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=== Compromise notations ===
=== Compromise notations ===
The only notation I have knowledge of that can be sensibly called a "compromise notation" is [[Sagittal]]. It can be used to notate almost every tuning imaginable, combining mapping with JI-ish accidentals at high enough complexity. They share the versatility of tempered notations combining it with the exactitude of JI, converging towards a JI interval that is represented through accidentals that represent both a mapping and a precise comma.  
The only notation I have knowledge of that can be sensibly called a "compromise notation" is [[Sagittal]]. It can be used to notate almost every tuning imaginable, combining mapping with JI-ish accidentals at high enough complexity. They share the versatility of tempered notations combining it with the exactitude of JI, converging toweeds a JI interval that is represented through accidentals that represent both a mapping and a precise comma.  


'''PLIN''', the focus of this article, aims to be such another notation[https://xkcd.com/927/ .]
'''PLIN''', the focus of this article, aims to be such another notation[https://xkcd.com/927/ .]


== PLIN ==
== PLIN ==
Short for '''Pythagoreanoid Loose Interval Notation''', it's a type of [[2.3-equivalent class and Pythagorean-commatic interval naming system|2.3-equivalent class]]. It attempts to provide precision tiers to name intervals, based on a chain of '''pure''' fifths. The reason of why to use a chain of fifths, apart from tradition and my biases, is that it provides the simplest framefork for building scales, and because it is the most widely used worldwide. Why to use pure fifths and not an edo's best approximation of a fifth is to have a retrocompatible sistem. Among the lower primes, it makes the best small MOS scales (2,3,5,(7),12,(17),(29),41,53), second in place to 11 (2,5,(7),(9),11,13,24,37). An argument could be made to make a system based on 11 to build scales, but that's beyond the scope of this article. After all, this is about a ''pythagoreanoid'' notation, not a ''hendecoid'' notation.
Short for '''Pythagoreanoid Loose Interval Notation''', it's a type of [[2.3-equivalent class and Pythagorean-commatic interval naming system|2.3-equivalent class]]. It attempts to provide precision tiers to name intervals, based on a chain of '''pure''' fifths. The reason of why to use a chain of fifths, apart from tradition and my biases, is that it provides the simplest framefork for building scales, and because it is the most widely used worldwide.  
 
Why use pure fifths and have unequal sized buckets? For retrocompatibility. If I equalize the buckets, the fifth changes, and the buckets also change. Most intervals will be the same, but for higher precisions, the buckets will change. It isn't desirable for an interval to be a minor sixth in one precision and then a major sixth in another.  
 
Among the lower primes, it makes the best small MOS scales (2,3,5,(7),12,(17),(29),41,53), second in place to 11 (2,5,(7),(9),11,13,24,37). An argument could be made to make a system based on 11 to build scales, but that's beyond the scope of this article. After all, this is about a ''pythagoreanoid'' notation, not a ''hendecoid'' notation.


The notation, much like Sagittal, comes in precision packs, which are the 12-form PLIN, 53-form PLIN, 159-form PLIN, 665-PLIN and 7315-form PLIN. The reason why to have these numbers of intervals is that they are part of the sequence of 3-2 telic edos that have high limit consistencies, and the biggest they can be. Each finer PLIN adds one more class of independent prefixes, from the others, having one (nominals) with 12-PLIN, and up to 5 with 7315-PLIN, which for some intervals will become hard to distinguish.
The notation, much like Sagittal, comes in precision packs, which are the 12-form PLIN, 53-form PLIN, 159-form PLIN, 665-PLIN and 7315-form PLIN. The reason why to have these numbers of intervals is that they are part of the sequence of 3-2 telic edos that have high limit consistencies, and the biggest they can be. Each finer PLIN adds one more class of independent prefixes, from the others, having one (nominals) with 12-PLIN, and up to 5 with 7315-PLIN, which for some intervals will become hard to distinguish.
Line 30: Line 34:
PLINs generate regions whose center correspond to a pure pythagorean interval generated by the chain-of-fiths,  For example, there are infinite minor sixths, no matter how much you narrow the buckets, but there is ''only'' one true minor sixth, and that is 128/81.
PLINs generate regions whose center correspond to a pure pythagorean interval generated by the chain-of-fiths,  For example, there are infinite minor sixths, no matter how much you narrow the buckets, but there is ''only'' one true minor sixth, and that is 128/81.


Any single region has infinite intervals represented in it, and thus it is important to distinguish the breadth of the buckets any JI interval can fall into. So, while there are an infinite amount of minor thirds, and of superminor thirds, and of qu superminorthirds, and of twomins qu superminor thirds, all of them will 6/5; with 12-PLIN being quite rough, 53-PLIN being very accurate, and 665-PLIN and 7315-PLIN further refining the accuracy to extreme levels to the point where all of those will sound indistinguishable from 6/5, since the difference will be only of 0.16 c per region in 7315-PLIN.
Any single region has infinite intervals represented in it, and thus it is important to distinguish the breadth of the buckets any JI interval can fall into. So, while there are an infinite amount of minor thirds, and of superminor thirds, and of qu superminorthirds, and of twomins qu superminor thirds, all of them will converge towards 6/5; with 12-PLIN being quite rough, 53-PLIN being very accurate, and 665-PLIN and 7315-PLIN further refining the accuracy to extreme levels to the point where all of those will sound indistinguishable from 6/5, since the difference will be only of 0.16 c per region in 7315-PLIN.


12-PLIN, 53-PLIN and 665-PLIN are MOSses, more concretely, 5L 7s 6|5 1.260, 41L 12s 26|26 H=1.1822, and 306L 359s H=1.0427, but 159-PLIN and 7315 are not, as they modify the two last MOSses respectively with fractions of the telic commas. As such, to make things easier, '''EPLIN'''s may be used to have exactly equal regions, which will make things easier to work with. by default, PLINs are not equal, so it needs to be specified when an equalized PLIN is being used, because it can change the region an interval falls into. For example, 31/16 is a rough octave, but in 12-EPLIN, a '''eq'''rough major seventh. 7/4 is a fixsubminor seventh, but in 159-EPLIN, an '''equarto'''subminor seventh.  
12-PLIN, 53-PLIN and 665-PLIN are MOSses, more concretely, 5L 7s 6|5 1.260, 41L 12s 26|26 H=1.1822, and 306L 359s H=1.0427, but 159-PLIN and 7315 are not, as they modify the two last MOSses respectively with fractions of the telic commas. '''EPLIN'''s may be used to have exactly equalized buckets, which could make things easier to work with. by default, PLINs are not equal, so it needs to be specified when an equalized PLIN is being used, because it can change the region an interval falls into. For example, 31/16 is a rough octave, but in 12-EPLIN, an eqrough ''major seventh''. 7/4 is a fixsubminor seventh, but in 159-EPLIN, an eq''wee''subminor seventh.  


