Collection of EDO impressions: Difference between revisions

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== [[22edo]] ==

: '''ArrowHead294:''' Basically the opposite of meantone (specifically [[31edo]]) when it comes to 5 vs. 7, since you find 7/6 subminor thirds in places where you'd normally expect 6/5 minor thirds and 9/7 supermajor thirds where you'd expect 5/4 major thirds. A great way to break out of the meantone way of thinking for most people, and probably the most optimal and practical tuning for [[superpythagorean]] temperament. Minor sevenths being 7/4 makes septimal harmony easy to reach and is a really cool effect IMO. However, although the 5-limit minor and major thirds are tuned closer to JI than in 12edo, the minor third is sharp instead of flat and the major third is flat instead of sharp, which gives 5-limit chords a lot of "zonk" to them.

: '''Aura:''' I have to say that judging from the 159edo-based approximation that I'm using, the pentatonic scales actually sound pretty good, but the fact that this EDO forces its users to explore unfamiliar harmonic territory is a double-edged sword.

: '''Bozu:''' Excellent composite hyperpent tuning. Tons and tons of possibilities with western-esque and raga-esque tones. Notation starts getting more difficult than 17edo or 19edo.

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== [[27edo]] ==

: '''ArrowHead:''' ~~Basically~~ the opposite of meantone (specifically [[19edo]]) when it comes to 5 vs. 7 ~~(you find 7/6~~ in places where ~~you'd normally expect 6/5~~ and ~~9/7 where you'd expect 5/4)~~. 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.

: '''ArrowHead:''' Similar to 22edo, 27 is basically the opposite of meantone (specifically [[19edo]]) when it comes to 5 vs. 7, with subminor and supermajor thirds and sixths in places where minor and major thirds and sixths usually are. 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.

: '''Aura:''' Not going to lie, given how underexplored this EDO is, I felt it necessary to try working with a 159edo-based retuning of it. Judging from my experience with that, it should suffice to say that working with Superlocrian in this EDO is another interesting experience.

: '''Bozu:''' Comte hyperpent. Another one with tons of usable tonal possibilities that seems to get little actual use.

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== [[31edo]] ==

: '''ArrowHead:''' The second alternative tuning I knew about after 24edo, I got interested in it through Baroque and Renaissance music due to it being an excellent representation of quarter-comma meantone. Personally, I think this is the best alternative tuning for most non-classical Western musicians to use. Since everything sounds more mellow and calm compared to 12, I think that many, if not most, contemporary worship songs would sound better in 31 compared to 12. I also think it's a better tuning for songs with largely pentatonic melodies, such as Hillsong's ''Highlands'', than 12edo is, since the pentatonic scale is noticeably tighter. The number of notes is not overly unwieldy (though it is pushing the limits of practicality on guitars and basses, it's still doable for chords), and the differences between its sound and 12edo's sound are big enough that people will notice (and therefore they might actually care) but not so big that it sounds jarring like 19edo can be (and often is). It also allows many interesting symmetry breaks and comma pumps over 12 that to me are an extremely interesting effect. If A is still 440 Hz, to me, keys from A major and F♯ minor onwards among the sharps sound noticeably darker in 31 and more energetic in 12, D and G major and their relative minor keys sound similar, while flat keys sound noticeably brighter in 31 and more "serious" in 12.

: '''ArrowHead:''' The second alternative tuning I knew about after 24edo, I got interested in it through Baroque and Renaissance music due to it being an excellent representation of quarter-comma meantone that offers good approximations to all intervals of 11 (and even a few involving 13). Personally, I think this is the best alternative tuning for most non-classical Western musicians to use. Since everything sounds more mellow and calm compared to 12, I think that many, if not most, contemporary worship songs would sound better in 31 compared to 12. I also think it's a better tuning for songs with largely pentatonic melodies, such as Hillsong's ''Highlands'', than 12edo is, since the pentatonic scale is noticeably tighter. The number of notes is not overly unwieldy (though it is pushing the limits of practicality on guitars and basses, it's still doable for chords), and the differences between its sound and 12edo's sound are big enough that people will notice (and therefore they might actually care) but not so big that it sounds jarring like 19edo can be (and often is). It also allows many interesting symmetry breaks and comma pumps over 12 that to me are an extremely interesting effect. If A is still 440 Hz, to me, keys from A major and F♯ minor onwards among the sharps sound noticeably darker in 31 and more energetic in 12, D and G major and their relative minor keys sound similar, while flat keys sound noticeably brighter in 31 and more "serious" in 12. Great for temperaments like [[Orwell]] that allow for easy exploration of more exotic harmonies.

