Comparison of mode notation systems: Difference between revisions

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Or alternatively, using 16/15 instead of 3/2 as the generator:

Because of centuries of established thought that the fifth, not the fourth, generates the pythagorean, meantone and well tempered scales, as these quotes show (emphasis mine):

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds". To choose 4/3 over 3/2 merely for the sake of consistency would be pointless. Unlike a __wise__ consistency, it wouldn't reduce memorization, because everyone already knows that the generator is historically 3/2.

One problem with [[Modal UDP Notation|UDP]] is that avoiding chroma-negative generators causes the genchain to reverse direction frequently as you lengthen or shorten it, which affects the mode names. If exploring the various MOS's of a temperament, one has to constantly check the genchain direction. In Mode Numbers notation, the direction is unchanging.

An even larger problem is that the notation is overly tuning-dependent. Meantone [12] generated by 701¢ has a different genchain than Meantone [12] generated by 699¢, so slight differences in tempering result in different mode names. One might address this problem by reasonably constraining meantone's fifth to be less than 700¢. Likewise one could constrain Superpyth [12]'s fifth to be more than 700¢. But this approach fails with Dominant meantone, which tempers out both 81/80 and 64/63, and in which the fifth can reasonably be either more or less than 700¢. This makes every single UDP mode of Dominant [12] ambiguous. For example "Dominant 8|3" could mean either "4th Dominant[12]" or "9th Dominant [12]". Something similar happens with Meantone [19]. If the fifth is greater than 694¢ = 11\19, the generator is 3/2, but if less than 694¢, it's 4/3. This makes every UDP mode of Meantone [19] ambiguous. Another example is Dicot [7] when the neutral 3rd generator is greater or less than 2\7 = 343¢. Another example is Semaphore [5]'s generator of ~8/7 or ~7/6 if near 1\5 = 240¢. In general, this ambiguity arises whenever the generator of an N-note MOS ranges from slightly flat of any N-edo interval to slightly sharp of it.

Other problems with UDP are more of a taste issue. The most important piece of information, the number of notes in the scale, is hidden by UDP notation. It must be calculated by adding together the up, down, and period numbers (and the period number is often omitted). For example, to determine that Meantone 5|1 is heptatonic, one must add the 5, the 1 and the omitted 1. If the number of notes is indicated with brackets, e.g. Meantone [7] 5|1, then three numbers are used where only two are needed. And fractional-period temperaments, e.g. Shrutal [10] 6|2(2), use four numbers where only two are needed. Also, as noted above, when comparing different MOS's of a temperament, with Mode Numbers notation but not with UDP, the Nth mode of the smaller MOS is always a subset of the Nth mode of the larger MOS. Furthermore, UDP uses the more mathematical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-based_numbering|zero-based counting]] and Mode Numbers notation uses the more intuitive one-based counting. UDP is mathematician-oriented whereas Mode Numbers notation is musician-oriented.  

Or alternatively, using 16/15 instead of 3/2 as the generator:&lt;br /&gt;

Because of centuries of established thought that the fifth, not the fourth, generates the pythagorean, meantone and well tempered scales, as these quotes show (emphasis mine):&lt;br /&gt;

&amp;quot;A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds&amp;quot;. To choose 4/3 over 3/2 merely for the sake of consistency would be pointless. Unlike a &lt;u&gt;wise&lt;/u&gt; consistency, it wouldn't reduce memorization, because everyone already knows that the generator is historically 3/2.&lt;br /&gt;

One problem with &lt;a class="wiki_link" href="/Modal%20UDP%20Notation"&gt;UDP&lt;/a&gt; is that avoiding chroma-negative generators causes the genchain to reverse direction frequently as you lengthen or shorten it, which affects the mode names. If exploring the various MOS's of a temperament, one has to constantly check the genchain direction. In Mode Numbers notation, the direction is unchanging.&lt;br /&gt;

An even larger problem is that the notation is overly tuning-dependent. Meantone [12] generated by 701¢ has a different genchain than Meantone [12] generated by 699¢, so slight differences in tempering result in different mode names. One might address this problem by reasonably constraining meantone's fifth to be less than 700¢. Likewise one could constrain Superpyth [12]'s fifth to be more than 700¢. But this approach fails with Dominant meantone, which tempers out both 81/80 and 64/63, and in which the fifth can reasonably be either more or less than 700¢. This makes every single UDP mode of Dominant [12] ambiguous. For example &amp;quot;Dominant 8|3&amp;quot; could mean either &amp;quot;4th Dominant[12]&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;9th Dominant [12]&amp;quot;. Something similar happens with Meantone [19]. If the fifth is greater than 694¢ = 11\19, the generator is 3/2, but if less than 694¢, it's 4/3. This makes every UDP mode of Meantone [19] ambiguous. Another example is Dicot [7] when the neutral 3rd generator is greater or less than 2\7 = 343¢. Another example is Semaphore [5]'s generator of ~8/7 or ~7/6 if near 1\5 = 240¢. In general, this ambiguity arises whenever the generator of an N-note MOS ranges from slightly flat of any N-edo interval to slightly sharp of it.&lt;br /&gt;

Other problems with UDP are more of a taste issue. The most important piece of information, the number of notes in the scale, is hidden by UDP notation. It must be calculated by adding together the up, down, and period numbers (and the period number is often omitted). For example, to determine that Meantone 5|1 is heptatonic, one must add the 5, the 1 and the omitted 1. If the number of notes is indicated with brackets, e.g. Meantone [7] 5|1, then three numbers are used where only two are needed. And fractional-period temperaments, e.g. Shrutal [10] 6|2(2), use four numbers where only two are needed. Also, as noted above, when comparing different MOS's of a temperament, with Mode Numbers notation but not with UDP, the Nth mode of the smaller MOS is always a subset of the Nth mode of the larger MOS. Furthermore, UDP uses the more mathematical &lt;a class="wiki_link_ext" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-based_numbering" rel="nofollow"&gt;zero-based counting&lt;/a&gt; and Mode Numbers notation uses the more intuitive one-based counting. UDP is mathematician-oriented whereas Mode Numbers notation is musician-oriented. &lt;br /&gt;

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