Microtonal music: Difference between revisions

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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 systems qualify as "xenharmonic" or not, and no rigorous definition seems to be universally acceptable among xenharmonists.

=== Debates and usage ===

; Xenharmonic

Many theorists caution against using the term "xenharmonic" for non-Western traditions that use non-12edo tunings. This is because the prefix "xen-" denotes otherness, so calling those traditions "xenharmonic" implies they are 'exotic', and that Western 12edo music is 'normal'.

To avoid unintentionally spreading such misconceptions, theorists often use "xenharmonic" only to mean ''Western'' non-12edo traditions. With "microtonal" being a broader catch-all term that also includes non-Western traditions too.

Because the prefix "xen-" denotes otherness, many theorists also caution against using "xenharmonic" to describe tunings that are very similar to 12edo, on the grounds that they do not really exhibit that 'otherness'.

Some theorists, for example, would argue that [[historical temperaments]] like meantone are not xenharmonic, because they follow almost identical rules to 12edo and sound very similar to it too. They would argue that only tunings which deviate significantly from 12edo, like [[11edo]], [[Bohlen-Pierce]] or [[Orwell]], are truly "xenharmonic".

; Microtonal

The term "microtonal" is itself contested, because it implies that 12edo's step sizes are 'normal-sized tones' and that anything smaller than them is 'micro'. Of course in reality, there is nothing more or less 'normal' about 12edo's step size than any other system.

The term "microtonal" can also cause confusion for music students because some "micro"tonal scales like [[5edo]] or orwell[9] actually have ''larger'' step sizes than 12edo.

Despite these concerns, "microtonal" still remains in broad use among most musicologists as the main catch-all term to describe this kind of music. Because it doesn't cause too much offense, and because of the sheer inertia of the term being so widely known, it seems likely that "microtonal" will continue to be the most common term for non-12edo music in general.

Aside from "microtonal", "xenharmonic" is the most common other term in broad use, and though its exact boundaries are debated, it is widely agreed among music theorists that "xenharmonic" is in some way a more strict version of "microtonal". "Microtonal" is something of a catch-all term, while "xenharmonic" refers to something more specific. But what exactly the boundaries of that 'something more specific' are continues to be debated.

; Scope of this wiki

Despite being named the "Xenharmonic Wiki", this wiki documents any and all kinds of musical tunings, no matter whether one counts them as xenharmonic or not.

== History ==

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 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 systems qualify as "xenharmonic" or not, and no rigorous definition seems to be universally acceptable among xenharmonists.
+=== Debates and usage ===
+; Xenharmonic
+Many theorists caution against using the term "xenharmonic" for non-Western traditions that use non-12edo tunings. This is because the prefix "xen-" denotes otherness, so calling those traditions "xenharmonic" implies they are 'exotic', and that Western 12edo music is 'normal'.
+To avoid unintentionally spreading such misconceptions, theorists often use "xenharmonic" only to mean ''Western'' non-12edo traditions. With "microtonal" being a broader catch-all term that also includes non-Western traditions too.
+Because the prefix "xen-" denotes otherness, many theorists also caution against using "xenharmonic" to describe tunings that are very similar to 12edo, on the grounds that they do not really exhibit that 'otherness'.
+Some theorists, for example, would argue that [[historical temperaments]] like meantone are not xenharmonic, because they follow almost identical rules to 12edo and sound very similar to it too. They would argue that only tunings which deviate significantly from 12edo, like [[11edo]], [[Bohlen-Pierce]] or [[Orwell]], are truly "xenharmonic".
+; Microtonal
+The term "microtonal" is itself contested, because it implies that 12edo's step sizes are 'normal-sized tones' and that anything smaller than them is 'micro'. Of course in reality, there is nothing more or less 'normal' about 12edo's step size than any other system.
+The term "microtonal" can also cause confusion for music students because some "micro"tonal scales like [[5edo]] or orwell[9] actually have ''larger'' step sizes than 12edo.
+Despite these concerns, "microtonal" still remains in broad use among most musicologists as the main catch-all term to describe this kind of music. Because it doesn't cause too much offense, and because of the sheer inertia of the term being so widely known, it seems likely that "microtonal" will continue to be the most common term for non-12edo music in general.
+Aside from "microtonal", "xenharmonic" is the most common other term in broad use, and though its exact boundaries are debated, it is widely agreed among music theorists that "xenharmonic" is in some way a more strict version of "microtonal". "Microtonal" is something of a catch-all term, while "xenharmonic" refers to something more specific. But what exactly the boundaries of that 'something more specific' are continues to be debated.
+; Scope of this wiki
+Despite being named the "Xenharmonic Wiki", this wiki documents any and all kinds of musical tunings, no matter whether one counts them as xenharmonic or not.
 == History ==