Re: 7ET

I love 7ET. I've used it in combinations in my string quartet, and in a piece
called _Millennium_ which had a fairly homophonic 3 part treatment for its
tutti. I can sing it easily by setting up my neutral third and then finding
the dieses by splitting the N3 into 2 even parts. Then, keep on adding the
next sequential increment until reaching the octave.

Swiss ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp discovered a theorist for the 'Are'are
people of the North Soloman Islands who declared that there was a measurement
process - involving a particular plant stem - that gave the 7ET diesis. As a
result of Zemp's documentation - and in combination with Steven Feld's
theoretical analysis of the emic data of the music theory of the Kaluli of New
Guinea, a revolution in the belief of ethnomusicologists took place. Now;
musical cultures are believed each have their own music theorists. (The
previous Merriam doctrine had maintained the opposite as an accepted belief.)
Revolution by 7ET.

The Thai were originally from the southern reaches of China (known there as
the Dai-some still remain) that migrated south to escape the tyranny of the
Mongols. Their name for themselves means "free" and they have never been
under the control of a foreign power, unlike most any other people.

While at Columbia University in its graduate ethnomusicology department I
studied Chinese music advanced level with professor/composer Chow Wen Chung.
As the only graded report I was to give to that class, I presented an oral
report which was well received. The Thai having had the knowledge of the
Chinese specificity of pentatonic with its 5 main tones and 2 auxilliaries
which could easily modulate. This means 7 notes. South into Malaysian and
Indonesian pelogs would influence the Thai to looseness of placement of the
tones.

Cambodeans use a loose array of 7, so do Laotians (who are related to the
Thai), as do much of Myanmar. Thais were intensively travelling within their
own domain and needed to communicate in an equiheptaphonic tuning - 7ET. When
it is exactly tuned it works well both melodically and harmonically. BTW, I
like 5ET too which is reputedly only used in a particular tribe in Uganda for
very fast flute music.

Johnny Reinhard
American Festival of Microtonal Music
afmmjr@aol.com