One glaring design feature about PLINs is the lack of ''neutral'' categories, and of ''augmented'', ''diminished'' and ''perfect''. The reason to avoid those is that for one, true neutral intervals do not exist in integer pythagorean, but even if they did, using this term is unnecessary. 11/9 is commonly called a neutral interval, but it is closer to a minor third. So it is roughly a minor third. More precisely a hyperminor third, at the extreme of minor thirds. Same thing applies to the interordinals like chthonics, naiadics, cocytics and ouranics. You can do fine with using hyper/hypo to refer to them at the edges of the nominals. All of this ''sonically speaking''.
One glaring design feature about PLINs is the lack of ''neutral'' categories, and of ''augmented'', ''diminished'' and ''perfect''. The reason to avoid those is that for one, true neutral intervals do not exist in integer pythagorean, but even if they did, using this term is unnecessary. 11/9 is commonly called a neutral interval, but it is closer to a minor third. So it is roughly a minor third. More precisely a hyperminor third, at the extreme of minor thirds. Same thing applies to the interordinals like chthonics, naiadics, cocytics and ouranics. You can do fine with using hyper/hypo to refer to them at the edges of the nominals. All of this ''sonically speaking''.


For two, is 11/9 a minor third or a major third? Or 13/10 a major third or a fourth? That depends on how you treat it. Augmented/diminished, and '''chromas''' have the same logic in that they are '''''functional''''' in this system. Using ''perfect'' is also redundant and ambiguous, so use different coinages to refer specifically to the centers of regions of the different PLINs. An interval is not a chroma, but rather, '''''works''''' as a chroma. When you are dealing with intervals inside a scale and a piece, it may be useful to refer to 25/16 as an augmented fifth, but '''sonically''' speaking, it is a rough minor sixth. Or a hypominor sixth. Or a mi hypominor sixth. Or a fourplus mi hypominor sixth... you get the point.  
For two, is 11/9 a minor third or a major third? Or 13/10 a major third or a fourth? That depends on how you treat it. ''Augmented/diminished'', and ''chromas'' have the same logic in that they are '''functional''' in this system. Using ''perfect'' is also redundant and ambiguous, so use different coinages to refer specifically to the centers of regions of the different PLINs. An interval is not a chroma, but rather, '''works''' as a chroma. When you are dealing with intervals inside a scale and a piece, it may be useful to refer to 25/16 as an augmented fifth, but '''sonically''' speaking, it is a rough minor sixth. Or a hypominor sixth. Or a mi hypominor sixth. Or a fourplus mi hypominor sixth... you get the point.  


Also, no words for other primes. So no ptolemaic/pental/classical, septimal, undecimal... etc. Everything stays in the 3-limit. Minimum complexity, reducing the amount of classes and descriptors to worry about to the absolute minimum.
Everything stays in the 3-limit. Minimum complexity, reducing the amount of descriptors to worry about to the absolute minimum.  


Regarding the choice of words to refer to the descriptors; you might not agree about the use of hypo/hyper, or arto/tendo, or qi/qu, or mi/mu, or n-plus/n-minus; but that's only a semantics problem. I chose those names because they kind of make sense to me, but the rigor is in the system, because you have these commas in the k-strong 3-2 telic sequence:
Regarding the choice of words to refer to the descriptors; you might not agree about the use of hypo/hyper, or wee/wide, or qi/qu, or mi/mu, or n-plus/n-minus; but that's only a semantics problem. I chose those names because they kind of make sense to me, but the rigor is in the system, because you have these commas in the k-strong 3-2 telic sequence:


* Limmas and apotomes (1 m2 M2 m3 M3 4 T 5 m6 M6 m7 M7 8) Available in 12-PLIN [rough]
* Limmas and apotomes (1 m2 M2 m3 M3 4 T 5 m6 M6 m7 M7 8) Available in 12-PLIN [rough]
* Pythagorean commas ('''s'''ub/'''S'''uper, '''h'''ypo/'''H'''yper) Available in 53-PLIN [∅], functionally only in 12-PLIN  
* Pythagorean commas ('''s'''ub/'''S'''uper, '''h'''ypo/'''H'''yper) Available in 53-PLIN [∅], functionally only in 12-PLIN  
* ''Pythagorean comma thirds ('''a'''rto/'''t'''endo) Available '''only''' in 159-PLIN [fix]''
* ''Pythagorean comma thirds (wee/wide) Available '''only''' in 159-PLIN [fix]''
* Mercator commas ([π]mu/[Π]mi) Available in 665-PLIN [sat], functionally only in 53/159-PLIN
* Mercator commas ([π]mu/[Π]mi) Available in 665-PLIN [sat], functionally only in 53/159-PLIN
* Sasktel commas (qu/'''Q'''i) Available in 665-PLIN [sat]
* Sasktel commas (qu/'''Q'''i) Available in 665-PLIN [sat]
* Sasktel comma elevenths ([0~5]plus/[0~5]-minus) Available '''only''' in 7315-PLIN [spot
* Sasktel comma elevenths ([0~5]plus/[0~5]-minus) Available '''only''' in 7315-PLIN [spot


The choice of giving no center descriptor to 53-PLIN is that I believe that for the average xennie, 53 regions is precise enough to accurately name most intervals, and simple enough that the regions cannot be confused.
The choice of giving no center descriptor to 53-PLIN is that I believe that for the average xennie, 53 regions is precise enough to accurately name most intervals, and simple enough so that the regions cannot be confused.


Of course, the names would have many synonyms, so hypo/hyper = infra/ultra, minor second = limma, major second = tone, unison = prime, major third = ditone. Extending my rules; apotome = superminor second; superlimma.  
Of course, the names would have many synonyms, so hypo/hyper = infra/ultra, minor second = limma, major second = tone, unison = prime, major third = ditone. Extending my rules; apotome = superminor second; superlimma. Alternatively you could use the [[User:Eufalesio/Punctional Just System#Punny names|Punny names]], to save yourself some syllables.  


==== Syntax of a PLIN ====
==== Syntax of a PLIN ====
Line 57: Line 61:
* 12-PLIN : rough + diatonic nominal
* 12-PLIN : rough + diatonic nominal
* 53-PLIN: hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper + diatonic nominal
* 53-PLIN: hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper + diatonic nominal
* 159-PLIN arto/fix/tendo + hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper + diatonic nominal
* 159-PLIN wee/fix/wide + hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper + diatonic nominal
* 665-PLIN [∅/qi/qu + [∅/two/three][mi/mu]]/sat + hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper + diatonic nominal
* 665-PLIN [∅/qi/qu + [∅/two/three][mi/mu]]/sat + hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper + diatonic nominal
* 7315-PLIN [[∅/two/three/four/five][plus/min(u)s]]/spot+[∅/qi/qu+[∅/two/three][mi/mu]]+hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper+diatonic nominal
* 7315-PLIN [[∅/two/three/four/five][plus/min(u)s]]/spot+[∅/qi/qu+[∅/two/three][mi/mu]]+hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper+diatonic nominal
Line 635: Line 639:
None of the PLINs from this point on will be MOS, as it is much more retrocompatible and feasible to alter by fractions of a pythagorean comma than to make a multiperiod MOS scale. It's just not worth the mental gymnastics.
None of the PLINs from this point on will be MOS, as it is much more retrocompatible and feasible to alter by fractions of a pythagorean comma than to make a multiperiod MOS scale. It's just not worth the mental gymnastics.
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+ 159-PLIN; 41L 12s 26 |159-PLIN up to the first major second; MOS 41L 12s 26|26; tolerance = '''3.91c'''
|+ 159-PLIN; 41L 12s 26 |159-PLIN up to the first fixmajor second; MOS 41L 12s 26|26; tolerance = '''3.91c'''
!Spoken name
!Spoken name
!Simplified
!Simplified
Line 648: Line 652:
|729/728
|729/728
|-
|-
|tendounison
|wideunison
|t1
|t1
|Dt
|DW
|7.8200
|7.8200
|225/224
|225/224
|-
|-
|artosuperunison
|weesuperunison
|aS1
|aS1
|DaS
|DwS
|15.6400
|15.6400
|121/120
|121/120
Line 666: Line 670:
|64/63
|64/63
|-
|-
|tendosuperunison
|widesuperunison
|tS1
|tS1
|DtS
|DtS
Line 672: Line 676:
|56/55
|56/55
|-
|-
|artohyperunison / artohypominor second
|weehyperunison / weehypominor second
|aH1
|aH1
|DaH /Ebah
|DwH /Ebwh
|39.1000
|39.1000
|45/44
|45/44
Line 684: Line 688:
|40/39
|40/39
|-
|-
|tendohyperunison / tendohypominor second
|widehyperunison / widehypominor second
|th2
|th2
|Ebth
|EbWh
|54.740021
|54.740021
|33/32
|33/32
|-
|-
|artosubminor second
|weesubminor second
|asm2
|asm2
|Ebas
|Ebws
|58.9449
|58.9449
|91/88
|91/88
Line 702: Line 706:
|80/77
|80/77
|-
|-
|tendosubminorsecond
|widesubminorsecond
|tsm2
|tsm2
|Ebts
|EbWs
|74.5840
|74.5840
|448/429
|448/429
|-
|-
|artominor second
|weeminor second
|am2
|am2
|Eba
|Ebw
|82.405
|82.405
|22/21
|22/21
Line 720: Line 724:
|96/91
|96/91
|-
|-
|tendominor second
|wideminor second
|tm2
|tm2
|Ebt
|EbW
|98.045
|98.045
|128/121
|128/121
|-
|-
|artosuperminor second
|weesuperminor second
|aSm2
|aSm2
|EbaSa
|EbwS
|105.865
|105.865
|1225/1152
|1225/1152
Line 738: Line 742:
|16/15
|16/15
|-
|-
|tendosuperminor second
|widesuperminor second
|tSm2
|tSm2
|EbtS
|EbWS
|121.505
|121.505
|15/14
|15/14
|-
|-
|artohyperminor second
|weehyperminor second
|aHm2
|aHm2
|EbaH
|EbwH
|129.325
|129.325
|14/13
|14/13
Line 756: Line 760:
|13/12
|13/12
|-
|-
|tendohyperminor second
|widehyperminor second
|tHm2
|tHm2
|EbtH
|EbWH
|144.965
|144.965
|160/147
|160/147
|-
|-
|artohypomajor second
|weehypomajor second
|ahM2
|ahM2
|Eah
|Ewh
|149.17
|149.17
|12/11
|12/11
Line 774: Line 778:
|35/32
|35/32
|-
|-
|tendohypomajor second
|widehypomajor second
|thM2
|thM2
|Eth
|EWh
|164.809
|164.809
|11/10
|11/10
|-
|-
|artosubmajor second
|weesubmajor second
|asM2
|asM2
|Eas
|Ews
|172.629
|172.629
|182/165
|182/165
Line 792: Line 796:
|231/208
|231/208
|-
|-
|tendosubmajor second
|widesubmajor second
|tsM2
|tsM2
|Ets
|Ets
Line 798: Line 802:
|39/35
|39/35
|-
|-
|artomajor second
|weemajor second
|aM2
|aM2
|Ea
|Ew
|196.09
|196.09
|160/143
|160/143
Line 814: Line 818:
If 53-PLIN is not enough for you, this will be surely be enough. If not... then prepare for what's to come.
If 53-PLIN is not enough for you, this will be surely be enough. If not... then prepare for what's to come.


