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What I Learned Writing an Album in Just Intonation

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Re: What I Learned Writing an Album in Just Intonation

#31

Post by nonrandomstring »

Sometimes I like writing stuff in odd scales and intonations. The "Lucy" tuning is also very pleasant [0]. I once met a producer who had guitars fretted to this tuning. It doesn't lend itself well to DAWs that have an underlying MIDI note logic. Practically it's better to work in Pd/Max with raw oscillators and arithmetic than to try shifting MIDI note values around with bend. The ZynAddSub engine (also used in Yoshimi synth) has a nice scales filter.

Probably worth mentioning Jacob Joaquin [1] who did this stuff in Csound back in the 90s. On one of his patches I based a generative music system for a game, it was the "Harmonic tree" - very similar to the system in the article - repeated multiplication by integer fractions at each branch.

Using simple timbres (like flute/organ/sine) you can make big but crystal clear sounding chords, and then slowly changing one "note" at a time you get an ever evolving soundscape that blows anything "Eno" off the map. Its in a sweet creative area between composition and additive synthesis.

[0] http://www.harmonics.com/lucy/lsd/colors.html

[1] https://github.com/jacobjoaquin

Re: What I Learned Writing an Album in Just Intonation

#35

Post by cchi_co »

Sharlin wrote: post #27

Should be noted that any ensemble that consists only of continuous-pitch instruments (eg. strings, trombone, human voice, fretless guitar) is free from the shackles of 12TET and its harmonies naturally tune to as close to "pure" intervals as the performers’ skills allow.

[dead]

Re: What I Learned Writing an Album in Just Intonation

#36

Post by eltoxo »

pierrec wrote: post #3

I'd love to get some feedback on this, because I'm not sure I've hit the original goal of this article. For a long time, the topics of just intonation, harmonic lattices, and of their relationship with temperaments were difficult for me to understand, despite reading the theory on them. It's not until I applied the concepts that could say I understood them. I tried writing the "missing article" that would have given…

I think it is a really great article but I am a chef too already familiar with the ingredients and style of cooking.

I think the main issue is getting people to try new dishes.

Of course, the dishes have to be good and not just the chef fooling around. Sometimes this style seems like "hey try this new exotic dish! It is made from mixing organic ice cream, grass fed beef, fair trade coffee and sriracha. Oh you think it sucks? Well that is because your taste buds are use to standard western food!"

I think of how no one needs an intellectual explanation as to why pad thai is good even if they only ever had pizza and burgers.

Re: What I Learned Writing an Album in Just Intonation

#37

Post by colanderman »

thomasahle wrote: post #11

This reminds me of when I stumpled into a music theory flame war by proposing the "scale": 1, 15/14, 15/13, ..., 15/8, 2. https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/66620/what-is-a-te... This set of 8 nodes (can be transposed to whichever base frequency) has the lowest common denominator between any pair of nodes among all 8-node scales. I thought that might make it a good choice for a just intonation scale (which can…

Oh hey, I've experimented a bit recently with the similar scale 1, 24:23, 12:11, ... 24:13, 2. Essentially a 12-tone version of yours. I've been calling it the "utonal" scale as it is a utonal [1] series. Complements what I call the "otonal" scale of 1, 13:12, 7:6, etc.

The trouble is, while intervals with the root are very consonant, arbitrary intervals don't sound great.

I've noticed though, that a utonal scale is very similar to the scale of harmonics [2], which is traditionally used relative to a moveable root note. So I intend to experiment in that direction.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otonality_and_utonality

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_of_harmonics

Re: What I Learned Writing an Album in Just Intonation

#38

Post by pyinstallwoes »

the_other wrote: post #22
thomasahle wrote: post #11

This reminds me of when I stumpled into a music theory flame war by proposing the "scale": 1, 15/14, 15/13, ..., 15/8, 2. https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/66620/what-is-a-te... This set of 8 nodes (can be transposed to whichever base frequency) has the lowest common denominator between any pair of nodes among all 8-node scales. I thought that might make it a good choice for a just intonation scale (which can…

Why is it a sensitive subject?

Wait until you hear about A=432Hz

Re: What I Learned Writing an Album in Just Intonation

#39

Post by pyinstallwoes »

thrtythreeforty wrote: post #4
pierrec wrote: post #3

I'd love to get some feedback on this, because I'm not sure I've hit the original goal of this article. For a long time, the topics of just intonation, harmonic lattices, and of their relationship with temperaments were difficult for me to understand, despite reading the theory on them. It's not until I applied the concepts that could say I understood them. I tried writing the "missing article" that would have given…

The interactive harmonic lattice, with the commas clickable and audible, is first rate and is the best interactive illustration of JI problems I have yet seen. It is not quite clear from the explanation, that since the "3" direction is also dividing by 2 implicitly, the note confusingly labeled "3" is really just 3/2 - the perfect fifth. Similarly, the note labeled "5" is actually what we hear as the 12TET major thir…

What are your thoughts on the fringe 432 theory, but the actual roots of it in relation to the geometric significance towards whole number ratios and then what is never discussed: the tuning associated with it?

Re: What I Learned Writing an Album in Just Intonation

#40

Post by [deleted] »

thomasahle wrote: post #11

This reminds me of when I stumpled into a music theory flame war by proposing the "scale": 1, 15/14, 15/13, ..., 15/8, 2. https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/66620/what-is-a-te... This set of 8 nodes (can be transposed to whichever base frequency) has the lowest common denominator between any pair of nodes among all 8-node scales. I thought that might make it a good choice for a just intonation scale (which can…

[deleted]
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