trust music

Regarding the exchange about diatonic microtonality between Paul
Erlich and John A. deLaubenfels I just wanted to add that one of my
very favorite things to do with non-twelve tunings is stick various
hepatonic scales into unusual tunings -- 13 and 20 equal for instance.

To my ears these scales sound much more interesting when bathed in
strange, exotic new colors and flavors. And this way of going about
things has always been much more profitable than trying to better
consonances and the like.

But this is not the sort of thing that acoustic-friendly theory is
going to ever get along with. It can only be gotten at by trail and
error, or an art-first experimental outlook.

The cognitive path has already been cleared several times over for
seven note scales, and you'd have to screw up pretty darn bad to get
it wrong...

Don't always trust your ears!

Trust what's between them, and above all else trust music.

Just trying out a few block chords and familiar intervals is
equivalent to the instant death of many possibly beautiful things.

Don't let the numbers or any habitually overprotective watchdogs on
the side of your head fool you -- there's gold in them thar hills!

--Dan Stearns

[Dan Stearns wrote:]
>Regarding the exchange about diatonic microtonality between Paul
>Erlich and John A. deLaubenfels I just wanted to add that one of my
>very favorite things to do with non-twelve tunings is stick various
>hepatonic scales into unusual tunings -- 13 and 20 equal for instance.

>To my ears these scales sound much more interesting when bathed in
>strange, exotic new colors and flavors. And this way of going about
>things has always been much more profitable than trying to better
>consonances and the like.

>But this is not the sort of thing that acoustic-friendly theory is
>going to ever get along with. It can only be gotten at by trail and
>error, or an art-first experimental outlook.

>The cognitive path has already been cleared several times over for
>seven note scales, and you'd have to screw up pretty darn bad to get
>it wrong...

>Don't always trust your ears!

>Trust what's between them, and above all else trust music.

>Just trying out a few block chords and familiar intervals is
>equivalent to the instant death of many possibly beautiful things.

>Don't let the numbers or any habitually overprotective watchdogs on
>the side of your head fool you -- there's gold in them thar hills!

Dan, thanks for this very thoughtful post. Yes, I'm sure there _is_
gold in them thar hills! I look forward to you mining that gold and
bringing the results alongside 7-note diatonic music.

What I "trust" is my visceral reaction to music. The beauty that brings
me back again and again. By focusing on the "old", the diatonic, am I
potentially closing off the chance for exploration in new, exciting,
possibly fruitful alternatives? Yes, without doubt. But there is only
one of me, and going after some particular slice of the pie that excites
me is inevitable.

I'm glad, Dan, that you're out there finding new possibilities. You
may be leading the way into a grand and glorious future, in which the
diatonic sound is quaint and archaic. More power to you!

For myself, I am very wary of letting the head override the ear. The
head is, IMHO, what is wrong (to my taste) with the "classical" works
of the 20th century. If it requires explanation before they play the
music, I know I'm in trouble.

JdL

--- In tuning@y..., "John A. deLaubenfels" <jdl@a...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_24185.html#24268

> For myself, I am very wary of letting the head override the ear.
The head is, IMHO, what is wrong (to my taste) with the "classical"
works of the 20th century. If it requires explanation before they
play the music, I know I'm in trouble.
>
> JdL

This is a rather, 'er... large category, don't you believe? Exactly
which composers are you including in this category??

Further commentary on "metatuning," not here...

_________ _________ _______
Joseph Pehrson

Hi John,

Sorry, there's one important clarification I should make about that
post that I just assumed was clear but probably wasn't...

When I wrote "trust what's between you ears" I didn't necessarily mean
your intellect per say (and certainly not complexity over simplicity),
but rather the whole between your ears deal! In other words your
intellect, your intuitions and your imagination etc.

The point being that it is my belief that a lot of tunings and the
like are given up on much to early due to a lot of nonmusical picking
and poking about.

Tuning examples and tuning theory is all well and fine, but music sets
many moving parts into motion that can't be so easily anticipated. And
oftentimes these hidden treasures seem to resist any stray resolve --
not that the ears help, as they're apparently particularly stubborn
when it comes to meaningfully offset consonances!

--Dan Stearns