As you know, two is a pair, three is a crowd, and each new PLIN continues adding more classes to worry about. So far, it has been only 3 classes at most: tendo/arto, hypo/sub/fix/super/hyper, nominal. But, 665 has now qi/qu (small qian commas) and mi/mu (mercator commas), apart from the hypo/sub/fix/super/hyper, nominal. 7315-PLIN has all those, and five-fold plus/min(u)s.  
As you know, two is a pair, three is a crowd, and each new PLIN continues adding more classes to worry about. So far, it has been only 3 classes at most: wide/wee, hypo/sub/fix/super/hyper, nominal. But, 665 has now qi/qu (small qian commas) and mi/mu (mercator commas), apart from the hypo/sub/fix/super/hyper, nominal. 7315-PLIN has all those, and five-fold plus/min(u)s.  
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+665-PLIN until the first pythagorean comma
|+665-PLIN until the first pythagorean comma
Line 1,376: Line 1,380:
I think the mappings are correct, but I'm too lazy to check my work. Mappings ''may'' change for EPLINs.  
I think the mappings are correct, but I'm too lazy to check my work. Mappings ''may'' change for EPLINs.  


== Notes on EPLINs ==
== EPLINs ==
Since EPLINs are essentially edos, I think that allowing more EPLINs than PLINs to exist could be advantageous. Case in point: 41-EPLIN, 94-EPLIN, 118-EPLIN, 65/130-EPLIN, 171-EPLIN, 217-EPLIN, 311-EPLIN, 1600-EPLIN, 2460-EPLIN, 8539-EPLIN. Any edo with a mapped fifth no wider than 41edo's, no narrower than 65edo's would be good.
Since EPLINs are essentially edos, I think that allowing more EPLINs than PLINs to exist could be advantageous. Case in point: 41-EPLIN, 94-EPLIN, 118-EPLIN, 130-EPLIN, 171-EPLIN, 217-EPLIN, 270-EPLIN, 311-EPLIN, 1600-EPLIN, 2460-EPLIN, 8539-EPLIN. '''No others'''. This is to prevent bloat of the system and the mapped comma to fall beyond the size of a syntonic or septimal comma. The reason to use these edos is because they're either zeta peaks, or very very consistent.  


WIP
The jump from 311 to 1600 is due to the fact that for its size, there is no better edo for consistency than 311. The next best thing is 1600edo, which has around the same absolute error as 270edo, if a bit less. Just in case, and because I think they're SS-tier edos, I'm putting the behemoths 2460 and 6079 for ultra-mega-hyper accuracy.


== Conclusion ==
Here are the prefixes for pythagorean comma fractions in these EPLINs:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Edosteps
added
!41-EPLIN
!94-EPLIN
!118-EPLIN
!130-EPLIN
!171-EPLIN
!217-EPLIN
!270-EPLIN
!311-EPLIN
!1600-EPLIN
!2460-EPLIN
!6079-EPLIN
|-
| +1
|–
|glus
|hus
|slus
|nus
|clus
|xus
|vlus
|kwus
|krus
|prus
|-
|0
|kite
|gar
|hel
|spen
|nea
|cot
|nex
|vu
|kwa
|kirn
|pir
|-
| -1
|–
|gins
|hins
|spins
|nins
|kins
|xins
|vins
|kwins
|krins
|prins
|-
!Size and
edosteps
|29.268c
[1]
|25.532c
[2]
|20.339c
[2]
|18.4615c
[2]
|21.0526c
[3]
|27.6497c
[5]
|26.<u>6</u>c
[6]
|27.001c
[7]
|24c
[32]
|23.4146c
[48]
|23.4688c
[167]
|}
These prefixes are based on the a temperament they represent, or on Sagittal:
 
* gar- for Garibaldi
* hel- for Helmholtz
* spen- for Sensipent
* nea- for Ennealimmal
* cot- for Cotoneum
* nex- for Nexus
* vu- for Vavoom
* kwa- for Kwazy
* kirn- for Atomic (Kirnberger's atom)
* pir- for Pirate
The only ones of this EPLINs that can use the mercator comma are 2460-EPLIN and 6079-EPLIN, as the sizes aren't too dissimilar and/or inconsistent. Yes, 42%, 69% error, but in all other EPLINs it is wildly out of shape, in some even negative!
 
Examples:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
!94-EPLIN
!130-EPLIN
!311-EPLIN
|-
|5/4
|garsubmajor third
|spensubmajor third
|vlussubmajor third
|-
|7/4
|garsubminor seventh
|hinssubminor seventh
|vusubminor seventh
|-
|11/8
|garhyperfourth
|slushyperfourth
|vuhyperfourth
|-
|13/8
|garhyperminor sixth
|slushyperminor sixth
|vlushyperminor sixth
|}
WIP
WIP

Latest revision as of 10:36, 9 January 2026

This article proposes a way to name any intervals and pitches, logically extending conventional notations following Pythagorean tuning into a minimal system, with some of my own flairs.

Preamble

There are many ways to name intervals and pitches, both in edos and in JI, which can be generalized into four buckets:

JI notations

HEJI, Johnston's notation, FJS, Color notation... etc. They can be used to notate every interval in JI exactly, up to a limit (except FJS which can notate ∞-limit JI). They are perfect, in the sense that the intervals they describe are unique, but the mappings can be unintuitive, and its derivations may become extremely complex. They are also very weird to speak generally (except for color notation, by design). What they have in rigor, they mostly lack in flexibility and intuitiveness.

Tempered notations

Ups and downs, edosteps, generator(s)+period(s) of a special temperament... etc. They can be used to notate a finite set of intervals, with a finite maximum variety. Unlike in JI notations, these notations are dependent on the working temperament/edo to make sense, so in theory there are infinitely many ways to call an interval depending on the mapping, and none of those will be exact due to the nature of temperaments. They are however, extremely versatile, and very practical, great for everyday use, and very easy to speak.

Loosely defined terms

Inheriting the chain of fifths notation (unison, second, third... + major/minor/perfect/(neutral) (+ augmented/diminished)), and adding other descriptors to further converge to the meaning. This category is not rigorously defined and very idiosyncratic. It is common to see super-, sub-, ultra-, infra-, lesser, greater, harmonic/otonal, utonal... and primes spoken like Latinate adjectives. And of course, proper names... yes, I'm talking to you!

