User:Hkm/Intro page

If you’ve recently heard about xenharmonic music (or “xen”, or “microtonal”, which means roughly the same thing) and want to learn more about it, this is the place to start. “Xenharmonic music” (or “xen music”) is music that sounds like it was tuned differently than most Western music. (Xenharmonic music is entirely separate from the 432Hz movement.) Xenharmonic music usually sounds “off” to most listeners at first. This subsides eventually, and most people gradually find that xenharmonic music sounds more expressive and varied than music in 12edo. Here’s what you can find on this page—read the section that is most relevant to you. 1) How do I find xen music to listen to? 2) How do I make xen music? 3) Why would certain tunings be better than others, and how can I read the wiki? How do I find xen music to listen to? Most xenharmonic works (especially on YouTube, where the most xenharmonic music is found) are usually marked with their tuning system in the title, which is usually n-edo (or n-tet or n-ed2, which mean roughly the same thing—that the octave is divided into n equal pieces). Finding works you like by edo You can use the n-edo designation to find edos you like. Smaller edos in particular have a sort of flavor to them; the following groups of edos have similar flavors, and you can use this list to find other edos you might like. Some edos are in multiple groups. Group I: 8, (9,) 11, 13, (16,) 18, (23, 25,) 26 Group II: 19, (26,) 31, 43, 50, 55 Group III: 5, 10, 15, 20 Group IV: 7, 14, 21, 28 Group V: 34, 41, 46, 53, 58 Group VI: 17, 22, 27, (29,) 44, (46, 48) Finding works you like by genre Here’s a list of xenharmonic music by genre: (TODO: include https://en.xen.wiki/w/Whynotnotmicrotonality) Classical Juhani Nuorvala: violin sonata (22edo): One of the most beautiful classical works I’ve heard Wendy Carlos: beauty in the beast (various systems) A classic, although hard to find since Carlos hasn’t put it on streaming services. Bootleg versions seem to drift on and off from public sites. Easley Blackwood: microtonal etudes (various systems. highlights: 16edo, 20edo, 15edo, 24edo) Another classic. There are two versions; one (Blackwood’s original) is entirely synth-based; the other (the version edited by Matthew Sheeran) is produced through Melodyne on a small orchestra. Both are worth a listen. Ben Johnston: string quartet 10 (just intonation) Another classic by one of the most well-known just intonation composers. Fabio Costa: aphoristic madrigal (31edo) If you’re interested in xenharmonic music for the weird harmonies, you’ll love this work. Anything by Zheanna Erose (mostly 31edo) One of the popularizers of 31edo. Rock Anything by Brendan Byrnes. (22 or 27edo) EDM Anything by Sevish (various systems) Idiosyncratic styles influenced by video game music DotuXil: Collected refractions Groundfault: A New Dusk 30 minutes of pure insanity. Anything by JUMBLE Relaxing, vaguely ambient, music Covers Anything by Stephen Weigel

If you want to make music Xenharmonic music is more interesting to make than music in 12edo because there are significant amounts of unexplored territory. (No one’s written a metal song in 18edo, for example.) Some xenharmonic tunings are also easier to work with than 12edo (although most are more difficult). Good tunings to start with You can play around with tunings in Scale Workshop before you use them. Larger tunings are more difficult to work with. You might have read that some tuning system is optimal in some way; such claims mean very little and usually come attached to tuning systems that are too unwieldy (>24 notes) to start with. If you want to work within these tuning systems anyway, you might want to work with a small subset of the notes available (which is what most xenharmonic composers do) TODO: scale workshop links 10edo is probably the easiest edo to start with. Smaller edos can feel limiting, and larger edos can feel overwhelming. 14edo is similar to 10edo and a good choice if you found 10edo to be great-sounding but a little too small for your taste. Ringer 14, which is a 14-note subset of just intonation (JI), where the frequency values of any two notes are in the ratio a:b where a and b are integers. Integer ratios (especially when a and b are small) tend to sound the most relaxed and consonant, but just intonation scales look very different depending which note you start on, which can be compositionally frustrating. Zil-14, which is a “maximum variety 3” (or MV3) scale, which means that n steps upwards will always get you one of a set three inteervals. Bicycle, a 12-note JI scale that can be mapped onto a piano. Superpyth[17], an MV2 scale which will appeal to people who enjoy 22edo and 27edo. Mavila[7], a small MV2 scale with an interesting mix of familiar and alien harmonies. Barbados[9], another MV2 scale.

Physical instruments to use Here are a few physical instruments that can play xen music, sorted by price. The two cheapest options are good enough for most purposes. Number of keys | Velocity sensitivity? (if electronic) | | Layout | | | Retunability Kalimbas and mbiras ($20-$100) ~20 Real Varies Somewhat easy can be retuned to xenharmonic scales Launchpad X ($200) 64-81 Yes Square Easy Can play edos up to 22 (if you care about having decent range) or higher (if you don’t) as an isomorphic keyboard, which means that if you play one pattern, move your hand somewhere else on the keyboard, and play the same pattern there, the two patterns will be exactly the same except that one will be higher than the other. Can also play any of the tunings in the earlier section handily. Guitar (~$300) ~140 Real Varies Hard you’ve heard of this one before. Spaces between frets get too small for comfort around 27edo, although a solution for 41edo (having frets for every other note in the scale and finding the whole gamut through other strings) is isomorphic and uniquely elegant. Fretless guitars are also an option. HexBoard ($400) 140 No Hex Easy Can play edos up to 31. Electric piano (~$400) 88 Maybe not good Easy Deals well with some scales with fewer than 12 notes, and a select number of larger scales. Not the best option if you don’t already have one String instruments ($500-2000) hkm (talk) continuous pitch hkm (talk) By far the most difficult option out of these. All string instruments can play xenharmonic music, although there’s a little more inherent inaccuracy in the smaller ones. Fretless guitar is the best and the cheapest Lumatone ($4000) ~300 Yes Hex Easy Everything you could want out of a xenharmonic instrument if you like using scales smaller than 36 notes per octave. Also works somewhat well for larger scales. Generally considered to not be worth the price. Methods of notation This section assumes you know how to read standard 12edo note names. Learn that first if you don’t. Most methods of notation on the five-line staff are such that (…-C#-F#)-B-E-A-D-G-C-F-(Bb-Eb-…) is a chain of equal fourths; these systems are called “chain-of-fourths” or “chain-of-fifths.” The most popular way of notating edos is Ups and Downs notation, which is a chain-of-fifths notation where ^ and v are used as +1 and -1 step alterations. The most popular way to notate just intonation is HEJI, which also uses a chain-of-fourths notation; FJS (which I recommend), NFJS, and color notation are other chain-of-fourths options similar to HEJI, while Johnston notation is a non-chain-of-fourths notation fit for simple folk-like works Software to use Notation-based options work best for large scales and edos (>24 notes), while DAWs are preferable for smaller scales and EDOs. Notation-based options Musescore 4 using XenKit: FREE OPEN-SOURCE The easiest way to write xenharmonic music through standard Western notation. Musescore 3 using XenTuner: FREE OPEN-SOURCE Use this as an alternative to Musescore 4 if you can’t download it or find XenKit limiting—XenKit has a few more capabilities than XenTuner. DORICO: $100 Might be worth it if you’re serious about microtonal composition. Doesn’t require plugins, but it might be slower to update and harder to customize. DAW-based options [idk about this] Learn how to read the wiki [idk about this]