User:Ganaram inukshuk

I generally go by "Ganaram" or some variant of that (ganaram_inukshuk, gdinuk). (Discord: ganaraminukshuk0; he/they; generally more active on the Xen Discord unless work bogs me down.)

I've heard about microtonality on and off over the years, but what drew me into the topic was two things: HEHEHE I AM A SUPAHSTAR SAGA's video series on 19edo and Patricia Taxxon's song Spiral Staircase.

From a compositional perspective, my goal is to incorporate xenharmonic elements into an otherwise normal-sounding song, though my more ambitious goal is to not use the diatonic (LLLsLLs) scale structure at all.

From a theory perspective, my goal is to better understand xenharmony from a temperament-agnostic perspective. This primarily means edos and MOSses, but extends to MV3 scales and higher.

From a wikian perspective, my goal is to better the wiki itself, at least as it pertains to how mos-related info is displayed. The most immediate way to achieve this is to create and deploy templates for the most commonly displayed mos-related info, as well as wikifying any text present (so it looks like an actual wiki page!) and trying to verify the source or attribution to things taken for granted (because misattribution happens concerningly). I've written a style guide to be applied to all mos pages (see subpages below), but I'm also open to better ideas.

Main mindset

I summarize my main mindset using the following trinity: temperaments, mosses, and edos are not each other.

Temperaments produce mosses, but two different temperaments may produce the same mos. Edos support more than one family of mos, so it's fruitless to shoehorn the notation meant for one mos for a different mos within the same edo. Two temperaments may produce the same JI ratio, but have different qualities in different mosses.

This level of decoupling makes it so I don't let any one temperament, mos, or edo influence how I look at either. Just because a nondiatonic mos has a perfect 5th doesn't mean I should think of it as such, especially if that isn't the generator to begin with.

That said, I focus more on mosses and, secondarily, edos when it comes to this trinity. I prefer to look at scales based in a temperament-agnostic sense, as mosses that are supported by an edo, or different edos. Doing so relieves me of the expectation that a certain interval must necessarily fall within a few cents of a JI ratio and lets me be more explorative with musical scales. This is also less names to memorize, since there are a lot of temperament names, and looking at mosses directly means fewer names to remember.

Other running assumptions and techniques may be found under the methodologies page below.

TO-DO list, major contributions, and wish list

Contributions

Major work on modules and templates in (roughly) chronological order of inception or involvement

