12-Eq

Dan Wolf wrote [TD 65]:

> Maybe this is really a reflection of a musical
> universal -- any masterpiece can be played
> out of tune and still be identified as a masterpiece,
> while any bad piece is not going to turn into
> a masterpiece by virute of good intonation.

(I merely selected this quote out of a quite involved
discussion of the importance of microtonal subtlety)

I have to disagree with this, at least in some cases.
I defy anyone to sing a Robert Johnson song in
strict 12-Eq and give it anywhere near the same
emotional power Johnson's microtonal vocal gave it.
Sure, you'll be able to identify the piece, but it
won't mean much as a musical experience.

(if you don't have the CD, listen to my MIDI sequence
of him and see my microtonal analysis at
http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/drunken.htm)

Dante's response included:

> I think the issue boils down to music which
> depends on intonation for its very being, as
> opposed to music which can be played a little
> "out of tune" and still not lose what is essential.
> If it is not possible to broadly ascribe these
> two kinds of music to east and west, still there
> is no denying that there >are< these two kinds
> of music.

The only responses I can give are:

1) I've written a *lot* of music in 12-Eq, and whenever
I've "translated" it into JI, in *every* case I like the JI
version better (even the stuff that was already good
in 12-Eq).

2) And now for the exact opposite:
I wrote a piece last year which grew out of a
discussion I had with Paul Erlich, where he described
a typical alternative-rock chord as a "dominant 7th
including the 4th" and challenged me as to whether
the 4th should be rationalized as 11/8, 21/16 or 43/32,
declaring that "no, it's just plain old 4/3". Well, my
piece consists of an arpeggiation of that chord, starting
first in 12-Eq, then cycling thru four JI versions, with
only the "4th" of the chord changing in pitch:
[2^(5/12)] - 21/16 - 4/3 - 43/32 - 11/8 -
and back down: [11/8] - 43/32 - 4/3 - 21/16 - 2^(5/12).
. Oddly enough, all those beautiful JI chords sounded
like they were "going somewhere", then a
*strong sense of resolution was felt when the
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
chord landed back in 12-Eq*. I have no way to explain this.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- Monzo
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