source file: mills2.txt Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 14:22:02 -0800 Subject: Re: notation From: Johnny Reinhard Thanks Paul, we are talking about different things. The irony is that the difficulty with which we try to express musical concepts on the internet shows up the problems with computer notation we are presently reading. > If I read a notation that says 969 for this note and 840 for that, unless > I know the theory and have memorized arbitrary numbers, these two mean > rather little. But if I have a sign for the 7th harmonic and another for the > 13th, then I know the relationships and can begin to hear and produce the > intervals. Cents notation uses all the symbols of 24ET: this means that a 969 would be notated as a B natural with a "-41" above the notehead (assuming C as the fundamental). Hearing the basic essential intervals of consonance (and perhaps dissonance) must be internalized by players independently by players. Perhaps we players are using cents the way Yamaha uses its 1024 points of reference. Only our expansion to 1200 is more accurate. Johnny Reinhard Incidentally, does the list know that Johann Philipp Kirnberger, prize student of J.S. Bach invented the notation of "i" before the very same B natural to indicate that it was a 7/4 relationship (of 969 cents)? Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Sat, 2 Nov 1996 01:29 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA03811; Sat, 2 Nov 1996 01:29:50 +0100 Received: from eartha.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA04161 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id QAA17502; Fri, 1 Nov 1996 16:29:47 -0800 Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 16:29:47 -0800 Message-Id: <32961102002923/0005695065PK4EM@MCIMAIL.COM> Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu