my JI tune

http://www-math.cudenver.edu/~jstarret/haircut.html

> I really like this tune!

Thanks, Paul. Glad you like it so much.

It's been so long since I wrote the tune,
I really don't remember what guided me in
choosing the JI pitches and common-tones
I chose. I'll try to reconstruct if I can.

First of all, it's very perceptive that you
call it a transcription - I don't recall saying
that anywhere on the webpage. But it's true,
I wrote the tune on a little battery-operated
Casio keyboard, in 12-Eq of course, then calculated
on paper how I wanted it tuned.

This was before I had formulated my lattice theories,
so I was just multiplying fractions Partch style.
Having 19 in there made me do a little work.

To start with, I had what were clearly "minor 9th"
chords in measures 1, 2, 3, and 5. I pretty much
trivially decided to make these 5-limit chords, of
the "minor 7th" type we've been discussing here recently,
with the 9th added: 10:12:15:18:45.

I knew that for measures 4 and 6 I wanted to use
otonal "dominant type" chords, and that I wanted
11-, 13-, and 19-identities in those chords.

I mention on the webpage that there is a "break"
between measures 2 and 3, where a descending passage
occurs too fast for a tuning to be recognized. I took
advantage of this because I assumed before I started
that in JI, with "interesting" chords and lots of
unusual microtonal intervals, I'd probably end up
modulating a comma or two off by the end of the phrase,
and it repeats, so I had to work around that.

So I started at the end, the 8/5-Otonality, and worked
backwards from there. It was mostly just trial and
error. I remember writing out at least 4 different
tunings, probably up to 8 for some chords. I just
tried using all the different common-tones I could,
and played around with the numbers until everything fit.

I say there was a break between measures 2 and 3,
meaning that there was no common tone as it is a
descending parallel chord passage. So I left the
quick passing chord in 12-Eq, and everything worked
out.

I didn't actually hear it until a few years after I
wrote it, when I got my TG-77. I've always liked
the JI version much more than the 12-Eq. The 12-Eq
sounds totally bland by comparison.

Also, when the Grand Piano patch plays, the high-limit
ratios blend in such a complex interesting way . . .
I suppose that's the "periodicity buzz" you mentioned.

This tune was sequenced in Cakewalk 2.0, the tedious
way - by putting the proper amount of pitch-bend on
every note. I should remove all the pitch-bend and
put the 12-Eq version on the webpage too, for comparison.
Hmmm, maybe versions in several different tunings...

I'd definitely like to help you do your 22-Eq song.
Send it over. I'm trying to get my copy of Rocky
working too.

-monz
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