RE: Surman/b5 ratios

>}Why are the 19 tone 18/25 and 25/36 ratios important? Because blues
>}leans heavily on the so called b5; in 19, having both to chose from is
>}real hip. More options either as bent, or unbent notes. Can I tune them
>}by ear? Never tried, but I am sure I could learn to do so if I had the
>}need to.
>
>I submit that the only way you could learn to tune them by ear is to learn
>them by rote. Acoustically, 25:18 and 36:25 are too complex to be tuned by
>eliminating beats. The most complex ratio I ever tuned by ear was a 17:13,
>and this was on a synth in a high register played very loud through
>headphones so that I could hear the difference tone clearly. Therefore, the
>fact that 19TET nails these ratios is irrelevant (in my opinion). If you
>really wanted two fairly consonant tritones, some approximation to 7:5 and
>10:7 would serve you better. 31TET does a marvelous job, being under two
>cents off both.
>
>I do think there is a lot of value in being able to divide the interval
>between the p4 and p5 into three equal parts, and I agree that the ability to
>do so in 19TET works within, and enriches, the blues vocabulary. Blues
>players use all kinds of b5s by bending the p4th up, but bending is a less
>accurate way to reach pitches than fretting (or even "fretlessing"). This is
>because string tension can vary from string to string, the amount of string
>behing the nut (and sometimes beyong the bridge) can vary from guitar to
>guitar, and even the tension of one string will vary over its lifetime as it
>becomes corroded.
>
>When playing funk on the fretless bass, I often subdivide the interval
>between the p4 and p5 into three or four equal parts, and it works well even
>if the other instruments are in 12TET.


SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
From: "Loffink, John"
Subject: RE: MID/Audio Wish List
PostedDate: 15-01-98 21:35:06
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