User talk:Mousemambo/Introduction to xenharmonic music terminology
The page "Introduction to xenharmonic music terminology" started as a study curriculum I developed for myself, to teach me microtonal music terminology. I am still very new to this stuff. It seemed like with a little additional development it might be something useful to other beginners, so here it is as a wiki page. If it seems attractive to others, and after some community feedback, I might move it into the Xen Wiki mainspace (although I'll keep my original copy here too). Mousemambo (talk) 16:29, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
Tuning system design
Tuning system design. I believe that this is a needed article explaining some of the (sometimes conflicting) qualities that make a tuning system attractive, e.g. many consonant intervals, attractive harmonies, easy modulation to other keys, similarity to existing popular tunings, etc. Some possible qualities:
- Correspondence to the harmonic series, especially the fifth and/or third. Harmonic sounds are perceived by humans as more sonorous, in part due to harmonic blending.
- Includes many close-to-harmonic fifths among intervals of the scale's (or possible scale in the tuning) notes.
- Is an EDO with the useful properties of those (modulation is relatively easy, for example).
- Is a MOS scale (many scales that people have found attractive for making music happen to be MOS scales).
- Has enough corresponding scale degrees with 12edo that it is possible to compose in it using music theoretic understanding from Common Practice theory (e.g. 19edo).
- Is an EDO close enough to a popular temperament to substitute for it, e.g. 19edo for 1/3-comma meantone.
- Has few enough pitches per equave that there's no need to select a subset for mapping to standard piano format controllers.
- A tonal quality, or set of available tonal qualities, that appeals to the composer and listener.
Mousemambo (talk) 16:29, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
Harmony in just intonation
Just intonation harmony (or Harmony in just intonation). This needed article would present an introduction to creating harmony in just intonation (JI) tunings. It introduces ideas and strategies for harmony that also apply to other uneven tunings, and provides a foundation for understanding more extended xenharmonic harmonization. It should emphasize the important explicit and implicit harmonic qualities of arpeggiation, counterpoint, and dyadic harmony in JI and other non-regular tunings. Some ideas to include...
- In ancient music, "pure" tunings based on lower harmonic series overtones (e.g. Pythagorean, aka 3-limit) were understood to mostly support only limited dyadic harmony, because few intervals in any purely JI tuning were considered acceptably consonant. Singing and playing in unison was typical. Interval table analysis of an example 3-limit JI tuning (see table; to be added) reveals how many of that tunings' dyadic intervals are unusable for harmony. Triads that are consonant — by traditional measure — are unavailable in ancient JI tunings.
- However, many traditional cultural musics successfully integrated dyadic harmony, e.g. ancient Greek music and its early European descendants, traditional Middle Eastern music, traditional classical Chinese music, and some traditional African music. The commitment to 3-limit tunings of this time was essentially ideological, reinforced by the strong human tendency to hear unfamiliar tunings as "wrong."
- The expansion of JI tunings from 3-limit (Pythagorean) to 5-limit (e.g. Ptolemaic) increased the number of intervals considered consonant, and therefore the harmonic possibilities in these tunings. Although options for triadic harmony were still limited compared to later developments, the strongly consonant Ptolemaic just major triad and some other consonant triads became available. Nevertheless, harmony through the European Medieval period remained mostly limited to fifths and fourths in parallel motion, with some experimentation.
- Melodic arpeggiation, ostinato, and the introduction of early basso continuo accompaniment, provided composers with a conceptual doorway to more sophisticated harmonic ideas in early European JI music, without the more obvious dissonance of nearby-pitched notes sounded simultaneously. The developing popularity of counterpoint in Medieval melody also encouraged considering more complex harmony.
- Subsequently, the abandonment of pure intonation for newly developed meantone temperaments in European Renaissance music greatly enlarged the set of acceptably consonant intervals (e.g. List of meantone intervals), while listeners also became more accepting of less pure intervals as consonant (continuing into the 20th century Emancipation of the dissonance). This allowed expansion and exploration of triadic and larger harmonies. These tempered tunings also permitted some key modulation on fixed-pitch instruments like piano.
- Some contemporary composers have been rediscovering the attractive tonality of pure harmony and its deeply consonant quality. People only familiar with the advantages of ubiquitous equal temperament may initially find composing in just intonation is notably constrained because many intervals are unavailable due to dissonance, reducing its harmonic possibilities. However, constraints in artistic work can also inspire creative solutions. One of the charms of composing in a new tuning system is learning what works well in it, and expresses its tonality with enough beauty that the listener doesn't realize what the composer has worked to avoid. It's also worth considering that humans have composed music in just intonation for thousands of years, although nearly all of it has been lost.
Mousemambo (talk) 16:29, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
Tonality diamond
Tonality diamond. Unfortunately, the current (2023-09-04) Xen Wiki page doesn't present the common meaning of the term, providing instead only some off-putting advanced math. However, it does offer a link to the Tonalsoft Encyclopedia article for tonality diamond, which is closer to what we really need here but with a simpler and cohesive accompanying explanation for what it is and how its used. Mousemambo (talk) 16:29, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
Other places in the Wiki where introductions have been at least started
More comments and suggestions
Feel free to add your own comments or suggestions below. Thanks! Mousemambo (talk) 17:02, 5 September 2023 (UTC)