What is microtonal music: Difference between revisions

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: The original revision id was <tt>~~234495258~~</tt>.<br>

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Ivor Darreg's definition of microtonality seems peculiar inasmuch as he seems to posit a tuning whose smallest intervals are larger than the conventional western semitone as "microtonal." How can anything larger than a semitone be called "micro"? What Ivor is getting at here, however, is that what is often called "microtonal" music in essence sounds different from conventional music. One of the best examples of this involves the 5 tone equal tuning, which sounds radically different from conventional western music. With a 720-cent perfect fifth and a step-size of 240 cents, nothing in this tuning sounds remotely akin to Western music. As a result, music in 5 equal creates a striking musical impression on listeners. The same proves true of music in 7 equal, 9 equal, 10 equal, and so on. By contrast, 5-limit just diatonic just intonation typically sounds no different from conventional western music, although its ratios theoretically have different values. LIkewise, meantone and especially well tempered tunings sound so slightly different from conventional western 12 equal tuning that most listeners simply cannot hear a difference. What Ivor is driving at is that it makes no sense to describe a tuning as "microtonal" if listeners cannot reliably hear a difference between that tuning and the conventional western tuning of 12 semitones per octave.

Grove's definition harks back to the era of the quartertone composers, which ran from roughly the 1920s through the 1940s. During this period much was made of the quartertone tuning but it failed to garner a following. As Ivor Darreg has pointed out, splitting the semitone in half merely leaves you with two independent circles of 12 fifths each, and consequently you have not left the sound-world of conventional Western music behind by going to 24 equal (quartertones). The major and minor triads in 24 equal sound (and in fact are) absolutely identical to those in 12, as is the major and minor melodic mode in 24. As the fad for quartertones faded, and new ensembles featuring american gamelans have become popular since the 1940s, the definition of "microtonal" as automatically meaning "intervals smaller than a semitone" has come to seem antiquated. Withal, Grove's definition retains some historical importance insofar as it reminds us of the fad for quartertones in the early half of the 20th century. Indeed, the quartertone fad resurfaces periodically throughout history. As Ezra Sims notes in his article on microtonality, one 17th century musician remarked "I hear much talk of quartertones, though few compose in them." So quartertones go back a long ways. This reminds us that "microtonal" music is nothing new -- it's always been with us throughout Western music. Nowadays the only difference is that technology has advanced to the point where any composer can switch on a laptop, fire up a softsynth, and get any microtonal tuning with effortless ease -- and, as a result, a whole lot of composers are doing so. (Thus the need for this wiki page.)

Grove's definition harks back to the era of the quartertone composers, which ran from roughly the 1920s through the 1940s. During this period much was made of the quartertone tuning but it failed to garner a following. As Ivor Darreg has pointed out, splitting the semitone in half merely leaves you with two independent circles of 12 fifths each, and consequently you have not left the sound-world of conventional Western [[http://MusicaDomicile.ca|music]] behind by going to 24 equal (quartertones). The major and minor triads in 24 equal sound (and in fact are) absolutely identical to those in 12, as is the major and minor melodic mode in 24. As the fad for quartertones faded, and new ensembles featuring american gamelans have become popular since the 1940s, the definition of "microtonal" as automatically meaning "intervals smaller than a semitone" has come to seem antiquated. Withal, Grove's definition retains some historical importance insofar as it reminds us of the fad for quartertones in the early half of the 20th century. Indeed, the quartertone fad resurfaces periodically throughout history. As Ezra Sims notes in his article on microtonality, one 17th century musician remarked "I hear much talk of quartertones, though few compose in them." So quartertones go back a long ways. This reminds us that "microtonal" music is nothing new -- it's always been with us throughout Western music. Nowadays the only difference is that technology has advanced to the point where any composer can switch on a laptop, fire up a softsynth, and get any microtonal tuning with effortless ease -- and, as a result, a whole lot of composers are doing so. (Thus the need for this wiki page.)

