source file: mills2.txt Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 14:02:38 -0800 Subject: RE: odd; Allen Strange (Paul E) From: Manuel.Op.de.Coul@ezh.nl (Manuel Op de Coul) From: PAULE >>>I find "odd-limit" an unsatisfactory term. Since 1 3 5 7 9 11 .. are >>>what Partch called identities, why don't we call it identity-limit? > >>That's a good suggestion, if only because "odd" connotes "strange." It is >>also a nice way of honoring Partch. > >I find "identity-limit" too cumbersome; it's very 'clunky' in the mouth, >and that is a factor in adopting a new term. I prefer 'odd', since they >simply ARE odd numbers. Besides, I work with Allen Strange every day, and >I don't find him odd at all . . . ! -- Brian B. Well, I think Jonathan Walker's misunderstanding of the limit concept points out that understanding the prime limit concept does not guarantee that the word "odd" will be enough to get Partch's limit concept across. A 12-note Pythagorean tuning will involve odd numbers as high as 177147 (this apperas in the ratio of the wolf), but the music itself may never go past the 3-identity, or, especially if schismatic approximations are used, the 5-identity (as in the middle and late Medieval periods, respectively). By the way, this is not a question of adopting a new term, it is a question of preserving the terminology introduced by Harry Partch in light of separate developments that have stolen the word "limit." By the other way, my roommates this summer had studied electronic music at Harvard using Allen Strange's textbook. They wanted me to tell him that they loved his book! They're doing a lot of techno music, which favors vintage analog synths just like rock&roll favors vintage guitars. Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 27 Mar 1997 23:38 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA19956; Thu, 27 Mar 1997 23:38:34 +0100 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA19963 Received: from by ella.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) id OAA10547; Thu, 27 Mar 1997 14:36:56 -0800 Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 14:36:56 -0800 Message-Id: <199703271735_MC2-1360-2011@compuserve.com> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@ella.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@ella.mills.edu