Joseph Monzo

Joseph L. Monzo (b. 1962), also known as Joe Monzo, is an American microtonal composer, tuning theorist, and author. He tutors people in computing and music composition. Born and raised in Philadelphia, since 2000 he has been living in San Diego, California. He often goes by the nickname "monz", and is affiliated with the Sonic Arts center for microtonal music.

Monzo is known for his book JustMusic: A New Harmony, and numerous web pages such as A Century of New Music in Vienna. In 2002, he became co-founder of Tonalsoft, which produces the microtonal music composition program Tonescape. Monzo also assembled the massive Tonalsoft Encyclopedia, an encyclopedia of microtonal music theory.

Discography

Compositions (incomplete)

• Brooklyn College JI Piece: "w chart 9" (1984) – in JI, unfinished
• Brooklyn College JI Piece: "x rock-n-roll" (1984) – in JI
• Brooklyn College JI Piece: "y guitar" (1984) – in JI
• Brooklyn College JI Piece: "z rap", "… with swing 16ths" (1984) – in JI
• Theme from 'Invisible Haircut' (1990) – in 19-limit JI
• 31-limit Rag (1994) – in 31-limit JI
• 24-equal Tune (1994) – in 24edo
• African Rhythms in 36-ET (2005) – in 36edo
• Darks and Whites - Tunnel Scene (2005) – in 36edo
• 13edo Bebop (2006) – in 13edo
• I Love The Blackness (2008) – in 46edo, unfinished
• The Kog Sisters (2014) – in 37edo
• Afrikan Song (2016) – in 37edo
• Theme from "Invisible Haircut" (2023) – in 41edo
• Chill House (2025) – in 15edo

Arrangements (incomplete)

• Giant Steps by John Coltrane (1960), arranged in 37edo by Joseph Monzo (2023)

Playlists

• Music by Joseph Monzo
• Music by Joseph Monzo in just intonation
• Music by Joseph Monzo in 15edo
• Music by Joseph Monzo in 19edo
• Music by Joseph Monzo in 22edo
• Music by Joseph Monzo in 36edo
• Music by Joseph Monzo in 37edo
• Music by Joseph Monzo in 41edo

Scale generation visualizations

• Monzo: 22edo temperaments scale generation: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWl3gB1BGAwX4sPnbFc5L3gU_IoyUDQ9V

See also

• Monzo (interval notation)