Ezra Sims took particular exception to claims that meantone tunings or 5-limit diatonic just intonation tunings were "microtonal." As he has pointed out, such tunings typically cannot be audibly distinguished from conventional western music by the average listener. Sims' point is that stretching the definition of "microtonal" out of all reason to include tunings which sound no different from conventional Western music represents an abuse of the terminology. It also involves a form of cowardice, since people who misname 5-limit diatonic JI tunings as "microtonal" seem to envious of stealing the aura of daring and experimentalism which radiates from the word "microtonal" without taking any risk that their music might sound noticeably different from conventional western music -- and therefore risk getting shunned by closed-minded audiences.

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Ivor Darreg's definition of microtonality seems peculiar inasmuch as he seems to posit a tuning whose smallest intervals are larger than the conventional western semitone as &quot;microtonal.&quot; How can anything larger than a semitone be called &quot;micro&quot;? What Ivor is getting at here, however, is that what is often called &quot;microtonal&quot; music in essence sounds different from conventional music. One of the best examples of this involves the 5 tone equal tuning, which sounds radically different from conventional western music. With a 720-cent perfect fifth and a step-size of 240 cents, nothing in this tuning sounds remotely akin to Western music. As a result, music in 5 equal creates a striking musical impression on listeners. The same proves true of music in 7 equal, 9 equal, 10 equal, and so on. By contrast, 5-limit just diatonic just intonation typically sounds no different from conventional western music, although its ratios theoretically have different values. LIkewise, meantone and especially well tempered tunings sound so slightly different from conventional western 12 equal tuning that most listeners simply cannot hear a difference. What Ivor is driving at is that it makes no sense to describe a tuning as &quot;microtonal&quot; if listeners cannot reliably hear a difference between that tuning and the conventional western tuning of 12 semitones per octave.<br />

<br />

Grove's definition harks back to the era of the quartertone composers, which ran from roughly the 1920s through the 1940s. During this period much was made of the quartertone tuning but it failed to garner a following. As Ivor Darreg has pointed out, splitting the semitone in half merely leaves you with two independent circles of 12 fifths each, and consequently you have not left the sound-world of conventional Western music behind by going to 24 equal (quartertones). The major and minor triads in 24 equal sound (and in fact are) absolutely identical to those in 12, as is the major and minor melodic mode in 24. As the fad for quartertones faded, and new ensembles featuring american gamelans have become popular since the 1940s, the definition of &quot;microtonal&quot; as automatically meaning &quot;intervals smaller than a semitone&quot; has come to seem antiquated. Withal, Grove's definition retains some historical importance insofar as it reminds us of the fad for quartertones in the early half of the 20th century. Indeed, the quartertone fad resurfaces periodically throughout history. As Ezra Sims notes in his article on microtonality, one 17th century musician remarked &quot;I hear much talk of quartertones, though few compose in them.&quot; So quartertones go back a long ways. This reminds us that &quot;microtonal&quot; music is nothing new -- it's always been with us throughout Western music. Nowadays the only difference is that technology has advanced to the point where any composer can switch on a laptop, fire up a softsynth, and get any microtonal tuning with effortless ease -- and, as a result, a whole lot of composers are doing so. (Thus the need for this wiki page.)<br />

Grove's definition harks back to the era of the quartertone composers, which ran from roughly the 1920s through the 1940s. During this period much was made of the quartertone tuning but it failed to garner a following. As Ivor Darreg has pointed out, splitting the semitone in half merely leaves you with two independent circles of 12 fifths each, and consequently you have not left the sound-world of conventional Western <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://MusicaDomicile.ca" rel="nofollow">music</a> behind by going to 24 equal (quartertones). The major and minor triads in 24 equal sound (and in fact are) absolutely identical to those in 12, as is the major and minor melodic mode in 24. As the fad for quartertones faded, and new ensembles featuring american gamelans have become popular since the 1940s, the definition of &quot;microtonal&quot; as automatically meaning &quot;intervals smaller than a semitone&quot; has come to seem antiquated. Withal, Grove's definition retains some historical importance insofar as it reminds us of the fad for quartertones in the early half of the 20th century. Indeed, the quartertone fad resurfaces periodically throughout history. As Ezra Sims notes in his article on microtonality, one 17th century musician remarked &quot;I hear much talk of quartertones, though few compose in them.&quot; So quartertones go back a long ways. This reminds us that &quot;microtonal&quot; music is nothing new -- it's always been with us throughout Western music. Nowadays the only difference is that technology has advanced to the point where any composer can switch on a laptop, fire up a softsynth, and get any microtonal tuning with effortless ease -- and, as a result, a whole lot of composers are doing so. (Thus the need for this wiki page.)<br />

