tuning systems that defy comparision

from David Reck's 'Music of the Whole Earth':

"... many tuning systems, such as those found in
the southeast Asian countries of Laos, Cambodia,
and Thailand, in Java or in Africa (in harp and xylo-
phone tunings), simply defy any comparision whatso-
ever with those of the West."

The southeast Asian scales intrigue me. I have seen
tuning comparisions done on various Indonesian
scales (both Pelog & Slendro) & one Thai scale...
Can anyone "describe" more un-Equal/non-Just
scales like these? Especially non-octave repeating
ones. Do difference tones play a good part in some
of these scales?

zHANg

ZHANG!
There are quite a bit of literature on these scales both Kunst and
Mcphee have Cents measurements. I expect Alves and Wolf to refer you to
better references i don't have off the cuff here.

I have to object though to these scales being defined as un-Equal/non-Just.
they are not un- or non- anything . they are not conceived as a negative of
something else. to Find out what they are you are not going to get there by
un-Equal/non-Just processes.

Zhang2323@aol.com wrote:

> From: Zhang2323@aol.com
>
> from David Reck's 'Music of the Whole Earth':
>
> "... many tuning systems, such as those found in
> the southeast Asian countries of Laos, Cambodia,
> and Thailand, in Java or in Africa (in harp and xylo-
> phone tunings), simply defy any comparision whatso-
> ever with those of the West."
>
> The southeast Asian scales intrigue me. I have seen
> tuning comparisions done on various Indonesian
> scales (both Pelog & Slendro) & one Thai scale...
> Can anyone "describe" more
> scales like these? Especially non-octave repeating
> ones. Do difference tones play a good part in some
> of these scales?
>
> zHANg
>
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In a message dated 9/27/99 3:34:13 AM, you wrote:

>I have to object though to these scales being defined as un-Equal/non-Just.
>they are not un- or non- anything . they are not conceived as a negative of
>something else. to Find out what they are you are not going to get there by
>un-Equal/non-Just processes.

Maybe I shoulda said "so-call un-Equal/non-Just," perhaps...
since these terms are not "native" to these musics' cultures, eh? =)
* laughs* what a sticky wicket language can be, haha...
Talkin of language, just goes to show that music is not
much of an "international language" (or, at least, a transcultural
"universal" as much as many think or would like to think, i.e. one can
not "translate" one culture's musical worldview into another without
some semantic "fudging"/distortion or lapsing into "exoticism" and/
or pastische).

zHANg