Degrees of harmony

(was: Re: Microtonal meeting in France)

Gene,

You wrote:
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "wallyesterpaulrus"
> <wallyesterpaulrus@y...> wrote:
>
> > Perhaps "concordant" with or without some qualification?
>
> Hmmm...
>
> 4-8 cents harmonious
> 2-4 cents concordant
> 1-2 cents millitempered
> 1/2-1 cents microtempered
> 1/4-1/2 cents nanotempered
> < 1/4 cents sensibly JI

It would be good to have an agreed set of names for
different qualities or degrees of harmony. Your list
is a good start.

How did you arrive at the boundaries between names?
Looks like they're all powers of 2, and that can't be
an accident ...

I do wonder about the "-tempered" part. It seems to
imply the existence of a tempering where they may
have been none. Perhaps "-cordant" - or better,
"-sonant", since we're talking about the physically
measurable difference between fundamental tones -
would serve in its place? Thus -
4-8 cents harmonious
2-4 cents consonant
1-2 cents millisonant
1/2-1 cents microsonant
1/4-1/2 cents nanosonant
< 1/4 cents sensibly JI

But then, if we really are looking at a progression in
powers of 2, the prefixes "milli-", "micro-" and "nano-"
rather exaggerate the change of scale. Shouldn't
we use "semi-", "demi-" and "hemi-" instead? On the
analogy, of course, with the terms used in British music
teaching for subdivisions of the quaver (in American
usage: "eighth note"): semiquaver, demisemiquaver,
hemidemisemiquaver. Thus -

4-8 cents harmonious
2-4 cents consonant
1-2 cents semisonant
1/2-1 cents demisemisonant
1/4-1/2 cents hemidemisemisonant
< 1/4 cents sensibly JI

Clumsy, I think ... It would be better if we had short
prefixes meaning "quarter" and "eighth".

Regards,
Yahya

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