19

While there are undoubtedly many new ways to use 19 that are truly
wonderful, some of which Brian McLaren has described, his assertion that
traditional 12-note modes of thinking must be abandoned is contradicted
by the aural evidence. In addition, to say that the intervals of 1/19 and
2/19 do not sound like a semitone also seems contradicted by experience. I
think it best to keep in mind that a "semitone," like all intervals, has
a range of acceptability, depending on many factors; to compare the
63-cent interval and 126-cent interval to 100 cents grounds the
discussion too firmly to 12-note ET as a standard.

There are certainly problems using 1/19 and 2/19 as a semitone. Those
very problems may also create solutions as well as lead to some other
ways of using 19 which may have nothing to do with semitones at all.

Any other opinions out there?

========================== =================================
Dr. Paul Rapoport e-mail: rapoport@mcmaster.ca
SADM (Music) tel: (+1) 905 529 7070, ext. 2 4217
McMaster University fax: (+1) 905 527 6793


Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl
with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Fri, 2 Feb 1996 21:51 +0100
Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI)
for id MAA22126; Fri, 2 Feb 1996 12:50:52 -0800
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 1996 12:50:52 -0800
Message-Id: <960202204449_71670.2576_HHB74-2@CompuServe.COM>
Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu
Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu