"quartertones," etc.

If a "quartertone" must be 50 cents, then it would follow that a semitone
must be 100 and a tone 200. By this reasoning, there are no just semitones
or tones, only equally tempered ones. If this is so, what shall we call 8:7,
9:8, and 10:9, or 16:15, 135:128 and 25:24, etc.? If we acknowledge that
"tones" and "semitones" are somewhat elastic in size (and this seems
undeniable), then what is so special about a "quartertone" that it must have
a rigid definition?

(Personally, I think e.t. ""quartertones" are so called because that's about
how much they're worth.)

--DBD
==========================================================================
David B. Doty jinetwk@dnai.com
Just Intonation Network http://www.dnai.com/~jinetwk
Phone:(415) 694-4727 535 Stevenson Street
FAX: (415) 864-8726 San Francisco, CA 94103



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From: mr88cet@texas.net
Subject: Re: "quartertones," etc.
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> I now use the term "demisemitone" for intervals with dimensions
> of q and r-q, although I would rather call them quartertones.

I may have lost track of the "p"s and "q"s, but I think I understood you
to suggest that the distance between a minor second and an augmented octave
should be viewed as roughly a quartertone?

If so, I don't think that's a good idea. In 24TET for example, the
distance between an augmented unison (e.g., C-C#) and a minor second (e.g.,
C-Db) is zero, not a quartertone. In 19TET, that difference is the same as
chromatic half-step.

When you deal with quarter-steps, you have to add the ideas of
half-augmentation and half-diminishment, and consequently subminors,
neutrals, and supramajors. If you don't, you're almost certainly going to
run into inconsistent terminology.



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From: PErlich@Acadian-Asset.com
Subject: Reply to Graham Breed
PostedDate: 25-08-97 21:07:53
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