personal insights

I, too, have been affected by the uproar on the forum, and it's helped
me understand why I approach tunings the way I do. I've had a few
insights lately that may be of interest. For one, blues has been my root
for 30 years, and this is a very fortunate thing, I feel; I was playing
"microtonally" for years, and never knew it...it was done intuitively.
Now, I can intellectualize it a bit better, but it doesn't really change
what I am already doing..it only deepens it, by allowing me to explore
other systems, and the new opportunities they afford me.
I believe blues is totally connected to Indian, Arabic, and modal
musics all around the world, and this has given me the tools to better
understand just what tunings are all about, anyway. For example, since
equal temps were developed to play chordal music, it's obvious that,
since most all music was originally modal, equal temps were not NEEDED,
since there was no modulation happening. Thus, to say that Asian and
Eastern systems use eq temp doesn't make much sense (unless, of course,
we understand that since the "West" pretty much dominated the whole world
through colonialism, they also brought THEIR musical ideas everywhere
they went; this is the reason why we may find these truly ancient musical
systems perhaps flirting with eq these days). But, I do not believe that
Indian music originally intended to use only 12 notes; and however
many there were, they sure as hell were not equally spaced. That concept
goes against the whole CONCEPT of what modally derived music is all
about. It's no big secret that European based harmonic music is fairly
recent compared to such ancient forms such as Indian ragas.
In fact, I believe that there are an infinity of notes within the
continuum of tones generated from the harmonic series. I also feel that
some great musicians throughout time have been able to accurately locate
and play perhaps hundreds of teensy intervals and pitches...I see no
reason why this could not be so. To say that this could not happen, I
feel, robs us of the greatness of the human spirit. To try and limit
music to a fixed number of tones, pure or tempered, is not even part of
my concept of music. I think big, and greatly admire those who achieve
the awesome.
The Creator gave us the mystery of the Harmonic Series...he/she did
NOT tell us how to use it. There's a lot of room, in the vastness of
music, for individuality, and creative expression. Remember, theory only
describes that which can only be experienced directly...ratios do not
describe sadness, joy, anger, heroism, or the infinity of human
experience that the actual sound of music expresses. I dearly enjoy
hearing novel approaches to this infinity. Theory is an honorable study,
to be sure, but the SOUND came first. Most great spiritual teachings
speak of the infinite power of sound, and have great respect for it.
To me, it's no big secret what the great Indian and Arabic (and
other) masters of music do...they play the intervals that create deep and
profound states of consciousness. I don't think they limit themselves to
12 or 19 or 31 or 53 notes...they try to hit the right spot in the
continuum to say what must be said. Then, the theorists spend years
trying to explain what happened...and that's ok, but it isn't IT. And, I
believe that many of these masters are keeping pretty quiet about the
secrets of tunings because they are concerned about the misuse of this
knowledge. It's no accident that there are very few written words from
the great practitioners of Indian music on the true nature of ratios and
their deep meanings.
To endlessly talk of beats and waves and ratios can get a bit
wearying...and, to try and say one tuning is "THE TUNING" is no different
than trying to say one style of music is superior to all others. Of
course, it surprises me not that some folks do try to assert dominance in
this fashion. In fact, that attitude is definitely a big part of the
European way of life, but it's old and stinky. I call it musical racism,
and it is very ugly to me. I say let's play with the great resources
we've been given, and try to do something wonderful with them. Let's
don't try and limit the myriad ways in which we can create with the
zillions of sounds and frequencies all around us...even the ones we can't
"hear" (because even these exist, and may have musical uses that we
cannot yet understand). Bickering and pettyness are a waste of
time...maybe the forum needs to get on with more important
issues...Hstick


SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
From: Gregg Gibson
Subject: 22-tone Equal and the Genera
PostedDate: 20-12-97 10:23:50
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