source file: mills2.txt Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 10:53:52 -0800 Subject: composing From: neil.haverstick@csst.com (Neil Haverstick) Haverstick aboard...I was recently listening to my 19/oct piece "Mysteries" which I just recorded (the music appeared in Xenharmonicon16), and it made me reflect on the plusses and minuses of tuning systems. This piece has over 40 different chords, and is in no key whatever, plus it's a monster to solo over (especially if you're improvising). I sometimes feel "guilty" because I don't play in just tuning (which I call pure tuning), but tell me...how could I play a piece like "Mysteries" in pure tuning? Perhaps I'm out to lunch, but it seems that the structure of the piece does not lend itself to this system. What kind of just system would allow one to use so many different chords freely? When Lou Harrison says "Just intonation is the best intonation," for what sort of music is he referring to? I really like using tons of chords in some of my pieces...perhaps this is a dilemma which other composers through the ages have found themselves in regards to eq temps versus pure tunings. I don't always write modal works, although I love that sort of music as well. Anyway, hoping to get some comments...Hstick Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Wed, 20 Mar 1996 21:15 +0100 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id MAA25393; Wed, 20 Mar 1996 12:15:15 -0800 Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 12:15:15 -0800 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu