Whynotmicrotonality: Difference between revisions

: This revision was by author [[User:clumma|clumma]] and made on <tt>2012-12-11 16:28:30 UTC</tt>.<br>

: The original revision id was <tt>391387940</tt>.<br>

If you consider the 19-odd-limit as the upper cutoff for chord consonance (which is, by most accounts, as high as most people want to go), 12-TET is pretty tough to beat. You get harmonics 2, 3, 5, 9, 15, 17, and 19--only 7, 11, and 13 are missing, though it's arguable that even 7 (and its attendant ratios) is on the radar, being only about 30 cents off from Just. If you want to add any of the missing harmonics without sacrificing those already present, it's not until you get to 24-ET that this is possible.  

You also get many of the best 5-limit temperaments--meantone, srutal, augmented, diminished, injera, schismatic, passion, and ripple. The harmonic relationships are simple--three 5/4's, four 6/5's, six 9/8's, and twelve 3/2's each get you back to your starting note, so you don't have any long chains of intervals to keep track of or navigate. This often means that instruments designed for 12-TET are easier to learn and play than instruments designed for other tunings; in the case of the guitar this is particularly true, as it is quite a bit more difficult, at least conceptually, for most players to master competitive ETs (19, 22, 31, etc.) with the same fluency and command they have in 12-ET.  

Furthermore, the harmonic improvements afforded by ETs like 19, 22, and 31 in the 5-limit are actually quite modest, and rarely of noticeable significance in the idioms of popular music. In classical idioms, it's already common-practice (at least among horns, winds, and strings) to intone 12-TET closer to adaptive JI, so a more accurate ET is moot. Really, it is only in the realms of keyboard or synthesized classical music that the harmonic improvements can be appreciated enough to make it worth the trouble. But even then, many musicians who have undergone extensive ear training will actually find the "purer" intervals of 19, 22, and 31 to sound out-of-tune. It is not uncommon for listeners to find (near-)beatless harmonies to sound "cold" and "static", and these listeners won't appreciate the sounds of the more accurate ETs.  

=Critical reaction to the foregoing by Carl Lumma=

True, but I think it has more to do with maintaining congeniality in a community of people with very different musical backgrounds than with desperately encouraging composers to use microtonal tunings.

Also probably true but it is not **so much better** than alternatives as to warrant **exclusive use**.

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If you consider the 19-odd-limit as the upper cutoff for chord consonance (which is, by most accounts, as high as most people want to go), 12-TET is pretty tough to beat. You get harmonics 2, 3, 5, 9, 15, 17, and 19--only 7, 11, and 13 are missing, though it's arguable that even 7 (and its attendant ratios) is on the radar, being only about 30 cents off from Just. If you want to add any of the missing harmonics without sacrificing those already present, it's not until you get to 24-ET that this is possible. &lt;br /&gt;

You also get many of the best 5-limit temperaments--meantone, srutal, augmented, diminished, injera, schismatic, passion, and ripple. The harmonic relationships are simple--three 5/4's, four 6/5's, six 9/8's, and twelve 3/2's each get you back to your starting note, so you don't have any long chains of intervals to keep track of or navigate. This often means that instruments designed for 12-TET are easier to learn and play than instruments designed for other tunings; in the case of the guitar this is particularly true, as it is quite a bit more difficult, at least conceptually, for most players to master competitive ETs (19, 22, 31, etc.) with the same fluency and command they have in 12-ET. &lt;br /&gt;

Furthermore, the harmonic improvements afforded by ETs like 19, 22, and 31 in the 5-limit are actually quite modest, and rarely of noticeable significance in the idioms of popular music. In classical idioms, it's already common-practice (at least among horns, winds, and strings) to intone 12-TET closer to adaptive JI, so a more accurate ET is moot. Really, it is only in the realms of keyboard or synthesized classical music that the harmonic improvements can be appreciated enough to make it worth the trouble. But even then, many musicians who have undergone extensive ear training will actually find the &amp;quot;purer&amp;quot; intervals of 19, 22, and 31 to sound out-of-tune. It is not uncommon for listeners to find (near-)beatless harmonies to sound &amp;quot;cold&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;static&amp;quot;, and these listeners won't appreciate the sounds of the more accurate ETs. &lt;br /&gt;

&lt;br /&gt;

True, but I think it has more to do with maintaining congeniality in a community of people with very different musical backgrounds than with desperately encouraging composers to use microtonal tunings.&lt;br /&gt;