Compromise notations

The only notation I have knowledge of that can be sensibly called a "compromise notation" is Sagittal. It can be used to notate almost every tuning imaginable, combining mapping with JI-ish accidentals at high enough complexity. They share the versatility of tempered notations combining it with the exactitude of JI, converging toweeds a JI interval that is represented through accidentals that represent both a mapping and a precise comma.

PLIN, the focus of this article, aims to be such another notation.

PLIN

Short for Pythagoreanoid Loose Interval Notation, it's a type of 2.3-equivalent class. It attempts to provide precision tiers to name intervals, based on a chain of pure fifths. The reason of why to use a chain of fifths, apart from tradition and my biases, is that it provides the simplest framefork for building scales, and because it is the most widely used worldwide.

Why use pure fifths and have unequal sized buckets? For retrocompatibility. If I equalize the buckets, the fifth changes, and the buckets also change. Most intervals will be the same, but for higher precisions, the buckets will change. It isn't desirable for an interval to be a minor sixth in one precision and then a major sixth in another.

Among the lower primes, it makes the best small MOS scales (2,3,5,(7),12,(17),(29),41,53), second in place to 11 (2,5,(7),(9),11,13,24,37). An argument could be made to make a system based on 11 to build scales, but that's beyond the scope of this article. After all, this is about a pythagoreanoid notation, not a hendecoid notation.

The notation, much like Sagittal, comes in precision packs, which are the 12-form PLIN, 53-form PLIN, 159-form PLIN, 665-PLIN and 7315-form PLIN. The reason why to have these numbers of intervals is that they are part of the sequence of 3-2 telic edos that have high limit consistencies, and the biggest they can be. Each finer PLIN adds one more class of independent prefixes, from the others, having one (nominals) with 12-PLIN, and up to 5 with 7315-PLIN, which for some intervals will become hard to distinguish.

If you say you need one beyond 7315, you are beyond insane. The next edo on the k-strong 3-2 telic list is the gargantuan 190537edo. If you're stubborn enough to do so, have fun using twelfths of a satanic comma! And you will need to stack that twelfth interval up to 140 times in either direction, because a 306-comma is 281/12 satanic commas. That sounds like hell, both figuratively and literally. Whoever named the satanic comma, surely knew what pain in the ass was to work with it. If not, that's a damned too good of a coincidence to overlook.

But enough with the religious puns. You do NOT need it. At that point, just use FJS.

How PLINs work

PLINs generate regions whose center correspond to a pure pythagorean interval generated by the chain-of-fiths, For example, there are infinite minor sixths, no matter how much you narrow the buckets, but there is only one true minor sixth, and that is 128/81.

Any single region has infinite intervals represented in it, and thus it is important to distinguish the breadth of the buckets any JI interval can fall into. So, while there are an infinite amount of minor thirds, and of superminor thirds, and of qu superminorthirds, and of twomins qu superminor thirds, all of them will converge towards 6/5; with 12-PLIN being quite rough, 53-PLIN being very accurate, and 665-PLIN and 7315-PLIN further refining the accuracy to extreme levels to the point where all of those will sound indistinguishable from 6/5, since the difference will be only of 0.16 c per region in 7315-PLIN.

12-PLIN, 53-PLIN and 665-PLIN are MOSses, more concretely, 5L 7s 6|5 1.260, 41L 12s 26|26 H=1.1822, and 306L 359s H=1.0427, but 159-PLIN and 7315 are not, as they modify the two last MOSses respectively with fractions of the telic commas. EPLINs may be used to have exactly equalized buckets, which could make things easier to work with. by default, PLINs are not equal, so it needs to be specified when an equalized PLIN is being used, because it can change the region an interval falls into. For example, 31/16 is a rough octave, but in 12-EPLIN, an eqrough major seventh. 7/4 is a fixsubminor seventh, but in 159-EPLIN, an eqweesubminor seventh.

One glaring design feature about PLINs is the lack of neutral categories, and of augmented, diminished and perfect. The reason to avoid those is that for one, true neutral intervals do not exist in integer pythagorean, but even if they did, using this term is unnecessary. 11/9 is commonly called a neutral interval, but it is closer to a minor third. So it is roughly a minor third. More precisely a hyperminor third, at the extreme of minor thirds. Same thing applies to the interordinals like chthonics, naiadics, cocytics and ouranics. You can do fine with using hyper/hypo to refer to them at the edges of the nominals. All of this sonically speaking.

For two, is 11/9 a minor third or a major third? Or 13/10 a major third or a fourth? That depends on how you treat it. Augmented/diminished, and chromas have the same logic in that they are functional in this system. Using perfect is also redundant and ambiguous, so use different coinages to refer specifically to the centers of regions of the different PLINs. An interval is not a chroma, but rather, works as a chroma. When you are dealing with intervals inside a scale and a piece, it may be useful to refer to 25/16 as an augmented fifth, but sonically speaking, it is a rough minor sixth. Or a hypominor sixth. Or a mi hypominor sixth. Or a fourplus mi hypominor sixth... you get the point.

Everything stays in the 3-limit. Minimum complexity, reducing the amount of descriptors to worry about to the absolute minimum.

Regarding the choice of words to refer to the descriptors; you might not agree about the use of hypo/hyper, or wee/wide, or qi/qu, or mi/mu, or n-plus/n-minus; but that's only a semantics problem. I chose those names because they kind of make sense to me, but the rigor is in the system, because you have these commas in the k-strong 3-2 telic sequence:

  • Limmas and apotomes (1 m2 M2 m3 M3 4 T 5 m6 M6 m7 M7 8) Available in 12-PLIN [rough]
  • Pythagorean commas (sub/Super, hypo/Hyper) Available in 53-PLIN [∅], functionally only in 12-PLIN
  • Pythagorean comma thirds (wee/wide) Available only in 159-PLIN [fix]
  • Mercator commas ([π]mu/[Π]mi) Available in 665-PLIN [sat], functionally only in 53/159-PLIN
  • Sasktel commas (qu/Qi) Available in 665-PLIN [sat]
  • Sasktel comma elevenths ([0~5]plus/[0~5]-minus) Available only in 7315-PLIN [spot

The choice of giving no center descriptor to 53-PLIN is that I believe that for the average xennie, 53 regions is precise enough to accurately name most intervals, and simple enough so that the regions cannot be confused.

