Misconceptions about xenharmony: Difference between revisions

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The field of microtonality is rife with colorful personalities and diverse perspectives, and there are many contradictory philosophies and approaches. However, the literature on microtonality in general seems to over-represent certain perspectives, and this page is intended specifically to represent some of the views that diverge from the more "mainstream" or traditional ideas about microtonality.

The field of microtonality is rife with colorful personalities and diverse perspectives, and there are many contradictory philosophies and approaches. However, the literature on microtonality in general seems to over-represent certain perspectives, and this page is intended specifically to represent some of the views that diverge from the more "mainstream" or traditional ideas about microtonality. But of course, they do not diverge from the more "mainstream" or traditional ideas about microtonality perfectly. In fact, it is not very difficult to hold [[Misconceptions about xenharmony/Convergent views|views that converge to the more "mainstream" or traditional ideas about microtonality]] and agree with all of these misconceptions.

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=Chuckles McGee's "Six Misconceptions of Novice Microtonalists"=

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'''Misconception 2: "Consonance is Rare"'''

Consonance is ''not'' rare at all. In fact it is omnipresent. Especially in the higher ETs, maybe 24-EDO and above, it is almost impossible to find a tuning that is not at least as capable of consonance as 12-TET. Even among the smaller EDOs, it is almost universally true that each one approximates some consonant subgroup of Just Intonation with the same or greater level of accuracy that 12-TET has in the 5-limit. With a little care, all of these EDOs can be made to sound nice enough for the tastes general public. Yes, even 10, 11, 13, and 14-EDO. In fact, even 8-EDO does a fairly passable approximation of harmonics 10:11:12:13:14 as 0-150-300-450-600 cents; it's not ''great'', but it's ''awesome'' for such a tiny EDO--no interval is off by more than 18 cents, which is more or less as good as 12-TET.

Consonance is ''not'' rare at all. In fact it is omnipresent. Especially in the higher ETs, maybe 24-EDO and above, it is almost impossible to find a tuning that is not at least as capable of consonance as 12-TET. Even among the smaller EDOs, it is almost universally true that each one approximates some consonant subgroup of Just Intonation with the same or greater level of accuracy that 12-TET has in the 5-limit. With a little care, all of these EDOs can be made to sound nice enough for the tastes general public. Yes, even 10, 11, 13, and 14-EDO. In fact, even 8-EDO does a fairly passable approximation of harmonics 10:11:12:13:14 as [[Tel:0-150-300-450-600|0-150-300-450-600]] cents; it's not ''great'', but it's ''awesome'' for such a tiny EDO--no interval is off by more than 18 cents, which is more or less as good as 12-TET.

No, consonance is ubiquitous, practically inescapable unless you insist on using ridiculous scales like 0-10-20-30-40-50-1300 cents repeating every 1300 cents (or something). The strength and quality of consonance may vary from tuning to tuning, but there is nearly ''always'' enough to serve effectively as contrast to the equally-ubiquitous dissonance, if only you take the time to understand what the contrast is and how to deal with it appropriately. Sometimes the most consonant harmonies look nothing like major and minor chords in 12-TET, so they can take some searching. But they are almost ''always'' there to be found if you know how to look.

No, consonance is ubiquitous, practically inescapable unless you insist on using ridiculous scales like [[Tel:0-10-20-30-40-50-1300|0-10-20-30-40-50-1300]] cents repeating every 1300 cents (or something). The strength and quality of consonance may vary from tuning to tuning, but there is nearly ''always'' enough to serve effectively as contrast to the equally-ubiquitous dissonance, if only you take the time to understand what the contrast is and how to deal with it appropriately. Sometimes the most consonant harmonies look nothing like major and minor chords in 12-TET, so they can take some searching. But they are almost ''always'' there to be found if you know how to look.

It is true that accurate approximations of the 5-limit (let alone the 7, 11, or 13-limit) are rare among small tunings. This should not be surprising, considering that the octave-equivalent 13-odd-limit tonality diamond contains 42 intervals. But consonance does not require the full 13-limit, and subgroups of the 13-limit are plentiful.

