Lydia comments on x/y/z scale coding system used by Bill Alves

Beware!!!!!,,,,, long posting on scalecoding from Lucy follows this short
one.

Lydia Ayers queried the use of the scale x/y/z notation.

I agree with her implied criticism of the ambiguity of this system.

I have used it for many years, yet to mean something totally
different, and much more precise than the vague current Alves usage.

I tackled Bill on this recently, off-list, and he provided a
(to my mind) lame justification for his continued use of the
pattern, which was originally devised in about 1989 by John Gibbon,
Jonathan Glasier and myself in Los Angeles and widely distributed
in pamphlet form.

My note to him follows on the next posting:

In LucyTuning the size of the Large (L) and hence all others is very
specific. L(1200/(2*pi)) cents.

The scalecoding, which I use is universally applicable for all meantone
tuning systems (which also of course includes most and many ET tunings).
For meantones, other than LucyTuning, the value of the Large interval
needs to be be specified.
This is also the interval between the fourth and the fifth interval,
and may be considered as the divergence interval.



This then gives us a clear and precise way to define all meantone and
associated modes, megamodes, and scales.
[Further tunings may be included if the octave ratio of other than exactly
2 is specified.]

Apologies for the long postings, yet I wish to make this quite clear,
and claim prior use of the arrangement x/y/z for scalecoding.



lucy

more info. available (with samples to LISTEN to) at:
http://www.wonderlandinorbit.com/projects/lullaby





Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl
with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Tue, 17 Jun 1997 09:01 +0200
Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA00469; Tue, 17 Jun 1997 09:01:42 +0200
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 09:01:42 +0200
Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA00467
Received: (qmail 21180 invoked from network); 16 Jun 1997 08:37:22 -0000
Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1)
by localhost with SMTP; 16 Jun 1997 08:37:22 -0000
Message-Id: <199706160748.PAA00682@csnt1.cs.ust.hk>
Errors-To: madole@mills.edu
Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu

Lydia Ayers wrote:

'' It's a matter of opinion whether Partch wrote "mistuned" music. Whilehe must have had some difficulty keeping the string instruments exactly
in tune, he probably came as close as humanly possible. ''


It's clear that we're talking about two kinds of ''mistuned''. The first is
simply that Partch's instruments did go out of tune relative to how he
wanted them - the idiophones and strings are weather sensitive, and he
didn't like to retune during intermission, so pitch would drift during a
concert. Some of the recordings give especially bitter examples of this.
What Adam was referring to, however, was Partch's use of pitches that were,
by his own terms, non-harmonic. One example frequently used by Partch areclusters on the chromelodeon, which could be analysed theoretically as
harmonics of incredibly low fundamentals, but were certainly not analysedin this way by Partch and are unlikely to be heard by in this way by anyone
else. (The use of the ''octave'' coupler on the chromelodeon should be
mentioned as well). Another example is the use of ''alternative'' playingtechniques yielding pitches which Partch did not bother to analyse. My
favorite examples are the playing of harmonic canons from the wrong side of
the bridge (in Windsong/Daphne) and playing slide string instruments withthe slide placed diagonally accoss the strings. Then there are instruments
- like the cloud chamber bowls - whose pitch is a more subjective matter.Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl
with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Tue, 17 Jun 1997 09:39 +0200
Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA00829; Tue, 17 Jun 1997 09:39:27 +0200
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 09:39:27 +0200
Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA00825
Received: (qmail 21871 invoked from network); 16 Jun 1997 09:15:07 -0000
Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1)
by localhost with SMTP; 16 Jun 1997 09:15:07 -0000
Message-Id: <199706160513_MC2-188E-C12C@compuserve.com>
Errors-To: madole@mills.edu
Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu