User:ArrowHead294/EDO impressions: Difference between revisions

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== [[12edo]] ==

The smallest one that does 5-limit well, and is right on the midpoint of the regular diatonic tuning spectrum, separating meantone from Parapythagorean and Superpythagorean. Has the largest possible contrast between major and minor for a meantone tuning, though since the ~~wide major thirds and narrow minor~~ thirds can sound quite sludgy on certain timbres such as organs ~~I feel like 12 is far from optimal tuning for many areas of Western music~~. ~~While~~ I ~~do feel that Western music education should cover~~ the mathematics of tuning before college, and talk about Pythagorean tuning and other meantones to encourage Western musicians to explore other tunings and prevent people from thinking that 12 is the only correct way ~~to tune, I do admit that these should come ''after'' people get familiar with the~~ common practice chords and scales, and 12edo ~~is without a doubt the best starting point for introducing stuff~~.

The smallest one that does 5-limit well, and is right on the midpoint of the regular diatonic tuning spectrum, separating meantone from Parapythagorean and Superpythagorean. Has the largest possible contrast between major and minor for a meantone tuning, though it's far from optimal tuning for many areas of Western music (since the thirds can sound quite sludgy on certain timbres such as organs).

I also wish the way common-practice chords and scales were taught involved giving people a more general perspective on how chords and scales work, and didn't use terms like "whole step" and "half step" and others which are specific to 12edo.

== <span style="display: inline-block; height: 35px;">[[19edo|19edo ({{frac|3}}-comma meantone)]]</span> ==

Has a radically different sound than 12edo and is a great alternative tuning to get into when starting out with microtonality and alternate tunings. Somewhat loose diatonic scale, but much tighter pentatonic, making it potentially a very good choice for songs with largely pentatonic melodies like Hillsong Worship's ''Highlands''. However, its sound is much more jarring compared to 31edo or 43edo, and so it can take quite of getting used to.

== [[22edo]] ==

Equivalent to {{frac|1|4}}-comma superpyth, 22 goes in the opposite direction of meantone. You'll find harmonic sevenths in places where you'd normally expect minor sevenths (e.g. C–B♭ is now halfway between [[16/9]] and [[7/4]] instead of between 16/9 and [[9/5]]), subminor thirds in places where you'd normally expect minor thirds, and supermajor thirds where you'd expect major thirds. Fifths are very bright and shimmery but not wolf-sounding like 5edo is. Probably the best EDO for Superpythagorean temperament there is.

== [[24edo|24edo (Quarter tones)]] ==

For a while, 24 was the only microtonal tuning I ever knew about. It's very convenient as a microtonal tuning, since it's meantone and preserves all the familiar intervals of 12edo. The ability to use the 11th and 13th harmonics and their intervals (without 7) as consonances is a huge bonus. Also supports semaphore with alternating whole steps and quarter tones, allowing for tons of new progressions and modulatory possibilities. Unfortunately I think it's far from the ''best'' tuning to get into for introducing microtonality, since it doesn't do the 7th harmonic's intervals well at all, and I've found that most Westerners consider the sound of 11/8 and 13/8 to be much weirder compared to 7/4.

~~== [[27edo]] ==~~

Equivalent to {{frac|3}}-comma superpyth, 27 equal goes in the opposite direction of meantone (specifically [[19edo]]). You'll find harmonic sevenths in places where you'd normally expect minor sevenths, subminor thirds in places where you'd normally expect minor thirds, and supermajor thirds where you'd expect major thirds. Criminally underrated and underutilised for what it is. Fifths are very bright and shimmery but not wolf-sounding like 5edo is. Its 5-limit minor and major thirds are more familiar and forgiving than 22edo, and it has a very good 13th harmonic. Overall, a great place to explore xenharmony with temperaments like [[Tetracot]].

== [[29edo]] ==

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This is a great microtonal tuning which is also a great gateway into microtonality for Western musicians. Has true harmonic sevenths, along with very accurate and distinct approximations to septimal subminor and supermajor thirds and sixths. Since the 7th harmonic and all of its intervals are all pretty much variations on familiar intervals, from my experience many people consider the sound of the new intervals in 36edo to be more forgiving, whereas the "new" intervals in 24edo tend to sound much more jarring and weird in comparison.

== ~~<span style="display: inline-block; height: 35px;">~~[[43edo|43edo ({{frac|5}}-comma meantone)]]~~</span>~~ ==

== [[43edo|43edo ({{frac|5}}-comma meantone)]] ==

By far my favourite alternative tuning for post-Mediæval Western music where 12edo's enharmonics aren't critical, and perhaps the most optimal meantone tuning. It has the fifths tuned flat and major thirds tuned sharp with almost exactly the same deviation from just intonation on both of them and the minor third is tuned flat by twice that amount. It's also good for microtonality involving higher-order harmonic complexes since it approximates most of the intervals involving 7, ''and'' 11, ''and'' 13 well, and has a somewhat better approximation of the first 16 harmonics of the harmonic series than 31edo. However, with so many notes, in practice it's best suited for keyboards (Lumatone ''et al''). For guitar and bass players, I don't even think it's practical to put 87 frets on any real-world guitar or bass of reasonable size; at this point I think most guitar or bass players who want to use 43 would go fretless.

By far my favourite alternative tuning for post-Mediæval Western music where 12edo's enharmonics aren't critical, and perhaps the most optimal meantone tuning. It has the fifths tuned flat and major thirds tuned sharp with almost exactly the same deviation from just intonation on both of them and the minor third is tuned flat by twice that amount.