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-The field of microtonality is rife with colorful personalities and diverse perspectives, and there are many contradictory philosophies and approaches. However, the literature on microtonality in general seems to over-represent certain perspectives, and this page is intended specifically to represent some of the views that diverge from the more "mainstream" or traditional ideas about microtonality.
+The field of microtonality is rife with colorful personalities and diverse perspectives, and there are many contradictory philosophies and approaches. However, the literature on microtonality in general seems to over-represent certain perspectives, and this page is intended specifically to represent some of the views that diverge from the more "mainstream" or traditional ideas about microtonality. But of course, they do not diverge from the more "mainstream" or traditional ideas about microtonality perfectly. In fact, it is not very difficult to hold [[Misconceptions about xenharmony/Convergent views|views that converge to the more "mainstream" or traditional ideas about microtonality]] and agree with all of these misconceptions.
 __FORCETOC__
 =Chuckles McGee's "Six Misconceptions of Novice Microtonalists"=
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 '''Misconception 2: "Consonance is Rare"'''
-Consonance is ''not'' rare at all. In fact it is omnipresent. Especially in the higher ETs, maybe 24-EDO and above, it is almost impossible to find a tuning that is not at least as capable of consonance as 12-TET. Even among the smaller EDOs, it is almost universally true that each one approximates some consonant subgroup of Just Intonation with the same or greater level of accuracy that 12-TET has in the 5-limit. With a little care, all of these EDOs can be made to sound nice enough for the tastes general public. Yes, even 10, 11, 13, and 14-EDO. In fact, even 8-EDO does a fairly passable approximation of harmonics 10:11:12:13:14 as 0-150-300-450-600 cents; it's not ''great'', but it's ''awesome'' for such a tiny EDO--no interval is off by more than 18 cents, which is more or less as good as 12-TET.
+Consonance is ''not'' rare at all. In fact it is omnipresent. Especially in the higher ETs, maybe 24-EDO and above, it is almost impossible to find a tuning that is not at least as capable of consonance as 12-TET. Even among the smaller EDOs, it is almost universally true that each one approximates some consonant subgroup of Just Intonation with the same or greater level of accuracy that 12-TET has in the 5-limit. With a little care, all of these EDOs can be made to sound nice enough for the tastes general public. Yes, even 10, 11, 13, and 14-EDO. In fact, even 8-EDO does a fairly passable approximation of harmonics 10:11:12:13:14 as [[Tel:0-150-300-450-600|0-150-300-450-600]] cents; it's not ''great'', but it's ''awesome'' for such a tiny EDO--no interval is off by more than 18 cents, which is more or less as good as 12-TET.
-No, consonance is ubiquitous, practically inescapable unless you insist on using ridiculous scales like 0-10-20-30-40-50-1300 cents repeating every 1300 cents (or something). The strength and quality of consonance may vary from tuning to tuning, but there is nearly ''always'' enough to serve effectively as contrast to the equally-ubiquitous dissonance, if only you take the time to understand what the contrast is and how to deal with it appropriately. Sometimes the most consonant harmonies look nothing like major and minor chords in 12-TET, so they can take some searching. But they are almost ''always'' there to be found if you know how to look.
+No, consonance is ubiquitous, practically inescapable unless you insist on using ridiculous scales like [[Tel:0-10-20-30-40-50-1300|0-10-20-30-40-50-1300]] cents repeating every 1300 cents (or something). The strength and quality of consonance may vary from tuning to tuning, but there is nearly ''always'' enough to serve effectively as contrast to the equally-ubiquitous dissonance, if only you take the time to understand what the contrast is and how to deal with it appropriately. Sometimes the most consonant harmonies look nothing like major and minor chords in 12-TET, so they can take some searching. But they are almost ''always'' there to be found if you know how to look.
 It is true that accurate approximations of the 5-limit (let alone the 7, 11, or 13-limit) are rare among small tunings. This should not be surprising, considering that the octave-equivalent 13-odd-limit tonality diamond contains 42 intervals. But consonance does not require the full 13-limit, and subgroups of the 13-limit are plentiful.