5-odd-limit

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The 5-odd-limit is the set of all rational intervals which can be written as 2k(a/b) where a, b ≤ 5 and k is an integer. To the 3-odd-limit, it adds 2 pairs of octave-reduced intervals involving 5.

Below is a list of all octave-reduced intervals in the 5-odd-limit.

Ratio Size (¢) Color name Name
6/5 315.641 g3 gu 3rd minor third
5/4 386.314 y3 yo 3rd major third
8/5 813.686 g6 gu 6th minor sixth
5/3 884.359 y6 yo 6th major sixth

The smallest equal division of the octave which is consistent in the 5-odd-limit is 3edo; that which is distinctly consistent in the same is 9edo. The density of edos consistent in the 5-odd-limit is expected to be 3/4.

Proof for the density of edos consistent in the 5-odd-limit
Let the error of harmonic 3 be A. Let the error of harmonic 5 be B. By the equidistribution theorem, the relative error of any individual interval is equidistributed from −50% to +50%, so we have the probability density functions fA(x) = 1 if −1/2 ≤ x ≤ +1/2 and 0 otherwise, fB(y) = 1 if −1/2 ≤ y ≤ +1/2 and 0 otherwise.

An edo is consistent in the 5-odd-limit if the error C = BA of the only compound interval – 5/3 – falls into the range from −50% to +50%.

It is easy to show the probability density function fC(z) is the triangular distribution 1 − |z| if −1 ≤ z ≤ +1 and 0 otherwise.

The density of edos consistent in the 5-odd-limit therefore equals ( +1/2
−1/2
 
fC(z)dz)/( +∞
−∞
 
fC(z)dz), which evaluates to 3/4. [math]\displaystyle{ \square }[/math]

See also