: '''Aura:''' Working with Superlocrian in this EDO is again interesting, but it's easier to do with this EDO than with 27edo.

: '''Bozu:''' This is sort of the gold standard of meantone tuning. Composite hypopent. Great thirds and fifths and everything else used to make western-esque music, and also some really nifty other spicier options. Very user-friendly. If you start with 12edo and go to 19edo and like it, this would be the obvious next recommendation. My only complaint here is that we are starting to get into the territory of having too many notes to easily perform on a guitar or standard black-and-white-key two row keyboard. Going with subsets at this point is beneficial, but those provide new challenges.

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== [[53edo]] ==

: '''ArrowHead:''' Works great as an extended Pythagorean tuning, making it well-suited for Mediæval music. Also suited for those wanting to experiment with true 5-limit JI but also having the ability to modulate ~~without things getting too~~ unwieldy. Turkish music theory is also based on 53edo. However, this is truly near the stopping point for physical instruments and 107 frets isn't practical for almost any real-world guitar or bass.

: '''ArrowHead:''' Works great as an extended Pythagorean tuning, making it well-suited for Mediæval music. Also suited for those wanting to experiment with true 5-limit JI but also having the ability to modulate. It is also perhaps the most optimal equal temperament tuning supporting [[Orwell]], due to its fifth being almost indistinguishable from just, the fact that it has a good approximation of the [[13/8|13<sup>th</sup> harmonic]] (which 31 does only an okay job at and 22 lacks entirely), and 84edo has so many notes that it really does get unwieldy. Turkish music theory is also based on 53edo. However, this is truly near the stopping point for physical instruments and 107 frets isn't practical for almost any real-world guitar or bass.

: '''Aura:''' Most of my experience with this EDO comes from my current experiments with 159edo, and this will likely continue to be the case since this EDO doesn't have good approximations of the 11-limit.

: '''Bozu:''' Generally the stopping point. If you are comfortable with >50 tones, then this tuning offers almost everything you will need. If not, stick with 31edo or something smaller.

