Re: n-out-of-m-equal

Darren McDougall wrote:

> What I don't understand is why a musician would restrict themselves to
> 12 or less pitches selected from an equal temperament.

Sure, if I was building an instrument that could only play n pitches, and
I'd be stuck with those n for ever, I probably wouldn't choose them to be
n out of any m-equal temperament.

But if you're writing a group of short pieces in 31-equal it might be nice
for one or two of the pieces to stay within a subset, so they all inhabit
the same "universe" without necessarily having the same melodic/harmonic
possibilities... Or one section of a larger piece, instead of one of a
set of pieces. Or even one measure - you can't use all 31 pitches all of
the time, so it makes sense to wonder about the properties of subsets
--Jon

> > What I don't understand is why a musician would restrict themselves to
> > 12 or less pitches selected from an equal temperament.
>
> Sure, if I was building an instrument that could only play n pitches, and
> I'd be stuck with those n for ever, I probably wouldn't choose them to be
> n out of any m-equal temperament.
>
> But if you're writing a group of short pieces in 31-equal it might be nice
> for one or two of the pieces to stay within a subset, so they all inhabit
> the same "universe" without necessarily having the same melodic/harmonic
> possibilities... Or one section of a larger piece, instead of one of a
> set of pieces. Or even one measure - you can't use all 31 pitches all of
> the time, so it makes sense to wonder about the properties of subsets
> --Jon
>
>
I see!! I really thought that you were stuck with those n pitches. It
never occured to me that the n from m-equal was applied in various guises at
different times. I like the idea and have now programmed fifteen MIDI note maps
(one per key-signature) into my sequencer to give me 15 sets of
12-out-of-19-equal.
DARREN McDOUGALL

I remember reading a oneliner from Stravinsky where he make an oblique criticism
of 12-tone music by saying he has enough trouble using 7.
RT

"McDougall, Darren Scott - MCDDS001" wrote:

> From: "McDougall, Darren Scott - MCDDS001" <MCDDS001@students.unisa.edu.au>
>
> > > What I don't understand is why a musician would restrict themselves to
> > > 12 or less pitches selected from an equal temperament.
> >
> > Sure, if I was building an instrument that could only play n pitches, and
> > I'd be stuck with those n for ever, I probably wouldn't choose them to be
> > n out of any m-equal temperament.
> >
> > But if you're writing a group of short pieces in 31-equal it might be nice
> > for one or two of the pieces to stay within a subset, so they all inhabit
> > the same "universe" without necessarily having the same melodic/harmonic
> > possibilities... Or one section of a larger piece, instead of one of a
> > set of pieces. Or even one measure - you can't use all 31 pitches all of
> > the time, so it makes sense to wonder about the properties of subsets
> > --Jon
> >
> >
> I see!! I really thought that you were stuck with those n pitches. It
> never occured to me that the n from m-equal was applied in various guises at
> different times. I like the idea and have now programmed fifteen MIDI note maps
> (one per key-signature) into my sequencer to give me 15 sets of
> 12-out-of-19-equal.
> DARREN McDOUGALL
>
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