Microtone: Difference between revisions

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Xenwolf (talk | contribs)
reworked: simplified list and links. Made cent size data visible by a small table: It seems that 6 decimal places (as shown in Gallery of just intervals) are sufficiently accurate :)
Fredg999 (talk | contribs)
Use "whole number" instead of "integer number" (more beginner-friendly); remove "literal definition": micro- has meant "small" way before meaning one millionth (1873), and therefore the current definition is the most literal one. The "one millionth" interpretation has been moved to User:Xenwolf/Microtone.
 
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The '''Microtone''' is an [[interval measure]] that is sufficiently precise for all thinkable musical and music-science purposes. Besides its high accuracy, it is of a high neutrality since it favors neither twelve-tonality nor even the [[octave]].
{{Wikipedia| Microtonal music #Microtone }}
{{About|1=microtonal intervals|2=the interval size measure|3=Microtone (interval size measure)}}


One actual microtone ('''1µt''') would be defined as one millionth of the [[tone]]:
A '''microtone''' is any [[interval]] between two musical sounds that cannot be represented by a whole number of semitones.


{| class="wikitable"
[[Microtonal music]], in a broad sense, is any music composed and performed with any musical intervals outside of the set of those generally accepted in western music traditions.  A microtonal interval, in generally speech, refers to such an interval, which cannot be broken down into standard western theoretical semitones.  In more specific contexts, the meaning of this term might evaporate into that which is vaguely supported by other more specific or technical terms.  Some music theorists with experience in xenharmonic music might tend to think of microtones as intervals smaller than semitones and therefore use a juxtaposed term, such as "macrotone" to describe an interval larger than a semitone but also not a whole number of semitones. Other music theorists within this field of study may avoid this distinction or avoid using the term to describe the field itself or the music or ideas used to compose the music therein.
|+ Intervals in comparison
! Name
! Size in [[cent]]
|-
| Ton (=[[9/8]])
| {{#expr: ln(9/8) / ln(2) *1200 }}
|-
| Millitone
| {{#expr: ln(9/8) / ln(2) *1200 /1000 }}
|-
| Mikcotone
| {{#expr: ln(9/8) / ln(2) *1200 /1000 /1000 }}
|}


== The Microtone Challenge ==
[[Category:Terms]]
A microtone is indeed a very small interval: 4904 microtones make one [[cent]], and 5884949 an octave.
 
Two sounds different only by 1µt produce a very slow beat; depending on the frequency one have to wait more or less to recocnize it. The beat frequency is
 
* at the upper limit of the hearing range (20 kHz) 7 minutes
* in the range of the highest acoustic sensibility (4 kHz) 35 minutes
* at the lower limit of the hearing range (16 Hz) 7 days
 
Given this, will it be ever possible to make a ''microtone experience'' at all?
 
[[Category:Interval measure]]

Latest revision as of 01:23, 1 April 2025

English Wikipedia has an article on:
This page is about microtonal intervals. For the interval size measure, see Microtone (interval size measure).

A microtone is any interval between two musical sounds that cannot be represented by a whole number of semitones.

Microtonal music, in a broad sense, is any music composed and performed with any musical intervals outside of the set of those generally accepted in western music traditions. A microtonal interval, in generally speech, refers to such an interval, which cannot be broken down into standard western theoretical semitones. In more specific contexts, the meaning of this term might evaporate into that which is vaguely supported by other more specific or technical terms. Some music theorists with experience in xenharmonic music might tend to think of microtones as intervals smaller than semitones and therefore use a juxtaposed term, such as "macrotone" to describe an interval larger than a semitone but also not a whole number of semitones. Other music theorists within this field of study may avoid this distinction or avoid using the term to describe the field itself or the music or ideas used to compose the music therein.