diabolis tamed [tritone, 6-note scales]

Discussion of the Hexany 1.3.5.11 in TD 665:

J. Pehrson:
> well, it does sound great. Of course,
> > it's related to various orientalisms. My favorite part of it is the
> > fact that the TRITONE is the OCTAVE! That's just great in my
> book...
> > turning the "resolving" interval into the ultimate consonant diad!
> > Whoopee!
>
P. Erlich:
> Well, that would be true for any 6-note scale when played on a
> standard keyboard.
>
Well, so much the better! That means that most ANY 6-note scales are
going to have a similar effect! You mention yourself in your excellent
article on 22 tone scales -- which I had gone through before, and just
went through again... I think it will take several more times before I
digest all of it (was this "indigestibility??"... I think not) -- the
significance of the tritone as the defining dissonance of diatonic
music. In fact you point out, something I had never thought about, that
the major and minor modes were the only modes that did not contain one
of the elements of the tritone in the basic modal triads. I had never
thought about this before.

So this all goes to show, as you so clearly lay out, the significane of
the diminished fifth, in terms of its high level of dissonance (isn't it
the highest after the minor second?? -- dunno) and also its defining
significance in terms of creating Western diatonic music through the
major and minor modes.

Therefore, when the tritone suddenly becomes an octave, it is a
startling effect, in a practical sense. At least this was the effect it
had on me!

_________ _____ __ _ _
Joseph Pehrson