source file: mills3.txt Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 02:28:23 +0200 Subject: Re: TUNING digest 1150 From: Paul Rapoport Could we please avoid the term *quartertone* for anything but the unit of 24-tET? As soon as you say a quartertone is the unit of 31-tET, you might as well use the term to describe any small interval, with the result becoming terminologically chaotic. If desired, the 31 unit could be called a fifthtone, as long as we realize there's a diesis lurking. In other words, a 31-tone scale has 6 whole tones divided into fifths plus a diesis. (6 x 5 + 1 = 31.) Each of the fiftones is of course the diesis itself. (Not a JI diesis, needless to add...) I am reminded of a story Easley Blackwood often told. When he mentioned to a student that he was working on his project involving all the ETs between 13 and 24, the student replied, "Oh, you mean quartertones." (Don't take the story too literally--maybe E B was talking about microtonality in general. I don't remember.) The notation pithily described by Paul Erlich has been used for 19 and 31 for a long time. There is no reason to change it for tonal/modal (centric) music that I know of. The symbols + and - have a long history too and are thoroughly annoying on a five-line staff. I suggested some time ago changing them to / and \ or shorter variants thereof. Paul Rapoport SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu From: mr88cet@texas.net Subject: Re: TUNING digest 1150 PostedDate: 12-08-97 16:02:28 SendTo: CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH ReplyTo: tuning@eartha.mills.edu $UpdatedBy: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH,CN=Manuel op de Coul/OU=AT/O=EZH RouteServers: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=notesrv1/OU=Server/O=EZH RouteTimes: 12-08-97 16:02:28-12-08-97 16:02:29,12-08-97 16:00:52-12-08-97 16:00:53 DeliveredDate: 12-08-97 16:00:53 Categories: $Revisions: Received: from ns.ezh.nl by notesrv2.ezh.nl (Lotus SMTP MTA v1.1 (385.6 5-6-1997)) with SMTP id C12564F1.004D1E74; Tue, 12 Aug 1997 16:02:20 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA08857; Tue, 12 Aug 1997 16:02:28 +0200 Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 16:02:28 +0200 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA08461 Received: (qmail 18463 invoked from network); 12 Aug 1997 14:00:08 -0000 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 12 Aug 1997 14:00:08 -0000 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu