source file: mills2.txt Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 12:15:15 -0800 Subject: Re: composing From: alves@osiris.ac.hmc.edu (Bill Alves) >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? I find it interesting that you feel that just intonation constrains the number of chords. Certainly you would have as many different chords available in a 19-tone just system. More actually. What just intonation constrains is the ability to modulate (and have it sound the same). Perhaps this is what you mean by using the chords "freely." In a just system the same "chord" as defined by the notes in the system used relative to the tonic would often sound different relative to different tonics. Thus if you finger a "major chord" on the piano, it will not always be a 4:5:6 in just intonation. You may find this a weakness of JI. Because modulation was so important to European composers in the four hundred years or so before this century, many of them certainly thought it was a weakness. I, however, find it one of JI's endearing strengths. Different keys have very different attributes -- they each become a new "world of sound." >When Lou Harrison says "Just intonation is the >best intonation," for what sort of music is he referring to? I suppose a flip answer would be "his music" or "music he likes." I think he and a lot of other composers love the crystalline purity of just intervals. I have talked to other JI composers who ask why composers who use temperament systems go to such lengths to approximate just intervals within their systems. Why not just use a just system to begin with? An answer might be that you want the ability to modulate freely and have it sound the same. And, of course, there are composers who are not interested in just intervals to begin with. But, personally, I love the sounds of JI and don't find it a constraint to my composition at all. Bill ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ Bill Alves email: alves@hmc.edu ^ ^ Harvey Mudd College URL: http://www2.hmc.edu/~alves/ ^ ^ 301 E. Twelfth St. (909)607-4170 (office) ^ ^ Claremont CA 91711 USA (909)621-8360 (fax) ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Received: from vbv40.ezh.nl [137.174.144.2] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 21 Mar 1996 17:22 +0100 Received: from vbv40.ezh.nl [137.174.144.2] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 21 Mar 1996 17:08 +0100 Received: from vbv40.ezh.nl [137.174.144.2] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 21 Mar 1996 17:07 +0100 Received: from vbv40.ezh.nl [137.174.144.2] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 21 Mar 1996 17:07 +0100 Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 21 Mar 1996 17:07 +0100 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id IAA16334; Thu, 21 Mar 1996 08:06:30 -0800 Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 08:06:30 -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