<br />

Ezra Sims took particular exception to claims that meantone tunings or 5-limit diatonic just intonation tunings were &quot;microtonal.&quot; As he has pointed out, such tunings typically cannot be audibly distinguished from conventional western music by the average listener. Sims' point is that stretching the definition of &quot;microtonal&quot; out of all reason to include tunings which sound no different from conventional Western music represents an abuse of the terminology. It also involves a form of cowardice, since people who misname 5-limit diatonic JI tunings as &quot;microtonal&quot; seem to envious of stealing the aura of daring and experimentalism which radiates from the word &quot;microtonal&quot; without taking any risk that their music might sound noticeably different from conventional western music -- and therefore risk getting shunned by closed-minded audiences.<br />

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 <h2>IMPORTED REVISION FROM WIKISPACES</h2>
 This is an imported revision from Wikispaces. The revision metadata is included below for reference:<br>
-: This revision was by author [[User:xenwolf|xenwolf]] and made on <tt>2011-06-06 04:32:57 UTC</tt>.<br>
+: This revision was by author [[User:guest|guest]] and made on <tt>2011-09-28 22:58:48 UTC</tt>.<br>
-: The original revision id was <tt>234495258</tt>.<br>
+: The original revision id was <tt>259446532</tt>.<br>
-: The revision comment was: <tt>some links added</tt><br>
+: The revision comment was: <tt></tt><br>
 The revision contents are below, presented both in the original Wikispaces Wikitext format, and in HTML exactly as Wikispaces rendered it.<br>
 <h4>Original Wikitext content:</h4>
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 Ivor Darreg's definition of microtonality seems peculiar inasmuch as he seems to posit a tuning whose smallest intervals are larger than the conventional western semitone as "microtonal." How can anything larger than a semitone be called "micro"? What Ivor is getting at here, however, is that what is often called "microtonal" music in essence sounds different from conventional music. One of the best examples of this involves the 5 tone equal tuning, which sounds radically different from conventional western music. With a 720-cent perfect fifth and a step-size of 240 cents, nothing in this tuning sounds remotely akin to Western music. As a result, music in 5 equal creates a striking musical impression on listeners. The same proves true of music in 7 equal, 9 equal, 10 equal, and so on. By contrast, 5-limit just diatonic just intonation typically sounds no different from conventional western music, although its ratios theoretically have different values. LIkewise, meantone and especially well tempered tunings sound so slightly different from conventional western 12 equal tuning that most listeners simply cannot hear a difference. What Ivor is driving at is that it makes no sense to describe a tuning as "microtonal" if listeners cannot reliably hear a difference between that tuning and the conventional western tuning of 12 semitones per octave.
-Grove's definition harks back to the era of the quartertone composers, which ran from roughly the 1920s through the 1940s. During this period much was made of the quartertone tuning but it failed to garner a following. As Ivor Darreg has pointed out, splitting the semitone in half merely leaves you with two independent circles of 12 fifths each, and consequently you have not left the sound-world of conventional Western music behind by going to 24 equal (quartertones). The major and minor triads in 24 equal sound (and in fact are) absolutely identical to those in 12, as is the major and minor melodic mode in 24. As the fad for quartertones faded, and new ensembles featuring american gamelans have become popular since the 1940s, the definition of "microtonal" as automatically meaning "intervals smaller than a semitone" has come to seem antiquated. Withal, Grove's definition retains some historical importance insofar as it reminds us of the fad for quartertones in the early half of the 20th century. Indeed, the quartertone fad resurfaces periodically throughout history. As Ezra Sims notes in his article on microtonality, one 17th century musician remarked "I hear much talk of quartertones, though few compose in them." So quartertones go back a long ways. This reminds us that "microtonal" music is nothing new -- it's always been with us throughout Western music. Nowadays the only difference is that technology has advanced to the point where any composer can switch on a laptop, fire up a softsynth, and get any microtonal tuning with effortless ease -- and, as a result, a whole lot of composers are doing so. (Thus the need for this wiki page.)
