Microtonal music: Difference between revisions

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Many dictionaries define microtonal music as music that employs intervals smaller than a semitone. However, in contemporary practice, "microtonal music" is any music that isn't 12edo, even if it is in a tuning system that does not use any intervals less than a 12edo semitone step.

Several terms have been proposed with more or less similar definitions. A notable example is "'''xenharmonic music'''", coined by [[Ivor Darreg]], which describes music that sounds significantly different from 12edo.

Several terms have been proposed with more or less similar definitions. A notable example is "'''xenharmonic music'''", coined by [[Ivor Darreg]], which describes music that sounds significantly different from 12edo. There are many gray areas regarding what sort of [[tuning system|systems]] qualify as "xenharmonic" or not, and no rigorous definition seems to be universally acceptable among xenharmonists.

== History ==

Sometime before 1900, composer Julián Carrillo Trujillo performed experiments on a violin string, using a razor blade to achieve very precise intervals smaller than a semitone, which he called "microtono." Over a decade later, the music theorist Maud MacCarthy Mann began using the term "microtone" to describe Indian sruti intervals that were smaller than a semitone, to differentiate them from quarter tones. In the 1910's and 1920's, there was some discussion as to whether the term was appropriate, or if competing terms, such as "heterotone" or "fraction-tone" etc., would be clearer. By the 1930's, with interest in American Blues music booming, and with people like [[Ivor Darreg]] becoming active with new tuning methods, many more terms were proposed, but the terms "microtonal" and "xenharmonic" were most prominent in the English language by the end of the decade.

Sometime before 1900, composer [[Julián Carrillo|Julián Carrillo Trujillo]] performed experiments on a violin string, using a razor blade to achieve very precise intervals smaller than a semitone, which he called "microtono." Over a decade later, the music theorist Maud MacCarthy Mann began using the term "microtone" to describe Indian sruti intervals that were smaller than a semitone, to differentiate them from quarter tones. In the 1910's and 1920's, there was some discussion as to whether the term was appropriate, or if competing terms, such as "heterotone" or "fraction-tone" etc., would be clearer. By the 1930's, with interest in American Blues music booming, and with people like [[Ivor Darreg]] becoming active with new tuning methods, many more terms were proposed, but the terms "microtonal" and "xenharmonic" were most prominent in the English language by the end of the decade.

== See also ==

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 Many dictionaries define microtonal music as music that employs intervals smaller than a semitone. However, in contemporary practice, "microtonal music" is any music that isn't 12edo, even if it is in a tuning system that does not use any intervals less than a 12edo semitone step.
-Several terms have been proposed with more or less similar definitions. A notable example is "'''xenharmonic music'''", coined by [[Ivor Darreg]], which describes music that sounds significantly different from 12edo.
+Several terms have been proposed with more or less similar definitions. A notable example is "'''xenharmonic music'''", coined by [[Ivor Darreg]], which describes music that sounds significantly different from 12edo. There are many gray areas regarding what sort of [[tuning system|systems]] qualify as "xenharmonic" or not, and no rigorous definition seems to be universally acceptable among xenharmonists.
 == History ==
-Sometime before 1900, composer Julián Carrillo Trujillo performed experiments on a violin string, using a razor blade to achieve very precise intervals smaller than a semitone, which he called "microtono."  Over a decade later, the music theorist Maud MacCarthy Mann began using the term "microtone" to describe Indian sruti intervals that were smaller than a semitone, to differentiate them from quarter tones.  In the 1910's and 1920's, there was some discussion as to whether the term was appropriate, or if competing terms, such as "heterotone" or "fraction-tone" etc., would be clearer.  By the 1930's, with interest in American Blues music booming, and with people like [[Ivor Darreg]] becoming active with new tuning methods, many more terms were proposed, but the terms "microtonal" and "xenharmonic" were most prominent in the English language by the end of the decade.
+Sometime before 1900, composer [[Julián Carrillo|Julián Carrillo Trujillo]] performed experiments on a violin string, using a razor blade to achieve very precise intervals smaller than a semitone, which he called "microtono." Over a decade later, the music theorist Maud MacCarthy Mann began using the term "microtone" to describe Indian sruti intervals that were smaller than a semitone, to differentiate them from quarter tones. In the 1910's and 1920's, there was some discussion as to whether the term was appropriate, or if competing terms, such as "heterotone" or "fraction-tone" etc., would be clearer. By the 1930's, with interest in American Blues music booming, and with people like [[Ivor Darreg]] becoming active with new tuning methods, many more terms were proposed, but the terms "microtonal" and "xenharmonic" were most prominent in the English language by the end of the decade.
 == See also ==