@@ Line 269: / Line 269: @@
 == [[22edo]] ==
+: '''ArrowHead294:''' Basically the opposite of meantone (specifically [[31edo]]) when it comes to 5 vs. 7, since you find 7/6 subminor thirds in places where you'd normally expect 6/5 minor thirds and 9/7 supermajor thirds where you'd expect 5/4 major thirds. A great way to break out of the meantone way of thinking for most people, and probably the most optimal and practical tuning for [[superpythagorean]] temperament. Minor sevenths being 7/4 makes septimal harmony easy to reach and is a really cool effect IMO. However, although the 5-limit minor and major thirds are tuned closer to JI than in 12edo, the minor third is sharp instead of flat and the major third is flat instead of sharp, which gives 5-limit chords a lot of "zonk" to them.
 : '''Aura:''' I have to say that judging from the 159edo-based approximation that I'm using, the pentatonic scales actually sound pretty good, but the fact that this EDO forces its users to explore unfamiliar harmonic territory is a double-edged sword.
 : '''Bozu:''' Excellent composite hyperpent tuning. Tons and tons of possibilities with western-esque and raga-esque tones. Notation starts getting more difficult than 17edo or 19edo.
@@ Line 323: / Line 324: @@
 == [[27edo]] ==
-: '''ArrowHead:''' Basically the opposite of meantone (specifically [[19edo]]) when it comes to 5 vs. 7 (you find 7/6 in places where you'd normally expect 6/5 and 9/7 where you'd expect 5/4). 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.
+: '''ArrowHead:''' Similar to 22edo, 27 is basically the opposite of meantone (specifically [[19edo]]) when it comes to 5 vs. 7, with subminor and supermajor thirds and sixths in places where minor and major thirds and sixths usually are. 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.
 : '''Aura:''' Not going to lie, given how underexplored this EDO is, I felt it necessary to try working with a 159edo-based retuning of it. Judging from my experience with that, it should suffice to say that working with Superlocrian in this EDO is another interesting experience.
 : '''Bozu:''' Comte hyperpent. Another one with tons of usable tonal possibilities that seems to get little actual use.
@@ Line 349: / Line 350: @@
 == [[31edo]] ==
-: '''ArrowHead:''' The second alternative tuning I knew about after 24edo, I got interested in it through Baroque and Renaissance music due to it being an excellent representation of quarter-comma meantone. Personally, I think this is the best alternative tuning for most non-classical Western musicians to use. Since everything sounds more mellow and calm compared to 12, I think that many, if not most, contemporary worship songs would sound better in 31 compared to 12. I also think it's a better tuning for songs with largely pentatonic melodies, such as Hillsong's ''Highlands'', than 12edo is, since the pentatonic scale is noticeably tighter. The number of notes is not overly unwieldy (though it is pushing the limits of practicality on guitars and basses, it's still doable for chords), and the differences between its sound and 12edo's sound are big enough that people will notice (and therefore they might actually care) but not so big that it sounds jarring like 19edo can be (and often is). It also allows many interesting symmetry breaks and comma pumps over 12 that to me are an extremely interesting effect. If A is still 440 Hz, to me, keys from A major and F♯ minor onwards among the sharps sound noticeably darker in 31 and more energetic in 12, D and G major and their relative minor keys sound similar, while flat keys sound noticeably brighter in 31 and more "serious" in 12.
+: '''ArrowHead:''' The second alternative tuning I knew about after 24edo, I got interested in it through Baroque and Renaissance music due to it being an excellent representation of quarter-comma meantone that offers good approximations to all intervals of 11 (and even a few involving 13). Personally, I think this is the best alternative tuning for most non-classical Western musicians to use. Since everything sounds more mellow and calm compared to 12, I think that many, if not most, contemporary worship songs would sound better in 31 compared to 12. I also think it's a better tuning for songs with largely pentatonic melodies, such as Hillsong's ''Highlands'', than 12edo is, since the pentatonic scale is noticeably tighter. The number of notes is not overly unwieldy (though it is pushing the limits of practicality on guitars and basses, it's still doable for chords), and the differences between its sound and 12edo's sound are big enough that people will notice (and therefore they might actually care) but not so big that it sounds jarring like 19edo can be (and often is). It also allows many interesting symmetry breaks and comma pumps over 12 that to me are an extremely interesting effect. If A is still 440 Hz, to me, keys from A major and F♯ minor onwards among the sharps sound noticeably darker in 31 and more energetic in 12, D and G major and their relative minor keys sound similar, while flat keys sound noticeably brighter in 31 and more "serious" in 12. Great for temperaments like [[Orwell]] that allow for easy exploration of more exotic harmonies.
 : '''Aura:''' Working with Superlocrian in this EDO is again interesting, but it's easier to do with this EDO than with 27edo.
 : '''Bozu:''' This is sort of the gold standard of meantone tuning. Composite hypopent. Great thirds and fifths and everything else used to make western-esque music, and also some really nifty other spicier options. Very user-friendly. If you start with 12edo and go to 19edo and like it, this would be the obvious next recommendation. My only complaint here is that we are starting to get into the territory of having too many notes to easily perform on a guitar or standard black-and-white-key two row keyboard. Going with subsets at this point is beneficial, but those provide new challenges.
@@ Line 455: / Line 456: @@
 == [[53edo]] ==
-: '''ArrowHead:''' Works great as an extended Pythagorean tuning, making it well-suited for Mediæval music. Also suited for those wanting to experiment with true 5-limit JI but also having the ability to modulate without things getting too unwieldy. Turkish music theory is also based on 53edo. However, this is truly near the stopping point for physical instruments and 107 frets isn't practical for almost any real-world guitar or bass.
+: '''ArrowHead:''' Works great as an extended Pythagorean tuning, making it well-suited for Mediæval music. Also suited for those wanting to experiment with true 5-limit JI but also having the ability to modulate. It is also perhaps the most optimal equal temperament tuning supporting [[Orwell]], due to its fifth being almost indistinguishable from just, the fact that it has a good approximation of the [[13/8|13<sup>th</sup> harmonic]] (which 31 does only an okay job at and 22 lacks entirely), and 84edo has so many notes that it really does get unwieldy. Turkish music theory is also based on 53edo. However, this is truly near the stopping point for physical instruments and 107 frets isn't practical for almost any real-world guitar or bass.
 : '''Aura:''' Most of my experience with this EDO comes from my current experiments with 159edo, and this will likely continue to be the case since this EDO doesn't have good approximations of the 11-limit.
 : '''Bozu:''' Generally the stopping point. If you are comfortable with >50 tones, then this tuning offers almost everything you will need. If not, stick with 31edo or something smaller.