Modules and templates	New?	Description of template or contribution	Status or todo
Module:SB tree Template:SB tree	Yes	Creates a Stern-Brocot tree's entries and their depths.	Split calculation for mediants into its own module; see Module:Mediants
Module:Scale tree	No	Automates the creation of a mos's scale tree and tuning spectrum. Contributor with CompactStar. (I made it so comments can be entered using one param.)	Replace with Module:MOS tuning spectrum, following new coding conventions.
Module:MOS modes Template:MOS modes	Yes	Displays the modes of a mos.	Replace with Module:MOS mode names, following new coding conventions.
Module:MOS intro Template:MOS intro	Yes	Creates a consistent, common introductory paragraph for a mos page's lead section.	Possibly rewrite to follow new coding conventions. Rewording for nonoctave tunings. Deprecate name fields as they're redundant.
Module:MOS gamut Template:MOS gamut	Yes	Given a notation scheme and assigned mode for a mos for an edo, display the note names.	Fallen into disuse.
Module:MOS degrees Template:MOS degrees	Yes	Displays cent values for a mos for up to 5 step ratios.	Deprecated.
Module:MOS notation	Yes	Helper module for displaying mos notation.	Fallen into disuse.
Module:MOS intervals Template:MOS intervals	Yes	Displays the interval names of a mos and their cent ranges. Rewritten to new coding conventions.
Module:MOS mode degrees Template:MOS mode degrees	Yes	Displays the qualities of each scale degree of every mode of a mos.	Possibly rewrite to follow new coding conventions. Split modmos info into its own template; see Template:MODMOS mode degrees.
Module:MOS in EDO Template:MOS in EDO	Yes	Displays and visualizes the mosses that an edo contains. MOS in EDO: shows the mosses created using a particular generator and period. ...allgens: shows all mosses for all generators for a particular period. ...allperiods or MOSes in EDO: shows all mosses for all generators for all periods.	Documentation, usage, option to enter temperaments, option to abridge output.
Module:MOS in EDO allgens Template:MOS in EDO allgens	Yes
Module:MOS in EDO allperiods Template:MOS in EDO allperiods	Yes
Template:MOSes in EDO (shortcut template)	Yes
Module:Template input parse	Yes	Helper module for various templates that have large amounts of info to be displayed.
Module:Step vis Template:Step vis	Yes	Step visualization template for MOS(es) in EDO for standalone use.	Consider html-based visualization?
Module:EDO intro Template:EDO intro	Yes (module only)	Automation of the EDO intro. Superseded by ED intro.
Module:JI ratio finder	Yes	Helper module for JI ratios in ED. Superseded by Module:JI ratios.	Fallen into disuse, but not officially deprecated.
Module:JI ratios in ED Template:JI ratios in ED	Yes	Creates a table showing the JI ratios approximated by an ED.	Fallen into disuse, as JI ratio finder was superseded.
Module:Xenpaper	Yes	For making links to audio examples to be listened to.	Find out the new link for xenpaper.
Module:ED intro Template:ED intro	Yes	Automation of the EDO intro, generalized for other equaves.	Wording, code cleanup. Development on hold.
Template:Idiosyncratic terms	Yes	An alternative to Template:Idiosyncratic when the original's use is infeasible.
Module:Infobox MOS Template:Infobox MOS	No	Code cleanup and additional info. Moved 8-link infobox to infobox module.	Possibly rewrite to follow new coding conventions.
Module:Infobox	No	Support for infoboxes with 8 navlinks added.
Module:Keyboard vis	Yes	Keyboard visualization template for Infobox MOS. No template currently exists.	Possibly extend to ternary and quaternary scales.
Template:Mbox	No	Added the option to show an icon.
Template:Quickstart Template:Has quickstart	Yes	For disambiguating pages meant for theory from pages meant for practice, and for linking between them.	ROLLOUT.
Module:MOS	No	Splitting TAMNAMS-related stuff to its own module. Redefining the module into a library for all mos-related templates/modules.
Module:TAMNAMS	Yes	A module that contains the entire TAMNAMS specification as it pertains to mosses and step ratios. Has lookup functions for names and related mosses.
Template:TAMNAMS use	Yes	Shows that a scale page uses TAMNAMS.
Module:MOS genchain Template:MOS genchain	Yes	Shows the generator chain of a mos.	Dev on hold.
Template:MOS scale properties (former name)	Yes	Combo template of: Template:TAMNAMS use Template:MOS intervals Template:MOS genchain Template:MOS mode degrees	Documentation, testing, rollout.
Module:MOS data Template:MOS data
Module:TAMNAMS lookup Template:TAMNAMS lookup	Yes	TAMNAMS name lookup as a standalone template.
Template:TAMNAMS name	Yes	For writing the paragraph that states a mos's TAMNAMS name and its etymology or reasoning.
Module:MOS interval HE Template:MOS interval HE	Yes	Standalone template for harmonic entropy. Formerly a part of MOS intervals; added by User:R-4981 but separated due to concerns regarding HE.	Further developments uncertain.
Module:MOS tunings Template:MOS tunings	Yes	Replacement for Template:MOS degrees.	Rewrite to follow new coding conventions.
Template:Nutshell	Yes	See equivalent template on Wikipedia.
Module:JI ratios	Yes	Module for searching for JI ratios, as well as parsing them from template input. Replacement for Module:JI ratio finder.
Module:Mediants	Yes	Standalone template for mediant calculations. To be used for the following modules: Module:SB tree Module:Scale tree Module:JI ratios
Template:Deprecated parameters	Yes	A module for denoting one or more deprecated parameters in a template.
New templates after this line follow new (personal) coding conventions.
Modules and templates	New?	Description of template or contribution	Status or todo
Template:Navbox Module:Navbox	Yes	A template and module for producing a navbox. Navboxes can be made by directly calling the module's functions or by using a template.
Module:Infobox Template:Infobox	Yes (template only)	Rewrote entire infobox from scratch to support infobox template.
Template:Scalesig Module:Scalesig		A template that creates and auto-formats a scale signature: Text does not wrap. Equave is enclosed in the appropriate brackets.
Template:MOS name Module:MOS name		A proposed template that provides the TAMNAMS-recommended name for a mos. The TAMNAMS name provided by Template:MOS intro would be relocated here.
Template:MOS tuning spectrum Module:MOS tuning spectrum		Proposed replacement for Template:Scale tree. Input of tuning spectrum entries would be changed back to one field per step ratio. The original template name would be used a shortcut.
Template:MOS stub		A proposed combination template consisting of: Template:Infobox MOS Template:MOS intro Template:MOS intervals Template:MOS tuning spectrum Such a template would be a subst-template.
Module:Diatonic intervals		A proposed module for roughly classifying diatonic intervals (1st, 2nd etc; major, minor, etc) plus intermediate categories; meant for relating mossy intervals to diatonic ones
Module:Sandbox		A module solely for testing.
Module:Infobox sandbox Template:Infobox sandbox		An infobox for testing.
Module:MODMOS mode degrees
Module:MOS superset degrees		Like MOS mode degrees, except the scale degrees are in relation to an ancestor mos.

Contributions to add to table (due to mobile device limitations)

Template:Deprecated parameters - For indicating a feature of a template or module-generated template is deprecated, rather than the entire template being deprecated. A warning is provided indicating that template arguments that depend on these features should be saved to avoid data loss.

