Step variety: Difference between revisions

Inthar (talk | contribs)
Inthar (talk | contribs)
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
An ''n'''''-ary scale''' is a scale with exactly ''n'' distinct step sizes; a scale's '''arity''' is the number of distinct step sizes it has. '''Unary''', '''binary''' and '''ternary''' scales are scales with exactly 1, 2 and 3 step sizes, respectively.
An ''n'''''-ary scale''' is a scale with exactly ''n'' distinct step sizes; a scale's '''arity''' is the number of distinct step sizes it has. '''Unary''', '''binary''' and '''ternary''' scales are scales with exactly 1, 2 and 3 step sizes, respectively.


Unary scales are [[equal tuning]]s. The class of binary scales consists of all [[MOS]] scales and every alteration-by-permutation of a MOS scale. Ternary scales are much less well-understood than binary ones, but one well-studied type of ternary scales is the class of [[generator-offset]] scales. Most known facts about ternary scales on the wiki can be found on the page [[rank-3 scale]].
Unary scales are [[equal tuning]]s. The class of binary scales consists of all [[MOS]] scales and every alteration-by-permutation of a MOS scale. Ternary scales are much less well-understood than binary ones, but one well-studied type of ternary scales is the class of [[generator-offset]] scales. Most known facts about ternary scales on the wiki can be found on the page [[rank-3 scale]] (which is mostly about specifically ternary scales).
== History of the term ==
== History of the term ==
The terms ''binary'' and ''ternary'' are already used in some academic literature in reference to scales; see e.g. Bulgakova, Buzhinsky and Goncharov (2023), "[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304397522006417 On balanced and abelian properties of circular words over a ternary alphabet]".
The terms ''binary'' and ''ternary'' are already used in some academic literature in reference to scales; see e.g. Bulgakova, Buzhinsky and Goncharov (2023), "[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304397522006417 On balanced and abelian properties of circular words over a ternary alphabet]".