Misplaced hope

I really hope that microtonal music will never be made to be "chic" by any
established artist because then it will just be another fad and as they all
do, it will pass, and that would be a killer for the microtonal movement.

Elodie wrote,

>I really hope that microtonal music will never be made to be "chic" by any
>established artist because then it will just be another fad and as they all

>do, it will pass, and that would be a killer for the microtonal movement.

Ultimately it is 12-tET which is a fad in our little corner of geography and
history. "Microtonal music", defined as anything other than 12-tET (please
don't argue about terminology -- we're really talking about non-12-tET), is
far older and more widespread than 12-tET, and its future possibilities are
infinitely greater. If a particular alternate tuning happens to become
"chic" for a time and then passes, that would in no way kill the "microtonal
movement". The worst thing for the microtonal movement right now is the
hegemony of 12-tET in the Western conservatory tradition, by which the vast
majority of musicians and composers are taught that there are only 12 notes
and everything else is an "inflection" at best.