From Brian, end of series.

From: mclaren
Subject: JIN clarity
--
Having discussed the dismal abundance of
jargon, gibberish and psuedo-scientific
claptrap in the so-called "serious" 12-TET
music journals, it's time to turn the discussion
to the Just Intonation Network's journal
1/1.
Not because 1/1 contains any gibberish--but
rather because of the admirable clarity and
accuracy of its presentation.
What makes 1/1 *more* remarkable is the fact
that to my knowledge few of the people who
edit and contribute to 1/1 have extensive
training in acoustics, post-graduate mathematics
or physics. (Erling Wold is an exception.)
In particular, the editor David Doty has not
to my knowledge gone through any college
science courses on acoustics. Yet he always gets
his acoustics and harmonic series mathematics
right. His explanations are always clear,
concise and accurate. (Doty's knowledge of
psychoacoustics is not as complete, but everyone
has a few gaps in their knowledge, including Your
Humble E-Mail Correspondent.) The point is that
Doty, without extensive technical training, handles
very technical material about the harmonic series
and the multipication of ratios and the use of
logarithms and always gets it right.
This is a considerable achievement. The operations
involving in composing even simple JI pieces demand
more mathematical explanation than most elementary
composition in 12-TET. Thus there are inherently
more opportunities for confusion and obfuscation
when presenting just intonation music theory
than 12-TET music theory. While it is, of course,
entirely possible to whip up a vast cloud of
confusing jabberwocky and dauntingly unnecessary
logarithmic and set theory and abstract algebra and
modulo-this and radix-that and blah-blah woof
woof smoke-and-mirrors math when dealing with
12-TET music theory, the cold hard truth is that
all of the operations beloved of the Robert Morris/
Allen Forte pitch-class matrix doyens can be reduced
to very simple ideas and extremely elementary
musical operations. "Modulo 12" means nothing
more than octave reduction after performing
the required operation. "Permutation" means
nothing more than swapping pitches systematically.
And so on. Thus "permutation
of the melodic cells modulo 12" means
swapping pitches and raising or lowering any
notes which fall outside the octave.
And so, while the operations customarily described
in the so-called "serious" music journals are
impressive-sounding polysyllabic rites shrouded
with imposing jargon and elaborate set-symbols
to make the whole thing sound impressive, the
actions described are actually quite trivial,
both mathematically and musically.
By contrast, even simple JI compositional activities
require potentially troublesome calculation by the
just intonation composer. Playing a B major
chord in the key of C in a Pythagorean tuning
demands ratio multiplication, some extra pitches
outside the normal gamut of 12 (this requires planning)
and at least one extra trip around the spiral of
just perfect fifths in order to get an F which sounds
like something out of the familiar western harmonic
tradition.
Ironically, the material discussed in 1/1 is *inherently*
more mathematically demanding than the extremely
simple-minded operations whipped up into complex-
seeming jargon-laden magna opera in the so-called
"serious" 12-TET music journals.
Yet the so-called "serious" 12-TET journals manage
to misuse and abuse scientific terms, and obfuscate
and jargonize the music theory with dismaying
regularity--in short, they take simple music theory
and make it incomprehensible and unintelligible.
Meanwhile, 1/1 takes potentially complex music
theory and renders it transparent and coherent.
Of course, the journal 1/1 is run entirely outside
the academic musical establishment.
There may be a moral in this somewhere...
--mclaren


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