Frequently asked questions: Difference between revisions

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: {{See also|Pedagogy questions}}

Whether they are frequent or one-of-a-kind, all questions are welcome here. When listing questions, list broad, general questions higher and niche, more specific questions lower. Answer each question on a separate page, linked to by the question.

== ~~Answered questions~~ ==

== About musical tuning ==

* '''~~There's so much to read. Where do I start~~?'''

~~The page~~ [[~~Xen concepts for beginners]] is the best place to start. After that, check out [[General Theory]] for~~ a ~~list~~ of ~~foundational pages about~~ musical tuning.

'''[[Microtonal music|What is microtonal music?]]'''

'''[[Glossary|Where can I find a glossary of musical tuning terms and jargon?]]'''

'''[[Why Microtonality?|Why use microtonality?]]'''

* '''[[Glossary|Where can I find a glossary of musical tuning terms and jargon?]]'''

'''[[Approaches to Musical Tuning|What are some different kinds of tuning systems that exist?]]'''

* '''[[Microtonal music|What is microtonal music?]]'''

'''[[Systematic comma names explained|How do I decode those strange looking comma names?]]'''

* '''[[Why Microtonality?|Why microtonality?]]''' (And why does anyone care about microtonal music?)

'''What does “golden” refer to in “golden meantone”, “golden flattone”, etc?'''

* [[Rank-2 temperament]]s (of which meantone and flattone are two among many) generate [[MOS scale]]s with two step sizes, large and small.

* Depending on what [[generator]] you use for the temperament, you can make the ratio between large:small different. For example you can have 3:1 meantone, 2:1 meantone, 3:2 meantone, etc. and the same goes for any other rank-2 temperament.

* If the ratio between the step sizes is the [[golden ratio]], then the tuning is a golden tuning, such as “golden meantone”, “golden flattone” or similar.

* Golden tunings are one type of [[metallic MOS]], along with silver tunings, bronze tunings and others.

* '''[[Approaches to Musical Tuning|What are some different kinds of tuning systems that exist?]]'''

== About the wiki ==

'''There's so much to read. Where do I start?'''

* The page [[Xen concepts for beginners]] is the best place to start.

* After that, check out [[General Theory]] for a list of foundational pages about musical tuning.

* '''[[What are this wiki's strengths and weaknesses?]]''' (How does it compare to other resources?)

'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:What are this wiki's strengths and weaknesses?|What are this wiki's strengths and weaknesses?]]''' (How does it compare to other resources?)

* '''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:Copyrights|What is this wiki's copyright/intellectual property policy?]]'''

'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:License|What is this wiki's copyright/intellectual property policy?]]'''

* '''[[Systematic comma names explained|How do I decode those strange looking comma names?]]'''

'''I am more interested in the way [[regular temperament theory]] looked before the 2010s, rather than the direction it has taken since then. Is there a wiki that preserves that?'''

* Yes. You can find that at the [https://legacy.xen.wiki/w/Main_Page Legacy Xenharmonic Wiki].

* '''[[Temperament naming|I discovered a new temperament, how should I name it?]]'''

'''How do I change my visual theme for the wiki?'''

# While logged in, go to https://en.xen.wiki/w/Special:Preferences

# Then click the "Appearance" tab near the top

# Then choose the skin you want

# Then click "Save" near the bottom left

== About editing the wiki ==

'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:I'm a new editor, what is everything I can do to help?|I'm a new editor, what is everything I can do to help?]]'''

'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:Article guidelines|Where can I find this wiki's style guide?]]'''

'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:Notability guidelines|Where can I find this wiki's notability guidelines?]]'''

'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:Recent changes is too crowded, how do I see what's actually important?|Recent changes is too crowded, how do I see what's actually important?]]'''

'''What are user space pages and main space pages?'''

* User space pages are pages titled "User:YourUsername/Topic". For example "User:JohnDoe/Major scale".

* Main space pages are pages without any prefix. For example "Major scale".

'''How do I create a user page?'''

* Search "User:YourUsername/ThePageTitleYouWant" in the search bar (e.g. "User:JohnDoe/The arrowroot biscuit scale").

* It will then say "There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, search the related logs, or create this page."

* Click "create this page" and then you will be taken to an editing window to create the user page.

'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:How can I sign my name on a talk page? How can I make my replies indented to the right?|How can I sign my name on a talk page? How can I make my replies indented to the right?]]'''

'''How can I add an inline citation or note?'''