== [[53edo]] ==

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 == [[12edo]] ==
-The smallest one that does 5-limit well, and is right on the midpoint of the regular diatonic tuning spectrum, separating meantone from Parapythagorean and Superpythagorean. Has the largest possible contrast between major and minor for a meantone tuning, though since the wide major thirds and narrow minor thirds can sound quite sludgy on certain timbres such as organs I feel like 12 is far from optimal tuning for many areas of Western music. While I do feel that Western music education should cover the mathematics of tuning before college, and talk about Pythagorean tuning and other meantones to encourage Western musicians to explore other tunings and prevent people from thinking that 12 is the only correct way to tune, I do admit that these should come ''after'' people get familiar with the common practice chords and scales, and 12edo is without a doubt the best starting point for introducing stuff.
+The smallest one that does 5-limit well, and is right on the midpoint of the regular diatonic tuning spectrum, separating meantone from Parapythagorean and Superpythagorean. Has the largest possible contrast between major and minor for a meantone tuning, though it's far from optimal tuning for many areas of Western music (since the thirds can sound quite sludgy on certain timbres such as organs).
+I also wish the way common-practice chords and scales were taught involved giving people a more general perspective on how chords and scales work, and didn't use terms like "whole step" and "half step" and others which are specific to 12edo.
 == <span style="display: inline-block; height: 35px;">[[19edo|19edo ({{frac|3}}-comma meantone)]]</span> ==
 Has a radically different sound than 12edo and is a great alternative tuning to get into when starting out with microtonality and alternate tunings. Somewhat loose diatonic scale, but much tighter pentatonic, making it potentially a very good choice for songs with largely pentatonic melodies like Hillsong Worship's ''Highlands''. However, its sound is much more jarring compared to 31edo or 43edo, and so it can take quite of getting used to.
+== [[22edo]] ==
+Equivalent to {{frac|1|4}}-comma superpyth, 22 goes in the opposite direction of meantone. You'll find harmonic sevenths in places where you'd normally expect minor sevenths (e.g. C&ndash;B&#x266D; is now halfway between [[16/9]] and [[7/4]] instead of between 16/9 and [[9/5]]), subminor thirds in places where you'd normally expect minor thirds, and supermajor thirds where you'd expect major thirds. Fifths are very bright and shimmery but not wolf-sounding like 5edo is. Probably the best EDO for Superpythagorean temperament there is.
 == [[24edo|24edo (Quarter tones)]] ==
 For a while, 24 was the only microtonal tuning I ever knew about. It's very convenient as a microtonal tuning, since it's meantone and preserves all the familiar intervals of 12edo. The ability to use the 11th and 13th harmonics and their intervals (without 7) as consonances is a huge bonus. Also supports semaphore with alternating whole steps and quarter tones, allowing for tons of new progressions and modulatory possibilities. Unfortunately I think it's far from the ''best'' tuning to get into for introducing microtonality, since it doesn't do the 7th harmonic's intervals well at all, and I've found that most Westerners consider the sound of 11/8 and 13/8 to be much weirder compared to 7/4.
-== [[27edo]] ==
-Equivalent to {{frac|3}}-comma superpyth, 27 equal goes in the opposite direction of meantone (specifically [[19edo]]). You'll find harmonic sevenths in places where you'd normally expect minor sevenths, subminor thirds in places where you'd normally expect minor thirds, and supermajor thirds where you'd expect major thirds. Criminally underrated and underutilised for what it is. Fifths are very bright and shimmery but not wolf-sounding like 5edo is. Its 5-limit minor and major thirds are more familiar and forgiving than 22edo, and it has a very good 13th harmonic. Overall, a great place to explore xenharmony with temperaments like [[Tetracot]].
 == [[29edo]] ==
@@ Line 27: / Line 29: @@
 This is a great microtonal tuning which is also a great gateway into microtonality for Western musicians. Has true harmonic sevenths, along with very accurate and distinct approximations to septimal subminor and supermajor thirds and sixths. Since the 7th harmonic and all of its intervals are all pretty much variations on familiar intervals, from my experience many people consider the sound of the new intervals in 36edo to be more forgiving, whereas the "new" intervals in 24edo tend to sound much more jarring and weird in comparison.
-== <span style="display: inline-block; height: 35px;">[[43edo|43edo ({{frac|5}}-comma meantone)]]</span> ==
+== [[43edo|43edo ({{frac|5}}-comma meantone)]] ==
-By far my favourite alternative tuning for post-Mediæval Western music where 12edo's enharmonics aren't critical, and perhaps the most optimal meantone tuning. It has the fifths tuned flat and major thirds tuned sharp with almost exactly the same deviation from just intonation on both of them and the minor third is tuned flat by twice that amount. It's also good for microtonality involving higher-order harmonic complexes since it approximates most of the intervals involving 7, ''and'' 11, ''and'' 13 well, and has a somewhat better approximation of the first 16 harmonics of the harmonic series than 31edo. However, with so many notes, in practice it's best suited for keyboards (Lumatone ''et al''). For guitar and bass players, I don't even think it's practical to put 87 frets on any real-world guitar or bass of reasonable size; at this point I think most guitar or bass players who want to use 43 would go fretless.
+By far my favourite alternative tuning for post-Mediæval Western music where 12edo's enharmonics aren't critical, and perhaps the most optimal meantone tuning. It has the fifths tuned flat and major thirds tuned sharp with almost exactly the same deviation from just intonation on both of them and the minor third is tuned flat by twice that amount.
 == [[53edo]] ==