At long last, hello...

I've actually followed your list for years, but haven't directly
contributed until now, as there have been queries about my microtonal
techniques, for example, on my early Switched on Bach work.

I chose the following set, after reading Barbour and Chalmers:

> 135/128 10/9 32/27 5/4 4/3 45/32 3/2 128/81 5/3 16/9 15/8 2/1

>Lattice:

> * * * * * *
> * * * * 0 *

I believe this results in syntonic comma (4 -1) and a schisma (8
1):

|4 -1|
| | = 4*1 - (8*(-1)) = 4 + 8 = 12
|8 1|

Keep up all the great work!

Wendy Carlos

Wendy Carlos wrote:

> I chose the following set, after reading Barbour and Chalmers:
>
> > 135/128 10/9 32/27 5/4 4/3 45/32 3/2 128/81 5/3 16/9 15/8 2/1

Actually, this is what Ramos de Pareja used on his monochord (Musica
practica, 1482).

Petr

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "bachtone10" wrote:
>
> I've actually followed your list for years, but haven't directly
contributed until now, as there have been queries about my microtonal
techniques, for example, on my early Switched on Bach work.
>
> I chose the following set, after reading Barbour and Chalmers:
>
> > 135/128 10/9 32/27 5/4 4/3 45/32 3/2 128/81 5/3 16/9 15/8 2/1
>
> >Lattice:
>
> > * * * * * *
> > * * * * 0 *
>
> I believe this results in syntonic comma (4 -1) and a schisma (8
> 1):
>
> |4 -1|
> | | = 4*1 - (8*(-1)) = 4 + 8 = 12
> |8 1|
>
> Keep up all the great work!
>
> Wendy Carlos

Woo-hoo! My first living musical hero! ;-)

(And my first seriously expensive LP record, too.)

Still love that music. There's some Bach that just doesn't sound
quite complete to me any longer when I (or anyone else) play it on
the piano ...

But back on topic: What was it about this particular tuning that made
it feel _right_ for the task? Would you have considered, say, a 7-
limit tuning too inauthentic for Bach's day? A just tuning, rather
than a well-temperament, seems a pretty radical departure already.

Regards,
Yahya

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "bachtone10" <bachtone10@...> wrote:

Wowsers!!

> I've actually followed your list for years, but haven't directly
> contributed until now, as there have been queries about my microtonal
> techniques, for example, on my early Switched on Bach work.

I'm sure people would love to see you over on Make Micro Music.

> I chose the following set, after reading Barbour and Chalmers:
>
> > 135/128 10/9 32/27 5/4 4/3 45/32 3/2 128/81 5/3 16/9 15/8 2/1

This is the Ramos de Pareja monochord of 1482, which probably is where
Barbour got it. It's a Fokker block in two different ways--81/80 and
2048/2025, and 32805/32768 and 2048/2025. Recently we were talking
about the trivalent property, and this gets as close to that as
possible for a 12-note, 5-limit scale--three in each nonunison
interval class, except for the midpoint class, which has two. An
interesting and notable scale.

> I believe this results in syntonic comma (4 -1) and a schisma (8
> 1):

It's got one fifth flat by a syntonic comma, and one flat by a
schisma. This makes it a lot like twelve notes of Pythagorean or
twelve notes of schismatic temperament. Also four major thirds sharp
by 2048/2025, and another four sharp by 81/80, etc.

bachtone10 wrote:
> I've actually followed your list for years, but haven't directly > contributed until now, as there have been queries about my microtonal > techniques, for example, on my early Switched on Bach work. Great stuff; I never realized it was microtuned, though! I'll have to give it another listen. Those early Switched on Bach albums were some of my earliest LP purchases. (Of course, they sound nicer on CD.)

> I chose the following set, after reading Barbour and Chalmers:
> >> 135/128 10/9 32/27 5/4 4/3 45/32 3/2 128/81 5/3 16/9 15/8 2/1
> >> Lattice:
> >> * * * * * *
>> * * * * 0 *
> > I believe this results in syntonic comma (4 -1) and a schisma (8
> 1):
> > |4 -1|
> | | = 4*1 - (8*(-1)) = 4 + 8 = 12
> |8 1|

You know, there's something vaguely familiar about this tuning after I tried it out. I'm sure I must have heard it before...

> Keep up all the great work!
> > Wendy Carlos

We're all just following along behind pioneers like yourself! There are still so many corners to explore in this wilderness of tuning...

> bachtone10 wrote:
> > I've actually followed your list for years, but haven't directly
> > contributed until now, as there have been queries about my
> > microtonal techniques, for example, on my early Switched on
> > Bach work.
>
> Great stuff; I never realized it was microtuned, though! I'll have
> to give it another listen. Those early Switched on Bach albums
> were some of my earliest LP purchases.

My understanding is that Switched on Bach 2000 was the first
microtonal Bach album -- is that right?

The liner notes to that album were my first exposure to the
idea of alternate tunings (as a junior in high school), except I
couldn't quite get the idea! It wasn't until a year or so later
when I found the JI Network site and suddenly it all made sense.
One of my favorite albums of all time. I never did guess the
single analog sound, though.

-Carl

I had wanted to post a link to my page on Ramos, only to
find out that the sonic-arts.org domain had expired
(partly my fault ...) -- anyway, it's back up now and
hopefully no-one noticed that it was gone for a couple
of weeks.

Here, i've quoted Oliver Strunk's translation of Ramos's
description of monochord division, with my own mathematically
accurate diagrams illustrating the divisions (produced with
Excel), and some other commentary by me both before and
after the Strunk quote:

http://sonic-arts.org/monzo/ramos/ramos.htm

PS -- Hi Wendy! Good to see you posting here, finally!

-monz
http://tonalsoft.com
Tonescape microtonal music software

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Gene Ward Smith" <genewardsmith@...>
wrote:
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "bachtone10" <bachtone10@> wrote:
>
> Wowsers!!
>
> > I've actually followed your list for years, but haven't
> > directly contributed until now, as there have been queries
> > about my microtonal techniques, for example, on my early
> > Switched on Bach work.
>
> I'm sure people would love to see you over on Make Micro Music.
>
> > I chose the following set, after reading Barbour and Chalmers:
> >
> > > 135/128 10/9 32/27 5/4 4/3 45/32 3/2 128/81 5/3 16/9 15/8 2/1
>
> This is the Ramos de Pareja monochord of 1482, which probably
> is where Barbour got it. It's a Fokker block in two different
> ways--81/80 and 2048/2025, and 32805/32768 and 2048/2025.
> Recently we were talking about the trivalent property, and
> this gets as close to that as possible for a 12-note, 5-limit
> scale--three in each nonunison interval class, except for the
> midpoint class, which has two. An interesting and notable scale.
>
> > I believe this results in syntonic comma (4 -1) and a schisma
> > (8 1):
>
> It's got one fifth flat by a syntonic comma, and one flat by
> a schisma. This makes it a lot like twelve notes of Pythagorean
> or twelve notes of schismatic temperament. Also four major
> thirds sharp by 2048/2025, and another four sharp by 81/80,
> etc.