Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup tuning Re: why 12-out-of-N ?

Good question.

In my case, it is a combination of my instrument
technology and my personal 'understanding' of where
I might/might-not go with micro/extended/dyno-tuning.

I have three choices technically. 12-note tuning
tables (supported by my sound card), retune a 'drum
bank' to produce a 54-key 'any-tone' instrument
(supported by an external synth) or write the music
in using a variety of non-real-time techniques to
get the pitches where I want them.

The last is how I THOUGHT I would do things a few
months ago, but I have found that, since my
UNDERSTANDING of what I want/don't want from new
tuning is so weak, I really have to get over some
basic learnings in real-time.

So, this leads to setting up my equipment such that
I can improvise and hear the results, rather than
compose and wait for them.

But there are other reasons for 12-out-of-N. I came
into microtonality with a few thoughts; it would be
nice if chords were more in tune (major thirds in
particular); it would be nice if higher partials were
better represented (7 especially, 11 somewhat and
13 maybe, beyond that I'm not sure there are distinct
entities from the nearby intervals that they'll pun
with).

However, having the harmonies more in tune is NOT in
itself a theory of harmony. A LOT of what transpires
on this list is rediscovery of the fundamental
contradiction between JI and the music that has grown
in the Western tradition over the past few hundred
years.

After banging my head on that for awhile, (and better
heads than mine have banged harder), I realized [again]
that I can't develop something from 'harmony', that
it all grows out of the melody. (I say again, because
Western music is the only place where a codification
of harmony irregardless of melody has taken place, and
there should be no surprise that it may well be that
going back to melody, and the incidental harmonies
created by simultaneous melodies, maybe a 'natural'
path for moving forward.

Obviously this idea is supported by many sorts of 'world
music' and going back to contrapuntal writing before
the Baroque era (I believe) when the codification of
harmony really was solidified. (tonic dominant dominant
tonic subdominant tonic dominant tonic).

I should thank Margo in particular for her posts here
and her writings on the ancient systems of polyphony,
since that really cemented in my mind the idea of
polyphony without codified harmony (which in 5-limit,
one should be able to get from a traditional counterpoint
book, but seeing it in 3-limit made me realize, "there
is a similar approach in 7-limit, 9-limit etc" and
the 'harmony rules' at that limit will flow out of melody
and simultaneous melody as they always do.

http://www.medieval.org

features Margo's writings and a lot of other good
information.

In investigating melody and simultaneous melody, it is
sufficient (and proper) to do it in the subset of a
temperment that may be described as "modal", which
again, makes sense since it can evolve the rules of
tonality in the new tuning. 12 tones should be able
to contain a particular 'scale' and its 'rotations'
that may be used in a new tuning.

Lastly, why 12-out-of-N from an ET scale, rather than
12 JI pitches. Ultimately, I am most interested in a few
ETs, 31 and 53 especially, since they do exactly what I
originally wanted; tune the major thirds and extend the
pallette with higher partials.

There is certainly a limitation to 12-out-of-N,
since it is really just chipping off a portion
of the lattice, and the interesting 'tonal rules'
in a new tuning (where the puns are), may be broken
in a misleading way.

But its a start.

Bob Valentine

Re: why 12-out-of-N ?

🔗Robert C Valentine <bval@xxxxxx.xxx.xxxxx.xxxx>

🔗Paul H. Erlich <PErlich@Acadian-Asset.com>