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

Pure unison (1:1)           0 cents A

Commas                   0-30 cents          O

Dieses                  30-60 cents        Ee

Minor seconds          60-125 cents        Sai

        small              60-80 cents Sais

        middle             80-100 cents Saim

        large             100-125 cents Sail

Neutral seconds       125-170 cents        Soo

        small              125-135 cents Soos

        middle             135-160 cents Soom

        large              160-170 cents Sool

Equable heptatonic

(heartland range)     160-182 cents        Ha

Major seconds

(or tones)            180-240 cents        Say

        small              180-200 cents        Says

        middle             200-220 cents Saym

        large              220-240 cents Sayl

Interseptimal

(Maj2-min3)           240-260 cents        Ni

Minor thirds          260-330 cents        Thai

        small              260-280 cents Thais

        middle             280-300 cents Thaim

        large              300-330 cents Thail

Neutral thirds        330-372 cents        Thoo

        small              330-342 cents Thoos

        middle             342-360 cents Thoom

        large              360-372 cents Thool

Major thirds          372-440 cents        Thay

        small              372-400 cents Thays

        middle             400-423 cents Thaym

        large              423-440 cents Thayl

Interseptimal         440-468 cents        Na

(Maj3-4)

Perfect fourths       468-528 cents        Fo

        small              468-491 cents Fos

        middle             491-505 cents Fom

        large              505-528 cents Fol

       

Superfourths          528-560 cents Foo

Tritonic region       560-640 cents        Trai

        small              560-577 cents Trais

        middle             577-623 cents Traim

        large              623-640 cents Trail

Subfifths             640-672 cents Fu

Perfect fifths        640-732 cents        Fi

        small              640-695 cents Fis

        middle             695-709 cents Fim

        large              709-732 cents Fil

Interseptimal         732-760 cents        Noo

(5-min6)

Minor sixths          760-828 cents        Kai

        small              760-777 cents Kais

        middle             777-800 cents Kaim

        large              800-828 cents Kail

Neutral sixths        828-870 cents        Koo

        small              828-840 cents Koos

        middle             840-858 cents Koom

        large              858-870 cents Kool

Major sixths          870-940 cents        Kay

        small              870-900 cents Kays

        middle             900-920 cents Kaym

        large              920-940 cents Kayl

Interseptimal         940-960 cents        Nee

(Maj6-min7)

Minor sevenths       960-1025 cents        Vai

        small              960-987 cents Vais

        middle            987-1000 cents Vaim

        large            1000-1025 cents Vail

Equable heptatonic  1018-1040 cents        Ho

(heartland range)

Neutral sevenths    1030-1075 cents        Voo

        small            1030-1043 cents Voos

        middle           1043-1065 cents Voom

        large            1065-1075 cents Vool

Major sevenths      1075-1140 cents        Vay

        small            1075-1100 cents Vays

        middle           1100-1120 cents Vaym

        large            1120-1140 cents Vayl

Octave less diesis  1140-1170 cents        Eed

Octave less comma   1170-1200 cents        Oc

Pure octave (2:1)        1200 cents 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