Of course, the names would have many synonyms, so hypo/hyper = infra/ultra, minor second = limma, major second = tone, unison = prime, major third = ditone. Extending my rules; apotome = superminor second; superlimma. Alternatively you could use the Punny names, to save yourself some syllables.

Syntax of a PLIN

  • 12-PLIN : rough + diatonic nominal
  • 53-PLIN: hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper + diatonic nominal
  • 159-PLIN wee/fix/wide + hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper + diatonic nominal
  • 665-PLIN [∅/qi/qu + [∅/two/three][mi/mu]]/sat + hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper + diatonic nominal
  • 7315-PLIN [[∅/two/three/four/five][plus/min(u)s]]/spot+[∅/qi/qu+[∅/two/three][mi/mu]]+hypo/sub/∅/super/hyper+diatonic nominal
12-PLIN; MOS 5L 7s 6|5; tolerance = 56.843c
Spoken name Simplified Region center Pitch-class (from D) Fifth region Example 1 Example 1 Example 3
rough unison 1r 0.000c D 0 1/1 33/32 128/125
rough minor second m2r 90.225c Eb -5 16/15 25/24 11/10
rough major second M2r 203.91c E 2 9/8 8/7 15/13
rough minor third m3r 294.135c F -3 6/5 7/6 11/9
rough major third M3r 407.82c F# 4 5/4 9/7 16/13
rough fourth 4r 498.045c G -1 4/3 11/8 21/16
rough tritone Tr 611.73c G# 6 7/5 10/7 23/16
rough fifth 5r 701.955c A 1 3/2 16/11 32/21
rough minor sixth m6r 792.18c Ab -4 8/5 14/9 13/8
rough major sixth M6r 905.865c B 3 5/3 12/7 18/11
rough minor seventh m7r 996.09c C -2 9/5 7/4 11/6
rough major seventh M7r 1109.775c C# 5 15/8 27/14 48/25
rough octave, counison 8r, c1r 1200c D 0 2/1 63/32
53-PLIN; MOS 41L 12s 26|26; tolerance = 11.73c
Spoken name Simplified Pitch-class (from D) Region center Examples
unison D 0.0000c 1/1 225/224
superunison S1þ DS 23.46001 81/80 64/63
hyperunison / hypominor second H1þ / h2þ DH / Ebh 46.920021 33/32 1053/1024 128/125
subminor second sm2þ Ebs 66.764985 25/24
minor second m2þ Eb 90.224996 19/18 256/243 135/128
superminor second Sm2þ EbS 113.685006 16/15 2187/2048
hyperminor second Hm2þ EbH 137.145016 13/12
hypomajor second hM2þ Eh 156.989981 11/10 12/11 35/32
submajor second sM2þ Es 180.449991 10/9
major second M2þ E 203.910002 9/8
supermajor second SM2þ ES 227.370012 8/7 256/225
hypermajor second / hypominor third HM2þ / hm3þ EH / Fh 250.830023 15/13
subminor third sm3þ Fs 270.674987 7/6
minor third m3þ F 294.134997 19/16 32/27
superminor third Sm3þ FS 317.595008 6/5 29/16
hyperminor third Hm3þ FH 341.055018 11/9 39/32
hypomajor third hM3þ F#h 360.899983 16/13
submajor third sM3þ F#s 384.359993 5/4
major third M3þ F# 407.820003 19/15 81/64
supermajor third SM3þ F#S 431.280014 9/7
hypermajor third / hypofourth HM3þ / h4þ F#H / Gh 451.124978 13/10
subfourth s4þ Gs 474.584989 21/16
fourth G 498.044999 4/3
superfourth S4þ GS 521.50501 27/20
hyperfourth H4þ GH 544.96502 11/8
hypotritone hTþ G#h 564.809984 18/13
subtritone sTþ G#s 588.269995 7/5 1024/729
tritone G# 611.730005 10/7 729/512
supertritone STþ G#S 635.190016 13/9
hypertritone / hypofifth HTþ / h5þ G#H / As 655.03498 16/11
subfifth s5þ As 678.49499 40/27
fifth A 701.955001 3/2
superfifth S5þ AS 725.415011 32/21
hyperfifth / hypominor sixth H5þ / hm6þ AH / Bbh 748.875022 20/13
subminor sixth sm6þ Bbs 768.719986 14/9
minor sixth m6þ Bb 792.179997 19/12 128/81
superminor sixth Sm6þ BbS 815.640007 8/5
hyperminor sixth Hm6þ BbH 839.100017 13/8
hypomajor sixth hM6þ Bh 858.944982 33/20
submajor sixth sM6þ Bs 882.404992 5/3
major sixth M6þ B 905.865003 27/16
supermajor sixth SM6þ BS 929.325013 12/7
hypermajor sixth / hypominor seventh HM6þ / hm7þ BH / Ch 949.169977 26/15
subminor seventh sm7þ Cs 972.629988 7/4 225/128
minor seventh m7þ C 996.089998 16/9
superminor seventh Sm7þ CS 1019.550009 9/5
hyperminor seventh Hm7þ CH 1043.010019 29/16
hypomajor seventh hM7þ C#h 1062.854984 11/6 117/64
submajor seventh sM7þ C#s 1086.314994 24/13 81/44
major seventh M7þ C# 1109.775004 15/8
supermajor seventh SM7þ C#S 1133.235015 19/10 243/128
hypermajor seventh / hypöoctave HM7þ / h8þ / ch1þ C#H / Dh 1153.079979 64/33
suboctave / cosubunison s8þ / cs1þ Ds 1176.53999 63/32
octave / counison 8þ / c1þ D 1200 2/1

From this table, super/sub alter by a pythagorean-comma-sized interval, and hyper/hypo by two times. This is a good point to stop at, as it balances versatility with accuracy. It's also the one I feel most naturally gravitating to.

If having to choose between any of the intervals on which there are two options (where there are two regions that differ by a Mercator's comma), choose the one that is built with the least number of fifths, unless it is functionally useful to do so.

None of the PLINs from this point on will be MOS, as it is much more retrocompatible and feasible to alter by fractions of a pythagorean comma than to make a multiperiod MOS scale. It's just not worth the mental gymnastics.