* Put <code><nowiki><ref>The contents of the note</ref></nowiki></code> at the place you want the little superscript number to appear.

* Place <code><<nowiki />references /></code> at the place you want the list of references to appear. (If you do not specify this, it will default to the very bottom of the page.)

* If you want to cite the same reference multiple times, give it a name e.g. <code><nowiki><ref name="Bob et al.">The contents of the note</ref></nowiki></code> the first time you use it.

* Then every subsequent time you can just use <code><<nowiki />ref name="Bob et al." /></code> without all the rest.

'''[[Temperament naming|I discovered a new temperament, how should I name it?]]'''

'''I have a question about formatting or wikitext that isn't answered here. Is there an instruction manual somewhere where I can find it?'''

* The answer is probably contained within the page [[Help:Editing]].

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'''[[How do I actually use a rank-3 temperament?]]''' (Please make a step-by-step guide of how to go from the 3 generators at the start, to a [[Scala]] file that works with [[software|Scale Workshop]] at the end? Every step of the way, explain like I’m five?)

* '''[[~~Who is who in microtonality~~?]]'''

* A good way of generating scales for rank-3 temperament's is [[hobbit]] scales, which are sort of like MOS scales except for higher-rank temperaments. I don't think this will answer the full question, though.

''in the mean time until this question is answered, see: [[~~:Category:People~~]]''

* ''in the mean time until this question is answered, see: [[Rank-3 temperament]]''

* '''[[~~Why do microtonal musicians argue so much~~?]]''' ~~(And do they argue more than people~~ in ~~other fields of research?)~~

'''[[Who is who in microtonality?]]'''

* ''in the mean time until this question is answered, see: [[:Category:People]]''

* '''[[~~What is all this new terminology good for anyway~~?]]'''

'''[[Why do microtonal musicians argue so much?]]''' (And do they argue more than people in other fields of research?)

* '''[[~~Are~~ all ~~the temperaments with 'weather names' connected~~?]]''' ~~Like, [[sesquiquartififths|breeze]], [[cloudy]], [[fog]], [[misty]], [[rainy]], etc. Are they related somehow?~~

'''[[What is all this new terminology good for anyway?]]'''