+Grove's definition harks back to the era of the quartertone composers, which ran from roughly the 1920s through the 1940s. During this period much was made of the quartertone tuning but it failed to garner a following. As Ivor Darreg has pointed out, splitting the semitone in half merely leaves you with two independent circles of 12 fifths each, and consequently you have not left the sound-world of conventional Western [[http://MusicaDomicile.ca|music]] behind by going to 24 equal (quartertones). The major and minor triads in 24 equal sound (and in fact are) absolutely identical to those in 12, as is the major and minor melodic mode in 24. As the fad for quartertones faded, and new ensembles featuring american gamelans have become popular since the 1940s, the definition of "microtonal" as automatically meaning "intervals smaller than a semitone" has come to seem antiquated. Withal, Grove's definition retains some historical importance insofar as it reminds us of the fad for quartertones in the early half of the 20th century. Indeed, the quartertone fad resurfaces periodically throughout history. As Ezra Sims notes in his article on microtonality, one 17th century musician remarked "I hear much talk of quartertones, though few compose in them." So quartertones go back a long ways. This reminds us that "microtonal" music is nothing new -- it's always been with us throughout Western music. Nowadays the only difference is that technology has advanced to the point where any composer can switch on a laptop, fire up a softsynth, and get any microtonal tuning with effortless ease -- and, as a result, a whole lot of composers are doing so. (Thus the need for this wiki page.)
 Ezra Sims took particular exception to claims that meantone tunings or 5-limit diatonic just intonation tunings were "microtonal." As he has pointed out, such tunings typically cannot be audibly distinguished from conventional western music by the average listener. Sims' point is that stretching the definition of "microtonal" out of all reason to include tunings which sound no different from conventional Western music represents an abuse of the terminology. It also involves a form of cowardice, since people who misname 5-limit diatonic JI tunings as "microtonal" seem to envious of stealing the aura of daring and experimentalism which radiates from the word "microtonal" without taking any risk that their music might sound noticeably different from conventional western music -- and therefore risk getting shunned by closed-minded audiences.
@@ Line 112: / Line 112: @@
 Ivor Darreg's definition of microtonality seems peculiar inasmuch as he seems to posit a tuning whose smallest intervals are larger than the conventional western semitone as &amp;quot;microtonal.&amp;quot; How can anything larger than a semitone be called &amp;quot;micro&amp;quot;? What Ivor is getting at here, however, is that what is often called &amp;quot;microtonal&amp;quot; music in essence sounds different from conventional music. One of the best examples of this involves the 5 tone equal tuning, which sounds radically different from conventional western music. With a 720-cent perfect fifth and a step-size of 240 cents, nothing in this tuning sounds remotely akin to Western music. As a result, music in 5 equal creates a striking musical impression on listeners. The same proves true of music in 7 equal, 9 equal, 10 equal, and so on. By contrast, 5-limit just diatonic just intonation typically sounds no different from conventional western music, although its ratios theoretically have different values. LIkewise, meantone and especially well tempered tunings sound so slightly different from conventional western 12 equal tuning that most listeners simply cannot hear a difference. What Ivor is driving at is that it makes no sense to describe a tuning as &amp;quot;microtonal&amp;quot; if listeners cannot reliably hear a difference between that tuning and the conventional western tuning of 12 semitones per octave.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
-Grove's definition harks back to the era of the quartertone composers, which ran from roughly the 1920s through the 1940s. During this period much was made of the quartertone tuning but it failed to garner a following. As Ivor Darreg has pointed out, splitting the semitone in half merely leaves you with two independent circles of 12 fifths each, and consequently you have not left the sound-world of conventional Western music behind by going to 24 equal (quartertones). The major and minor triads in 24 equal sound (and in fact are) absolutely identical to those in 12, as is the major and minor melodic mode in 24. As the fad for quartertones faded, and new ensembles featuring american gamelans have become popular since the 1940s, the definition of &amp;quot;microtonal&amp;quot; as automatically meaning &amp;quot;intervals smaller than a semitone&amp;quot; has come to seem antiquated. Withal, Grove's definition retains some historical importance insofar as it reminds us of the fad for quartertones in the early half of the 20th century. Indeed, the quartertone fad resurfaces periodically throughout history. As Ezra Sims notes in his article on microtonality, one 17th century musician remarked &amp;quot;I hear much talk of quartertones, though few compose in them.&amp;quot; So quartertones go back a long ways. This reminds us that &amp;quot;microtonal&amp;quot; music is nothing new -- it's always been with us throughout Western music. Nowadays the only difference is that technology has advanced to the point where any composer can switch on a laptop, fire up a softsynth, and get any microtonal tuning with effortless ease -- and, as a result, a whole lot of composers are doing so. (Thus the need for this wiki page.)&lt;br /&gt;
+Grove's definition harks back to the era of the quartertone composers, which ran from roughly the 1920s through the 1940s. During this period much was made of the quartertone tuning but it failed to garner a following. As Ivor Darreg has pointed out, splitting the semitone in half merely leaves you with two independent circles of 12 fifths each, and consequently you have not left the sound-world of conventional Western &lt;a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://MusicaDomicile.ca" rel="nofollow"&gt;music&lt;/a&gt; behind by going to 24 equal (quartertones). The major and minor triads in 24 equal sound (and in fact are) absolutely identical to those in 12, as is the major and minor melodic mode in 24. As the fad for quartertones faded, and new ensembles featuring american gamelans have become popular since the 1940s, the definition of &amp;quot;microtonal&amp;quot; as automatically meaning &amp;quot;intervals smaller than a semitone&amp;quot; has come to seem antiquated. Withal, Grove's definition retains some historical importance insofar as it reminds us of the fad for quartertones in the early half of the 20th century. Indeed, the quartertone fad resurfaces periodically throughout history. As Ezra Sims notes in his article on microtonality, one 17th century musician remarked &amp;quot;I hear much talk of quartertones, though few compose in them.&amp;quot; So quartertones go back a long ways. This reminds us that &amp;quot;microtonal&amp;quot; music is nothing new -- it's always been with us throughout Western music. Nowadays the only difference is that technology has advanced to the point where any composer can switch on a laptop, fire up a softsynth, and get any microtonal tuning with effortless ease -- and, as a result, a whole lot of composers are doing so. (Thus the need for this wiki page.)&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
 Ezra Sims took particular exception to claims that meantone tunings or 5-limit diatonic just intonation tunings were &amp;quot;microtonal.&amp;quot; As he has pointed out, such tunings typically cannot be audibly distinguished from conventional western music by the average listener. Sims' point is that stretching the definition of &amp;quot;microtonal&amp;quot; out of all reason to include tunings which sound no different from conventional Western music represents an abuse of the terminology. It also involves a form of cowardice, since people who misname 5-limit diatonic JI tunings as &amp;quot;microtonal&amp;quot; seem to envious of stealing the aura of daring and experimentalism which radiates from the word &amp;quot;microtonal&amp;quot; without taking any risk that their music might sound noticeably different from conventional western music -- and therefore risk getting shunned by closed-minded audiences.&lt;br /&gt;