microtonal vs xen-something

[Paul asked regarding blackjack:]

> Have _you_ played with it?

Of course Paul. I tuned it up when you guys first
published it like I do most scales that get published
around here. Played with it a bit.

It was interesting in a way but didn't really catch
fire with me at the time. I understand BlackJacky#1 was
very microtonal but I didn't have a chance to grab it
before it went down.

Let me change my question. Mathematical analysis aside
(as it is meaningless - that is partly why I wrote that
very common-practice sounding piece in 13tET months
back that got everyone in an uproar), does Jacky
consider that piece microtonal and do other people hear
it as microtonal?

If there is a consensus that that is what microtonality
sounds like then I will step back and admit I have been
confused and stop using that label regarding my own
work.

Which I probably should anyway. Xenharmonic (or maybe
xentonal since I try to work more on the contrapuntal
side of things rather than the harmonic one in my own
opinion) is a better word anyway -- more descriptive,
more meaningful, less ambiguous. If microtonal means
anything you want it to then it really doesn't mean
anything at all and should be withdrawn from usage.

- Jeff

--- In tuning@y..., "X. J. Scott" <xjscott@e...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_27848.html#27848

> Which I probably should anyway. Xenharmonic (or maybe
> xentonal since I try to work more on the contrapuntal
> side of things rather than the harmonic one in my own
> opinion) is a better word anyway -- more descriptive,
> more meaningful, less ambiguous. If microtonal means
> anything you want it to then it really doesn't mean
> anything at all and should be withdrawn from usage.
>
> - Jeff

Hi Jeff...

Well, basically, that's what Johnny Reinhard has proposed for some
time now, and he has *lots* of experience in these matters.

We're just writing music in various tunings, and some of the music
will come out good and some...(zucky). Same with tunings.

"Xenharmonic" or "alternate" is only descriptive for people not
involved in the field, or for musicians that only have experience
with 12-tET.

There is no "prize" for the "most xenharmonic..." Esthetically, that
means nothing...

__________ _________ ________
Joseph Pehrson