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Bohlen-Pierce mania on Wikipedia?

🔗genewardsmith <genewardsmith@...>

5/16/2010 12:07:57 AM

Unless I am missing something, this thing has gone to far. The FIRST SENTENCE of the article on the kleisma now goes "In music theory, the kleisma is an interval important to temperaments of the Bohlen-Pierce scale." Excuse me, but didn't I see a 2 in the factorization of the kleisma? Why yes--in fact, more than one 2! WHY is this the first sentence, or even any sentence in the entire article? Unless I hear an objection and until some BP fanboy reverts, which seems all too likely, I propose removing it.

I also object to 27/25 being referred to as a Bohlen-Pierce interval simply because it is the ratio of two odd numbers. BP already has dibs on 245/243 and 3125/3087, how much more does it need? The problem is, the interval already has at least three other more traditional names: the large limma, the semitone maximus and the just minor second. Stop the BP madness before it engulfs us all!

🔗Michael <djtrancendance@...>

5/16/2010 9:11:50 AM

Gene>"I also object to 27/25 being referred to as a Bohlen-Pierce interval simply because it is the ratio of two odd numbers."

And if you look at...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohlen%E2%80%93Pierce_scale
...that 27/25 ratio is not even a direct part of the BP diatonic scale, only a difference between two of the dyads in it. And, it's certainly not a direct factors of 3,5,7...the so-called main factors in BP...it seems to me an unintended side-effect ratio of BP rather than a direct part of its construction.

Furthermore I've tried BP myself and don't consider it an ideal scale for odd-harmonic focused timbres. Really!
BP is described on Wikipedia as a product of 3:5:7 and 5:7:9 chords...but a whole bunch of about minor third or larger ratios formed from different dyads within the BP diatonic scale such as 7/5 over 25/21 = about 20/17 (where 17 is not 3,5,7, or 9!)
I don't know if anyone has tried this, but making a scale based on the factors of 3, 5, 7, 9, AND 11 seems like a much more realistic idea so most dyads have odd-numbered relationships. Trying to make all relationships in a scale fit 3,5,7 or 5:7:9 to me seems a recipe to make virtually everything that doesn't fit into triads sound very un-confident. That's also the same impression I got when composing (or trying to compose?!) with BP.
The world shalt not only revolve around purifying odd-harmonic-based triads?!...it would really be nice if we had a BP-like scale that focused on other types of chords as well rather than purifying triads and then saying "whatever else happens...happens".