159-PLIN up to the first fixmajor second; MOS 41L 12s 26|26; tolerance = 3.91c
Spoken name Simplified Pitch-class (from D) Region Examples
fixunison f1 D 0.0000 729/728
wideunison t1 DW 7.8200 225/224
weesuperunison aS1 DwS 15.6400 121/120
fixsuperunison fS1 DS 23.46001 64/63
widesuperunison tS1 DtS 31.2800 56/55
weehyperunison / weehypominor second aH1 DwH /Ebwh 39.1000 45/44
fixhyperunison / fixhypominor second fH1 / fh2 DH / Ebh 46.920021 40/39
widehyperunison / widehypominor second th2 EbWh 54.740021 33/32
weesubminor second asm2 Ebws 58.9449 91/88
fixsubminor second fsm2 Ebs 66.764985 80/77
widesubminorsecond tsm2 EbWs 74.5840 448/429
weeminor second am2 Ebw 82.405 22/21
fixminor second fm2 Eb 90.224996 96/91
wideminor second tm2 EbW 98.045 128/121
weesuperminor second aSm2 EbwS 105.865 1225/1152
fixsuperminor second fSm2 EbS 113.685006 16/15
widesuperminor second tSm2 EbWS 121.505 15/14
weehyperminor second aHm2 EbwH 129.325 14/13
fixhyperminor second fHm2 EbH 137.145016 13/12
widehyperminor second tHm2 EbWH 144.965 160/147
weehypomajor second ahM2 Ewh 149.17 12/11
fixhypomajor second fhM2 Eh 156.989981 35/32
widehypomajor second thM2 EWh 164.809 11/10
weesubmajor second asM2 Ews 172.629 182/165
fixsubmajor second fsM2 Es 180.449991 231/208
widesubmajor second tsM2 Ets 188.269 39/35
weemajor second aM2 Ew 196.09 160/143
fixmajor second fM2 E 203.910002 9/8
et cetera...

If 53-PLIN is not enough for you, this will be surely be enough. If not... then prepare for what's to come.

As you know, two is a pair, three is a crowd, and each new PLIN continues adding more classes to worry about. So far, it has been only 3 classes at most: wide/wee, hypo/sub/fix/super/hyper, nominal. But, 665 has now qi/qu (small qian commas) and mi/mu (mercator commas), apart from the hypo/sub/fix/super/hyper, nominal. 7315-PLIN has all those, and five-fold plus/min(u)s.

665-PLIN until the first pythagorean comma
Interval name Simplified
sat unison p1
qi unison Q1
mi unison Π1
qimi unison QΠ1
twomi unison 2Π1
qitwomi unison Q2Π1
threemi unison 3Π1
threemu superunison 3πS1
qutwomu superunison q2πS1
twomu superunison 2πS1
qumu superunison qπS1
mu superunison πS1
qu superunison qS1
sat superunison pS1
7315-PLIN until the first pythagorean comma
Interval name Simplified
spot unison P1
plus unison +1
twoplus unison 2+1
threeplus unison 3+1
fourplus unison 4+1
fiveplus unison 5+1
fivemins qi unison 5-Q1
fourmins qi unison 4-Q1
threemins qi unison 3-Q1
twomins qi unison 2-Q1
minus qi unison -Q1
spot qi unison Q1
spot qumi unison qΠ1
plus qumi unison +qΠ1
twoplus qumi unison 2+qΠ1
threeplus qumi unison 3+qΠ1
fourplus qumi unison 4+qΠ1
fiveplus qumi unison 5+qΠ1
fivemins mi unison 5-Π1
fourmins mi unison 4-Π1
threemins mi unison 3-Π1
twomins mi unison 2-Π1
minus mi unison -Π1
spot mi unison Π1
plus mi unison +Π1
twoplus mi unison 2+Π1
threeplus mi unison 3+Π1
fourplus mi unison 4+Π1
fiveplus mi unison 5+Π1
fivemins qimi unison 5-QΠ1
fourmins qimi unison 4-QΠ1
threemins qimi unison 3-QΠ1
twomins qimi unison 2-QΠ1
minus qimi unison -QΠ1
spot qimi unison QΠ1
spot qutwomi unison q2Π1
plus qutwomi unison +q2Π1
twoplus qutwomi unison 2+q2Π1
threeplus qutwomi unison 3+q2Π1
fourplus qutwomi unison 4+q2Π1
fiveplus qutwomi unison 5+q2Π1
fivemins twomi unison 5-2Π1
fourmins twomi unison 4-2Π1
threemins twomi unison 3-2Π1
twomins twomi unison 2-2Π1
minus twomi unison -2Π1
spot twomi unison 2Π1
plus twomi unison +2Π1
twoplus twomi unison 2+2Π1
threeplus twomi unison 3+2Π1
fourplus twomi unison 4+2Π1
fiveplus twomi unison 5+2Π1
fivemins qitwomi unison 5-Q2Π1
fourmins qitwomi unison 4-Q2Π1
threemins qitwomi unison 3-Q2Π1
twomins qitwomi unison 2-Q2Π1
minus qitwomi unison -Q2Π1
spot qitwomi unison Q2Π1
spot quthreemi unison q3Π1
plus quthreemi unison +q3Π1
twoplus quthreemi unison 2+q3Π1
threeplus quthreemi unison 3+q3Π1
fourplus quthreemi unison 4+q3Π1
fiveplus quthreemi unison 5+q3Π1
fivemins threemi unison 5-3Π1
fourmins threemi unison 4-3Π1
threemins threemi unison 3-3Π1
twomins threemi unison 2-3Π1
minus threemi unison -3Π1
threemi unison 3Π1
plus threemi unison +3Π1
twoplus threemi unison 2+3Π1
twomins threemu unison 2-3π1
minus threemu unison -3π1
spot threemu superunison 3πS1
plus threemu superunison +3πS1
twoplus threemu superunison 2+3πS1
threeplus threemu superunison 3+3πS1
fourplus threemu superunison 4+3πS1
fiveplus threemu superunison 5+3πS1
fivemins qithreemu superunison 5-Q3πS1
fourmins qithreemu superunison 4-Q3πS1
threemins qithreemu superunison 3-Q3πS1
twomins qithreemu superunison 2-Q3πS1
minus qithreemu superunison -Q3πS1
spot qithreemu superunison Q3πS1
spot qutwomu superunison q2πS1
plus qutwomu superunison +q2πS1
twoplus qutwomu superunison 2+q2πS1
threeplus qutwomu superunison 3+q2πS1
fourplus qutwomu superunison 4+q2πS1
fiveplus qutwomu superunison 5+q2πS1
fivemins twomu superunison 5-2πS1
fourmins twomu superunison 4-2πS1
threemins twomu superunison 3-2πS1
twomins twomu superunison 2-2πS1
minus twomu superunison -2πS1
twomu superunison 2πS1
plus twomu superunison +2πS1
twoplus twomu superunison 2+2πS1
threeplus twomu superunison 3+2πS1
fourplus twomu superunison 4+2πS1
fiveplus twomu superunison 5+2πS1
fivemins qitwomu superunison 5-Q2πS1
fourmins qitwomu superunison 4-Q2πS1
threemins qitwomu superunison 3-Q2πS1
twomins qitwomu superunison 2-Q2πS1
minus qitwomu superunison -Q2πS1
spot qitwomu superunison Q2πS1
spot qumu superunison qπS1
plus qumu superunison +qπS1
twoplus qumu superunison 2+qπS1
threeplus qumu superunison 3+qπS1
fourplus qumu superunison 4+qπS1
fiveplus qumu superunison 5+qπS1
fivemins mu superunison 5-πS1
fourmins mu superunison 4-πS1
threemins mu superunison 3-πS1
twomins mu superunison 2-πS1
minus mu superunison -πS1
spot mu superunison πS1
plus mu superunison +πS1
twoplus mu superunison 2+πS1
threeplus mu superunison 3+πS1
fourplus mu superunison 4+πS1
fiveplus mu superunison 5+πS1
fivemins qimu superunison 5-QπS1
fourmins qimu superunison 4-QπS1
threemins qimu superunison 3-QπS1
twomins qimu superunison 2-QπS1
minus qimu superunison -QπS1
spot qimu superunison QπS1
spot qu superunison qS1
plus qusuperunison +qS1
twoplus qusuperunison 2+qS1
threeplus qusuperunison 3+qS1
fourplus qusuperunison 4+qS1
fiveplus qusuperunison 5+qS1
fivemins superunison 5-S1
fourmins superunison 4-S1
threemins superunison 3-S1
twomins superunison 2-S1
minus superunison -S1
spot superunison PS1

And that amount of intervals is needed to reach one pythagorean comma. It is most surely overkill for the overwhelming majority of purposes. It will be the least easy to say of all the PLINs.

Example intervals in several PLINs

12-EPLIN 53-EPLIN 159-PLIN 665-PLIN 7315-PLIN
3/2 5r 5 f5 p5 P5
5/4 M3r sM3 fsM3 QsM3 2+QsM3
7/4 m7r sm7 fsm7 πsm7 -πsm7
11/8 4r H4 tH4 2∏H4 5-2∏H4
13/8 m6r hm6 fhm6 QHm6 2-QHm6
19/16 m3r m3 fm3 ∏m3 -∏m3
29/16 m7r Sm7 tSm7 ∏Sm7 5-∏Sm7
13/10 4r h4 fh4 ∏h4 3-∏h4
11/9 m3r Hm3 tHm3 2∏Hm3 5-2∏Hm3

I think the mappings are correct, but I'm too lazy to check my work. Mappings may change for EPLINs.

EPLINs

Since EPLINs are essentially edos, I think that allowing more EPLINs than PLINs to exist could be advantageous. Case in point: 41-EPLIN, 94-EPLIN, 118-EPLIN, 130-EPLIN, 171-EPLIN, 217-EPLIN, 270-EPLIN, 311-EPLIN, 1600-EPLIN, 2460-EPLIN, 8539-EPLIN. No others. This is to prevent bloat of the system and the mapped comma to fall beyond the size of a syntonic or septimal comma. The reason to use these edos is because they're either zeta peaks, or very very consistent.

The jump from 311 to 1600 is due to the fact that for its size, there is no better edo for consistency than 311. The next best thing is 1600edo, which has around the same absolute error as 270edo, if a bit less. Just in case, and because I think they're SS-tier edos, I'm putting the behemoths 2460 and 6079 for ultra-mega-hyper accuracy.

Here are the prefixes for pythagorean comma fractions in these EPLINs:

Edosteps

added

41-EPLIN 94-EPLIN 118-EPLIN 130-EPLIN 171-EPLIN 217-EPLIN 270-EPLIN 311-EPLIN 1600-EPLIN 2460-EPLIN 6079-EPLIN
+1 glus hus slus nus clus xus vlus kwus krus prus
0 kite gar hel spen nea cot nex vu kwa kirn pir
-1 gins hins spins nins kins xins vins kwins krins prins
Size and

edosteps

29.268c

[1]

25.532c

[2]

20.339c

[2]

18.4615c

[2]

21.0526c

[3]

27.6497c

[5]

26.6c

[6]

27.001c

[7]

24c

[32]

23.4146c

[48]

23.4688c

[167]

These prefixes are based on the a temperament they represent, or on Sagittal:

  • gar- for Garibaldi
  • hel- for Helmholtz
  • spen- for Sensipent
  • nea- for Ennealimmal
  • cot- for Cotoneum
  • nex- for Nexus
  • vu- for Vavoom
  • kwa- for Kwazy
  • kirn- for Atomic (Kirnberger's atom)
  • pir- for Pirate

The only ones of this EPLINs that can use the mercator comma are 2460-EPLIN and 6079-EPLIN, as the sizes aren't too dissimilar and/or inconsistent. Yes, 42%, 69% error, but in all other EPLINs it is wildly out of shape, in some even negative!

Examples:

94-EPLIN 130-EPLIN 311-EPLIN
5/4 garsubmajor third spensubmajor third vlussubmajor third
7/4 garsubminor seventh hinssubminor seventh vusubminor seventh
11/8 garhyperfourth slushyperfourth vuhyperfourth
13/8 garhyperminor sixth slushyperminor sixth vlushyperminor sixth

WIP