Wikiprojects

• Project Mospage and mospage style guide

Other contributions

• Mos page standardization (work-in-progress)
• MOS recursion and MOS recursion algorithms; tried my best to make the descriptions for MOS recursion apply to all cases (Work-in-progress)
• Some rewording of the TAMNAMS page for readability and flow. I have a few TAMNAMS-related proposals of my own that aren't quite ready to be called official. See todo list or TAMNAMS subpage.
• A page for horograms, since it was totally absent (Work-in-progress).
• Mos family tree page for a tree I independently discovered before realizing Erv Wilson had already described it. Also has to do with mos recursion.

To-do list

• Rewrite page(s) Under jurisdiction of Project Mospage.
  • Operations on MOSes
  • MOS scale
  • TAMNAMS/Appendix (primarily for names reasoning and adding general principles)
  • TAMNAMS Extension (since such names should follow the same naming principles as the "named range" names, but no such principles currently exist)
• Rewrite all octave-equivalent mos pages. This is primarily replacing every scale tree for the corresponding template and rewriting the lead sections to make sense and does not present redundant information already given by one of the templates. To a lesser extent, this also involves trying to confirm temperaments said to be attributed to these mosses, but this step will require additional help. Under jurisdiction of Project Mospage.
  • This is done concurrently with writing a style guide for these pages; see User:Ganaram inukshuk/MOS page standardization guide for a proposed guide.
  • Mosses whose pages have been rewritten to meet the style guide to satisfactory levels (that doesn't mean the pages can't be polished further!):
    • 5L 1s
    • 5L 2s
    • 4L 3s
    • 3L 4s
    • 2L 5s
    • 1L 5s
    • 7L 1s
    • 3L 7s

• Update templates I've made to current coding style/structure:
  • The template calls a wrapper function, meant to be used with template params as input. Its name should be suggestive of the module's primary use, and is usually the same name as the template.
  • The wrapper function calls the "main function", which has the code that produces the output. Its name is the same as name as with the wrapper function, except it's prefixed by an underscore.
• Clean up mos recursion page (because I feel bad leaving the algorithms untouched and untested for so long).
  • Replace pseudocode for is-this-scale-a-mos? program with python code; clarify with more examples.
  • Relate mos recursion with the mos family tree.
  • All the recursive algorithms described on that page have time complexities of O(n log n), but the algorithm that generates a Christoffel word (combinatorics-on-words term for the brightest mode of a mos) has a time complexity of O(n). Resolve...?
• Standardize mosinedo pages. Examples include:
  • List of MOS scales in 12edo
  • List of MOS scales in 17edo
  • List of MOS scales in 29edo
  • List of MOS scales in 31edo

Wish list

• Composing music with these abstract ideas.

Subpages

These pages contain content that currently don't have an exact place elsewhere on the Wiki, or contains personal notes that otherwise don't have an exact place on the Wiki. I do my best to explain these things as though I magically forgot everything I know about xenharmony, so I consider it a bonus if someone else found this easy to understand.

• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Diagrams - For xen-related diagrams
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Notes - For xen-related notes
  • User:Ganaram inukshuk/Notes/TAMNAMS - Since I have so many notes related to TAMNAMS, I made a dedicated page for it
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Tables - For xen-related tables
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Code - For xen-related code
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Models - For xen-related models (needs reorganizing)
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/TAMNAMS Extension - Since there were others making their own TAMNAMS extension pages, I decided to make my own.
  • User:Ganaram inukshuk/TAMEX - Rewrite of the above page for describing any mos descendant, short for "temperament-agnostic moment-of-symmetry scale extension description system"
  • User:Ganaram inukshuk/Additional temperament-agnostic mos names - Rewrite of the above page for names for proposed names.

These pages are descriptions on how I approach various things, such as compositional techniques and how I approach a scale I've never used before.

• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Methodologies

Sandbox page (for testing things)

• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Sandbox
  • User:Ganaram inukshuk/Sandbox/Navboxes
  • User:Ganaram inukshuk/Sandbox/Modmosses
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Template sandbox

Test pages (for proposed rewrites):

• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Catalog of MOS Scales
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/4L 3s (Template test page and test page for style guide)
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/5L 2s (Template test page and test page for style guide)
  • User:Ganaram inukshuk/MODMOS scales of 5L 2s
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/7L 3s (Rewrite page)
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/TAMNAMS (Rewrite page)
  • User:Ganaram inukshuk/TAMNAMS/Appendix
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/MOS scale (rewrite page)
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Template:Rewrite draft

Experimental pages (for content considered idiosyncratic, ad-hoc, or otherwise weird):

• User:Ganaram inukshuk/LCP 5L 3s

Test templates:

• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Template:Mbox
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Template:TAMNAMS name
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Template:Tcode
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Template:Tester
• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Joke page

Other

• User:Ganaram inukshuk/Provisional style guide for Lua