source file: mills2.txt Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 12:47:34 -0800 Subject: 7:4's mood, and other things From: Kami Rousseau *Name: Kami Rousseau *Location: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada *Principal Musical Activity: Jazz improvisation, composition *What types of "nonstandard" tuning system(s) do you use? 2-3-5-7-11 JI, 7-12-17-19 TET, 88CET. *What instruments have you used in "nonstandard" tunings? Voice, Trumpet, Sound Blaster 16. *Why are you interested in "nonstandard" tunings? Because they just feel right, and it's a world of infinite explorations and discoveries. 7:4 is the first interval a microtonalist horn player comes in contact with. Why? Because a horn plays the almost exact notes of harmonic serie with its valves open. The arpeggio (sp?) middle-C E G Bb is 4:5:6:7 So that is why I became used to 7's "feel." The best way to experience the musical ensations is to pick up a horn and play the following flexibility exercices (or "trll" these notes in rapid succesion on a electronic instrument): 5:4 -> C E, to warm up and listen to 5/4's relaxing effect [2^(4/12) is anti-relaxing] 6:5 -> E G, to understand all the implications of the 4:5:6 triad 7:6 -> G Bb, to hear a very "7ish" interval 7:5 -> E Bb, which is hard to focus on because we are not trained to listen to "sweet" tritones 7:4 -> C Bb, an interval that has an "open-minded feeling of freedom" compared to 12TET's 2^10/12, which is closer to the "rude" 16/9. 8:7 -> Bb C, the large "septimal second" is completly different from 2^2/12 or 9:8. It sounds more "funky" 7:4 -> Bb C, a second time, but paying attention to the "funky" sound. If playing 2:1 is like standing up, 7:4 feels like sitting down. Play the following sequence on long notes to really hear the subtilities (sp?) of a "7/4 octave": 1 7:4 49:64 343:256 49:64 7:4 1 Tonic 1st 7:4 2nd 7:4 3rd 7:4 And back to the tonic I might not give you exact *words* for what 7:4 is like, but do these exercices and you will understand everything about this wonderful interval. Please take the time to read and e-mail me the answers of these questions : How do you say "7:4"?? Seven quarters?? Seven four? Seven on four? Does anyone know of a french name for cents??? How do you pronounce it in french? What is the smallest perceptible interval in *any* register? (approx 501:500) Is this small interval perceivable in high or low register? What is the minimum number of degrees to have a octave based scale? What is the minimum number of degrees to have a n-ave based scale? What is the maximum number of beats/second the ear can perceive? (is the number of beats is greater than this number, the interval is not perceived as "beating" anymore) What is the minimum frequency that a human can perceive as a sound? (20 Hz, 15 Hz, 10Hz?? Give me the lowest world record.) What is the max freq a human can perceive? (Again, Id like to get the "world record") If I get the answer to these questions (I know that these answers exist) I will be able to complete my thesis about JI, ET and consonance. As soon as I'm done with it, I'll send it to the list. Thank you very, very, *very* much for your help. Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Mon, 26 Feb 1996 23:31 +0100 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id OAA20592; Mon, 26 Feb 1996 14:30:58 -0800 Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 14:30:58 -0800 Message-Id: <0099E82ADB525A2E.C4C8@ezh.nl> Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu