Universal solfege
WORK IN PROGRESS
Universal Solfege was invented by Nick Vuci. It builds on the work of Margo Schulter to create a systematic solfege which can be applied to a variety of microtonal scales.
The principle is that we can divide the interval spectrum into discreet areas which can then be used to take subsets for most microtonal scales we can imagine. It's not an exhaustive solution but a practical and practicible one.
When we look at the spectrum of the octave we find that we have a few main interval classes, which we denote with consonants that are evocative and distinct to the names of the interval classes:
The Unison and the Octave, which we denote with "A"
The Seconds, which we denote with "S-"
The Thirds, which we denote with "Th-"
The Fourths, which we denote with "Fo-"
The Tritones, which we denote with "Trai-"
The Fifths, which we denote with "Fi-"
The Sixths, which we denote with "X-"
The Sevenths, which we denote with "V-"
Of these, the seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths have major, neutral, and minor versions, which we can denote with the vowels "ay" "oo" and "ai" (mimicking the distinct vowels of the words "major" "neutral" and "minor").
All of the main categories have small medium and large versions, which we can denote with the consonant affixes "s" "m" and "l"
The further, more esoteric categories do not have major, minor, neutral, large, medium, or small versions. They are:
Commatic ranges, which we denote with "O" and "Co"
The dieses range, which we denote with "Ee" and "Dee"
The Superfourth range, "Foo"
The Subfifth range, "Fu"
The two equable heptatonic ranges, "Ha" and Hoo"
The four interseptimal ranges, which may be further broken down into
two categories:
The two interseptimals which touch perfect intervals, denoted as Na Noo
The two which do not, Ni Nee
| Interval | Class | Subcategory | Cent Range | Solfege | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unison | 0 | A | a | ||
| Comma | 0-30 | O | ɒ | ||
| Dieses | 30-60 | Ee | i | ||
| Second | Minor | 60-125 | Sai | saɪ | |
| Small | 60-80 | Sais | saɪs | ||
| Medium | 80-100 | Saim | saɪm | ||
| Large | 100-125 | Sail | saɪ | ||
| Neutral | 125-170 | Soo | su | ||
| Small | 125-135 | Soos | sus | ||
| Medium | 135-160 | Soom | sum | ||
| Large | 160-170 | Sool | sul | ||
| Equable Heptatonic | 160-182 | Ha | a | ||
| Major | 180-240 | Say | seɪ | ||
| Small | 180-200 | Says | seɪs | ||
| Medium | 200-220 | Saym | seɪm | ||
| Large | 220-240 | Sayl | seɪl | ||
| Interseptimal (Maj2-min3) | 240-260 | Ni | nɪ | ||
| Thirds | Minor | 260-330 | Thai | θaɪ | |
| Small | 260-280 | Thais | θaɪs | ||
| Medium | 280-300 | Thaim | θaɪm | ||
| Large | 300-330 | Thail | θaɪl | ||
| Neutral | 330-372 | Thoo | θu | ||
| Small | 330-342 | Thoos | θus | ||
| Medium | 342-360 | Thoom | θum | ||
| Large | 360-372 | Thool | θul | ||
| Major | 372-440 | Thay | θeɪ | ||
| Small | 372-400 | Thays | θeɪs | ||
| Medium | 400-423 | Thaym | θeɪm | ||
| Large | 423-440 | Thayl | θeɪl | ||
| Interseptimal (Maj3-4) | 440-468 | Na | a | ||
| Fourths | 468-528 | Fo | fɔ | ||
| Small | 468-491 | Fos | fɔs | ||
| Medium | 491-505 | Fom | fɔm | ||
| Large | 505-528 | Fol | fɔl | ||
| Superfourths | 528-560 | Foo | u | ||
| Tritones | 560-640 | Trai | traɪ | ||
| Small | 560-577 | Trais | traɪs | ||
| Medium | 577-623 | Traim | traɪm | ||
| Large | 623-640 | Trail | traɪl | ||
| Subfifths | 640-672 | Fu | fʌ | ||
| Fifths | 640-732 | Fi | fɪ | ||
| Small | 640-695 | Fis | fɪs | ||
| Medium | 695-709 | Fim | fɪm | ||
| Large | 709-732 | Fil | fɪl | ||
| Interseptimal (5-min6) | 732-760 | Noo | u | ||
| Sixths | Minor | 760-828 | Kai | aɪ | |
| Small | 760-777 | Kais | aɪs | ||
| Medium | 777-800 | Kaim | aɪm | ||
| Large | 800-828 | Kail | aɪl | ||
| Neutral | 828-870 | Koo | u | ||
| Small | 828-840 | Koos | us | ||
| Medium | 840-858 | Koom | um | ||
| Large | 858-870 | Kool | ul | ||
| Major | 870-940 | Kay | eɪ | ||
| Small | 870-900 | Kays | eɪs | ||
| Medium | 900-920 | Kaym | eɪm | ||
| Large | 920-940 | Kayl | eɪl | ||
| Interseptimal (Maj6-min7) | 940-960 | Nee | ni | ||
| Sevenths | Minor | 960-1025 | Vai | aɪ | |
| Small | 960-987 | Vais | aɪs | ||
| Medium | 987-1000 | Vaim | aɪm | ||
| Large | 1000-1025 | Vail | aɪl | ||
| Equable heptatonic | 1018-1040 | Ho | ɒ | ||
| Neutral | 1030-1075 | Voo | u | ||
| Small | 1030-1043 | Voos | us | ||
| Medium | 1043-1065 | Voom | um | ||
| Large | 1065-1075 | Vool | ul | ||
| Major | 1075-1140 | Vay | eɪ | ||
| Small | 1075-1100 | Vays | eɪs | ||
| Medium | 1100-1120 | Vaym | eɪm | ||
| Large | 1120-1140 | Vayl | eɪl | ||
| Octave less diesis | 1140-1170 | Dee | i | ||
| Octave less comma | 1170-1200 | Co | ɒ | ||
| Octave | 1200 | A | a | ||
Example: 13edo 5L3s 5|2
0 A
184.615 Say
276.923 Thai
461.538 Ni
646.154 Fu
738.462 Ni
923.077 ka
1107.692 Va
1200. A