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-: {{See also|Pedagogy questions}}
+{{See also|Pedagogy questions}}
 Whether they are frequent or one-of-a-kind, all questions are welcome here. When listing questions, list broad, general questions higher and niche, more specific questions lower. Answer each question on a separate page, linked to by the question.
-== Answered questions ==
+== About musical tuning ==
-* '''There's so much to read. Where do I start?'''
+<br />
-The page [[Xen concepts for beginners]] is the best place to start. After that, check out [[General Theory]] for a list of foundational pages about musical tuning.
+'''[[Microtonal music|What is microtonal music?]]'''
+'''[[Glossary|Where can I find a glossary of musical tuning terms and jargon?]]'''
+'''[[Why Microtonality?|Why use microtonality?]]'''
-* '''[[Glossary|Where can I find a glossary of musical tuning terms and jargon?]]'''
+'''[[Approaches to Musical Tuning|What are some different kinds of tuning systems that exist?]]'''
-* '''[[Microtonal music|What is microtonal music?]]'''
+'''[[Systematic comma names explained|How do I decode those strange looking comma names?]]'''
-* '''[[Why Microtonality?|Why microtonality?]]''' (And why does anyone care about microtonal music?)
+'''What does “golden” refer to in “golden meantone”, “golden flattone”, etc?'''
+* [[Rank-2 temperament]]s (of which meantone and flattone are two among many) generate [[MOS scale]]s with two step sizes, large and small.
+* Depending on what [[generator]] you use for the temperament, you can make the ratio between large:small different. For example you can have 3:1 meantone, 2:1 meantone, 3:2 meantone, etc. and the same goes for any other rank-2 temperament.
+* If the ratio between the step sizes is the [[golden ratio]], then the tuning is a golden tuning, such as “golden meantone”, “golden flattone” or similar.
+* Golden tunings are one type of [[metallic MOS]], along with silver tunings, bronze tunings and others.
+<br />
-* '''[[Approaches to Musical Tuning|What are some different kinds of tuning systems that exist?]]'''
+== About the wiki ==
+<br />
+'''There's so much to read. Where do I start?'''
+* The page [[Xen concepts for beginners]] is the best place to start.
+* After that, check out [[General Theory]] for a list of foundational pages about musical tuning.
-* '''[[What are this wiki's strengths and weaknesses?]]''' (How does it compare to other resources?)
+'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:What are this wiki's strengths and weaknesses?|What are this wiki's strengths and weaknesses?]]''' (How does it compare to other resources?)
-* '''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:Copyrights|What is this wiki's copyright/intellectual property policy?]]'''
+'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:License|What is this wiki's copyright/intellectual property policy?]]'''
-* '''[[Systematic comma names explained|How do I decode those strange looking comma names?]]'''
+'''I am more interested in the way [[regular temperament theory]] looked before the 2010s, rather than the direction it has taken since then. Is there a wiki that preserves that?'''
+* Yes. You can find that at the [https://legacy.xen.wiki/w/Main_Page Legacy Xenharmonic Wiki].
+<br />
-* '''[[Temperament naming|I discovered a new temperament, how should I name it?]]'''
+'''How do I change my visual theme for the wiki?'''
+# While logged in, go to https://en.xen.wiki/w/Special:Preferences
+# Then click the "Appearance" tab near the top
+# Then choose the skin you want
+# Then click "Save" near the bottom left
+<br />
+== About editing the wiki ==
+<br />
+'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:I'm a new editor, what is everything I can do to help?|I'm a new editor, what is everything I can do to help?]]'''
+'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:Article guidelines|Where can I find this wiki's style guide?]]'''
+'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:Notability guidelines|Where can I find this wiki's notability guidelines?]]'''
+'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:Recent changes is too crowded, how do I see what's actually important?|Recent changes is too crowded, how do I see what's actually important?]]'''
+'''What are user space pages and main space pages?'''
+* User space pages are pages titled "User:YourUsername/Topic". For example "User:JohnDoe/Major scale".
+* Main space pages are pages without any prefix. For example "Major scale".
+'''How do I create a user page?'''
+* Search "User:YourUsername/ThePageTitleYouWant" in the search bar (e.g. "User:JohnDoe/The arrowroot biscuit scale").
+* It will then say "There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, search the related logs, or create this page."
+* Click "create this page" and then you will be taken to an editing window to create the user page.
+'''[[Xenharmonic Wiki:How can I sign my name on a talk page? How can I make my replies indented to the right?|How can I sign my name on a talk page? How can I make my replies indented to the right?]]'''
+'''How can I add an inline citation or note?'''
+* Put <code><nowiki><ref>The contents of the note</ref></nowiki></code> at the place you want the little superscript number to appear.
+* Place <code><<nowiki />references /></code> at the place you want the list of references to appear. (If you do not specify this, it will default to the very bottom of the page.)
+* If you want to cite the same reference multiple times, give it a name e.g. <code><nowiki><ref name="Bob et al.">The contents of the note</ref></nowiki></code> the first time you use it.
+* Then every subsequent time you can just use <code><<nowiki />ref name="Bob et al." /></code> without all the rest.
+'''[[Temperament naming|I discovered a new temperament, how should I name it?]]'''
+'''I have a question about formatting or wikitext that isn't answered here. Is there an instruction manual somewhere where I can find it?'''
+* The answer is probably contained within the page [[Help:Editing]].
 <br />
@@ Line 36: / Line 100: @@
 {{todo|answer questions|inline=1}}
+'''[[How do I actually use a rank-3 temperament?]]''' (Please make a step-by-step guide of how to go from the 3 generators at the start, to a [[Scala]] file that works with [[software|Scale Workshop]] at the end? Every step of the way, explain like I’m five?)
-* '''[[Who is who in microtonality?]]'''
+* A good way of generating scales for rank-3 temperament's is [[hobbit]] scales, which are sort of like MOS scales except for higher-rank temperaments. I don't think this will answer the full question, though.
-''in the mean time until this question is answered, see: [[:Category:People]]''
+* ''in the mean time until this question is answered, see: [[Rank-3 temperament]]''
-* '''[[Why do microtonal musicians argue so much?]]''' (And do they argue more than people in other fields of research?)
+'''[[Who is who in microtonality?]]'''
+* ''in the mean time until this question is answered, see: [[:Category:People]]''
-* '''[[What is all this new terminology good for anyway?]]'''
+'''[[Why do microtonal musicians argue so much?]]''' (And do they argue more than people in other fields of research?)
-* '''[[Are all the temperaments with 'weather names' connected?]]''' Like, [[sesquiquartififths|breeze]], [[cloudy]], [[fog]], [[misty]], [[rainy]], etc. Are they related somehow?
+'''[[What is all this new terminology good for anyway?]]'''