source file: mills2.txt Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 03:03:18 +0200 Subject: Re: tired of et/ji discussion? From: DFinnamore@aol.com Aline Surman writes: > The discussion about ji this or eq that is > rather academic, I feel, with little substance at this point. > ... > Rather than engage in fruitless speculation about eq versus ji (which > for me is a non issue), or which eq is better than that one, we should > look at different issues ... As the source of ignition for the current fire, I feel responsible to answer this charge. Well, I hate to admit it but you have a point there. In looking back over the discussion I find that I myself got caught in the trap of using words denoting value like "better" and "superior," which are subjective and relative in the context of the judgement of a scale in its own right. Sorry! On the other hand, I would have to contend that our speculation has not been entirely fruitless. My original question was *Why*, and was a genuine attempt to understand the motivations people have for studying ET scales, as well as an attempt to get us all thinking and talking about why we do what we do. It can really help clarify your own vision of your work to think at that level now and then, kinda the old forest/trees thing, ya know. I'd bet that some of the people who had to scratch their heads to answer my question have a better grasp of the purpose of their studies than they had before. I also hoped it would spin off a number of other good topics, but that didn't pan out as much as I would have liked. So, I now have a pretty good understanding (I think) of the need to study ET scales, although I'm still not convinced it's the most promising path for musical developement at this historical juncture, and I'm quite sure I won't be doing it any time soon. That's not a criticism of anyone who chooses to do so. > ... we should > look at different issues, such as: which tuning will bebop sound best in? > How about bluegrass, or reggae, or Celtic folk music? Which tuning best > expresses what the Bedouins of Arabia feel? How about a guy in Argentina, > singing about how lonely he is...what tuning works best for him? What > about a European (say, German) keyboard player, who hears music with 4 or > 5 voices...what tuning should he play in? What if a composer wants to > write about the death of his wife, whom he dearly loved...which tuning > system best expresses such feelings? Do you have any absolute answers for these, or similar, questions, Aline? If so, I'd be interested to see them. They seem to me rather like asking "What car will be best for a vacation?" They depend on so many factors other than those enumerated. In the cases involving music already written, chances are, the scale used to write them is best. In the case of what someone feels, whatever scale(s) the person is most comfortable with would generally be best. It seems to me that the question belongs the other way around - "How can I best express what I feel through a given scale"; and that the questions of the appropriateness of any given scale are related more to principles of theory than emotional content or message. That's not to say that there are no patterns whatsoever observable between particular scales and emotional states. Any analysis/anecdotes anyone has regarding those connections would be fascinating reading for me. I'm vaguely familiar with some of the ancient Greeks' opinions, what with governments banning certain scales and all. Intriguing. > Yikes, guys...let's make > some monster music that touches people in their hearts, that makes the > world a better place to be, that fights injustice, that changes people's > consciousness for the better. Use a tuning that fits your musical needs, > that allows you to say the things you need to say. Thanks for the timely encouragement! O. K., I'll shut up and go to my ivory tower now. David J. Finnamore Just tune it! Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Sat, 17 May 1997 06:57 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA04482; Sat, 17 May 1997 06:57:28 +0200 Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 06:57:28 +0200 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA04480 Received: (qmail 13123 invoked from network); 17 May 1997 04:57:25 -0000 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 17 May 1997 04:57:25 -0000 Message-Id: <970517005629_114685615@emout03.mail.aol.com> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu