Fw: [tuning] Re: MUSIC OF THE SPHERES: Wavelength vs. Frequency

i've been having the problem of some of my Yahoo groups
posts bouncing lately. i don't think this one ever made it.
if it did, my apologies for the duplication.

-monz

----- Original Message -----
From: "monz" <monz@attglobal.net>
To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 9:42 PM
Subject: Re: [tuning] Re: MUSIC OF THE SPHERES: Wavelength vs. Frequency

>
> > From: "wallyesterpaulrus" <wallyesterpaulrus@yahoo.com>
> > To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
> > Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 4:57 PM
> > Subject: [tuning] Re: MUSIC OF THE SPHERES: Wavelength vs. Frequency
> >
> >
> > --- In tuning@y..., Bill Arnold <billarnoldfla@y...> wrote:
> >
> > > I would begin, with the following citations and URLs:
> > >
> > >
> > ======================================================================
> >
> > > So: musicologists, which IS it: FREQUENCY
> > > or WAVELENGTH of the NOTES which is equated
> > > with DISTANCES of the planets?
> >
> > monz used frequency. it's really up to you.
> > musicologists don't deal with planets! :)
>
>
>
> to be specific: i equated the ratios of the set
> of orbital periods of 7 of the planets (from
> Venus to Neptune) with the frequency-ratios of a
> 7-note chord.
>
> "Solar System Chord"
> /tuning/files/monz/solarsystem/Solar2.mid
>
> i left Mercury and Pluto out of the actual audio
> file because their ratios were outside the audible
> range, being respectively too high and too low.
>
> (changing the overall "tonic" of the chord could
> have included either one of them, but that would
> shorten the "coverage" at the other end probably
> make a second planet at that end -- i.e., either
> Venus or Neptune -- also inaudible.]
>
> and here's a logarithmic (i.e., Semitones)
> "8ve"-equivalent graph of the pitches in the chord:
>
> /tuning/files/monz/solarsystem/solar.gif
>
>
> it's interesting to me:
>
> - how the whole sonic structure vaguely approximates
> a major triad with 4:5:6 proportions;
>
> - how Mercury and Pluto, anchoring either end of
> the chord, both have almost the same ratio, several
> "8ves" apart, of course.
>
>
>
> (sheesh ... when am i ever going to get around to
> making webpages about this for my website? ...)
>
>
>
> for the benefit of those who are interested, here's
> the data for this "more accurate" mapping, a
> second attempt at the piece, quoted from an old
> tuning list post:
>
>
> --------------- begin quoted post -------------
>
>
> Egged on by some of Kraig's criticisms and given a boost by the
> astronomy links Paul posted, I decided to hunt down more precise
> info on the planets's orbital periods, and to make a more accurate
> version of 'Solar System'. Here it is:
>
> http://www.egroups.com/files/tuning/monz/solarsystem/Solar2.mid
>
>
> There's not a lot of difference, but to my ears, this version is
> a bit more strident, and brings out the 'major chord' quality
> of the orbital-period ratios even more strongly.
>
> Thru my speakers, I can't hear Pluto or Neptune at all, and
> can just barely discern Uranus at the bottom and Mercury at
> the top when I turn off all the other planets. I'll leave
> these four planets out of my analysis.
>
>
>
> The 'major chord' effect is due mainly to Saturn, Jupiter, and
> Venus, with Mars reinforcing Saturn 4 '8ves' higher. Earth
> adds most of the piquancy with a pseudo-'major 7th'.
>
> So the aural effect (at least as I hear it; 'your mileage may
> vary') causes Saturn to sound as the 1/1 - it is actually almost
> exactly 3 '8ves' and a 135/128 5-limit 'semitone', or what Ellis
> called the 'larger limma' (92 cents), above the inaudible Pluto.
>
> Jupiter is 1 '8ve' and 375 cents higher than Saturn - pretty
> darn close to an '8ve' + 5/4.
>
> Mars is about 37 cents below the 4th '8ve' above Saturn. It's
> also 2 '8ves' and 788 cents above Jupiter.
>
> Earth is 4 '8ves' and 1057 cents above Saturn - pretty close
> to one of my favorite intervals, an 11/6 'neutral 7th' (= 1049
> cents). To my ears, the more important audible relationship is
> that between Mars and Earth: 1094 cents, only 6 cents wider than
> a 15/8 'major 7th'. I think this stands out quite strongly in
> the chord. Earth is also 3 '8ves' + 682 cents above Jupiter.
>
> Venus is very high and bright, almost exactly a 13/8 above Earth
> (altho to my ears it really sounds a lot like an 8/5 'minor 6th'),
> an '8ve' + 735 cents above Mars, 4 '8ves' + 323 cents above
> Jupiter (pretty close to a 6/5 'minor 3rd'), and 5 '8ves' +
> 698 cents (a nice meantone '5th'!) above Saturn.
>
>
>
>
> Here's the more accurate data, which supercedes the tables in
> my original post:
>
> Orbital period
> days years
>
> Mercury 87.969 0.24084
> Venus 224.701 0.615187
> Earth 365.256363 1.0
> Mars 686.98 1.8808
> Jupiter 4332.71 11.8621
> Saturn 29.458
> Uranus 84.01
> Neptune 164.79
> Pluto 248.54
>
>
> The figure given for the Earth's orbital period is known as
> the 'sidereal year': the time it takes for the Earth to make
> a complete revolution with respect to the stars. It can also
> be expressed as 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes 9.76 seconds.
> All 'year' values are given in terms of sidereal years.
> I really had to hunt for an accurate value for this, and
> finally found it at
> http://www.treasure-troves.com/astro/SiderealYear.html
>
>
> This is different from the 'solar' or 'tropical year', which is
> the one we're normally familiar with. This is the time it
> takes for the Earth to make a complete revolution with respect
> to the Sun's position in our sky. The solar year is 365.2421988
> days, or 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 45.9747 seconds. It is
> 20 minutes 23.5 seconds shorter than the sidereal year.
>
> (Our standard system of leap-years gives a solar year 365.2425
> days long, as described at the link above. This means that
> after 3,319 years 10 months, we will lose a day.)
>
> Again, these are also mean values, because they change slightly
> over time.
>
>
> Here is a table of the semitone values of the orbital ratios:
>
>
> SEMITONES
>
> Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
>
> Mercury 0.00 16.24 24.65 35.58 67.47 83.21 101.36 113.02 120.13
> Venus 0.00 8.41 19.35 51.23 66.98 85.12 96.78 103.90
> Earth 0.00 10.94 42.82 58.57 76.71 88.37 95.49
> Mars 0.00 31.88 47.63 65.77 77.44 84.55
> Jupiter 0.00 15.75 33.89 45.55 52.67
> Saturn 0.00 18.14 29.81 36.92
> Uranus 0.00 11.66 18.78
> Neptune 0.00 7.11
> Pluto 0.00
>
>
>
> Note that this time I accepted the period of 248.54 years for Pluto,
> because the majority (and most recent) of the webpages I've found
> use that figure. Can anyone verify the correct value for Pluto?
>
> In any case, the pitch I chose for Pluto's 1/1 is so low that I
> can't hear it on my system, and most likely neither can anyone else.
> Such is the fate of our cold little faraway planetoid...
>
>
> -------- end quote post -------
>
>
> -monz
> "all roads lead to n^0"
>
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