

That's not to say that there are no patterns whatsoever observable between
particular scales and emotional states. Any analysis/anecdotes anyone has
regarding those connections would be fascinating reading for me. I'm vaguely
familiar with some of the ancient Greeks' opinions, what with governments
banning certain scales and all. Intriguing.

> 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.

Thanks for the timely encouragement! O. K., I'll shut up and go to my ivory
tower now.

David J. Finnamore
Just tune it!

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