My octochromatic fretboard guide

This is mostly a vanity post, but there is an implied question - what other forms of color notation have been proposed for various scales? In particular, tempered and non-tempered Pythagorean scales.

While working on a fingerboard guide for my instruments, I needed a non-arbirary way of assigning colors to the different fret lines. I used red for syntonic commas, blue for septimal commas, and green for undecimal quarter-tones. Then I decided to use eight colors: three primary colors, three secondary colors, black and white.

For 53-tone, I grouped chains of seven fifths as the same color. The brighter colors are nearest the central pitch; the darker colors further away.

Black: 11, 20, 33, 42
Blue: 7, 16, 25, 29, 38, 47, 51
Red: 3, 12, 21, 30, 34, 43, 52
Green: 4, 8, 17, 26, 35, 39, 48
White: 0/53, 9, 13, 22, 31, 40, 44
Yellow: 5, 14, 18, 27, 36, 45, 49
Cyan: 1, 10, 19, 23, 32, 41, 50
Magenta: 2, 6, 15, 24, 28, 37, 46

For 31-tone equal temperament, chains of four tempered fifths would be the same color, or fewer colors could be used.

It seems complicated, at least at first (I'm still learning this), but I can play C major using "white" and "green" notes, and C minor using "white" and "yellow" notes. Arabic maqam Rast can be played with "white" and "blue" notes, but the "blue" notes are properly a quarter-comma flat. And a septimal pentatonic minor in C can be played with "white" and "red" notes, with the "red" notes a sixth-comma flat. Other keys might require a change of certain notes to a color of similar brightness.

I had a print-out for both fretless bass (34 inch scale) and Egyptian oud (600 mm scale) uploaded, but they were incorrect, so I need to upload again. Also, they only work if 96 pixels equal one inch, and I don't think all printers or print programs work that way.

~Danny~

I wrote:

> While working on a fingerboard guide for my instruments, I needed a > non-arbirary way of assigning colors to the different fret lines. I used > red for syntonic commas, blue for septimal commas, and green for undecimal > quarter-tones.

I meant "I *originally* used red for syntonic commas...". My new system
obviously no longer does.

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Danny Wier" <dawiertx@s...> wrote:
> This is mostly a vanity post, but there is an implied question -
what other
> forms of color notation have been proposed for various scales? In
> particular, tempered and non-tempered Pythagorean scales.
>
> While working on a fingerboard guide for my instruments, I needed
a
> non-arbirary way of assigning colors to the different fret lines.
I used red
> for syntonic commas, blue for septimal commas, and green for
undecimal
> quarter-tones. Then I decided to use eight colors: three primary
colors,
> three secondary colors, black and white.
>
> For 53-tone, I grouped chains of seven fifths as the same color.
The
> brighter colors are nearest the central pitch; the darker colors
further
> away.
>
> Black: 11, 20, 33, 42
> Blue: 7, 16, 25, 29, 38, 47, 51
> Red: 3, 12, 21, 30, 34, 43, 52
> Green: 4, 8, 17, 26, 35, 39, 48
> White: 0/53, 9, 13, 22, 31, 40, 44
> Yellow: 5, 14, 18, 27, 36, 45, 49
> Cyan: 1, 10, 19, 23, 32, 41, 50
> Magenta: 2, 6, 15, 24, 28, 37, 46
>
> For 31-tone equal temperament, chains of four tempered fifths
would be the
> same color, or fewer colors could be used.
>
> It seems complicated, at least at first (I'm still learning this),
but I can
> play C major using "white" and "green" notes, and C minor
using "white" and
> "yellow" notes. Arabic maqam Rast can be played with "white"
and "blue"
> notes, but the "blue" notes are properly a quarter-comma flat. And
a
> septimal pentatonic minor in C can be played with "white"
and "red" notes,
> with the "red" notes a sixth-comma flat. Other keys might require
a change
> of certain notes to a color of similar brightness.
>
> I had a print-out for both fretless bass (34 inch scale) and
Egyptian oud
> (600 mm scale) uploaded, but they were incorrect, so I need to
upload again.
> Also, they only work if 96 pixels equal one inch, and I don't
think all
> printers or print programs work that way.
>
> ~Danny~

This may be of your interest:

www.xs4all.nl/~huygensf/doc/terpgit.html

Max.

Maximiliano G. Miranda Zanetti in response to my recent vanity post:

> This may be of your interest:
>
> www.xs4all.nl/~huygensf/doc/terpgit.html

Well this is very much of my interest, thank you!

I did see this article several years ago but forgot it existed. Terpstra's approach is different than mine; he uses a new color for each fifth away from zero, but the same color for both positive and negative numbers of fifths. I need to make out a circle of fifths in 53-tone demonstrating how I have chains of seven fifths colored a distinct color. 31-tone would use five colors, 19-tone three colors, and if I ever feel like going to 118-tone, I'll need 17 colors.

I'm also attempting to apply the chains-of-seven concept towards a non-generalized keyboard layout, an "�ber-Halberstadt" if you will. The problem I'm running into is having lower pitches positioned to the *right* of some keys.

~Danny~