source file: mills3.txt Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 19:01:50 +0200 Subject: Theory vs. Practice From: Carl Lumma The recent "pop in microtones" issue is one I had planned to avoid, since it seemed that any contribution I could make would be destructive. But, maybe I've found a way... There is a difference between compositional models and methods of performance. Musicians will always play things differently between one another, and between performances. My high school choir sang in crappy 5-limit JI. The only things that play in 12:2 equal are a few pianos, some guitars, and many synthesizers. No band, choir, or orchestra performs in 12-tone. Why do you think piano concertos sound so bad? Actually, all music is microtonal (unless it's played on a hammond organ or a very special additive synthesizer) because of the harmonics! Yeah! The point of JI is that it offers an expanded compositional model. Music composed in such a model will no doubt be played in all sorts of ways by the musicians of the future. An understanding of tuning is not a prerequisite for playing this music, as DFinnamore@aol.com suggests; our future musicians will be making more powerful music because it will be based on a more powerful model. If we can agree that there is a difference between re-tuning music made for 100 cent equal, as powerful a model and good-sounding a tuning as it is, and playing music made for 7+ limit Just Intonation, however embellished, then maybe we can be free to appreciate the excellent musicianship that thrives in every idiom the world over. Carl Postscript: I get more milage from BBshop than Mr. Szanto, and I'm wondering what "4tet fan" means. SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu From: alves@orion.ac.hmc.edu Subject: Re: pop and tunings PostedDate: 23-09-97 19:05:50 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: 23-09-97 19:05:37-23-09-97 19:05:38,23-09-97 19:04:44-23-09-97 19:04:44 DeliveredDate: 23-09-97 19:04:44 Categories: $Revisions: Received: from ns.ezh.nl by notesrv2.ezh.nl (Lotus SMTP MTA v1.1 (385.6 5-6-1997)) with SMTP id C125651B.005DE293; Tue, 23 Sep 1997 19:05:28 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA12692; Tue, 23 Sep 1997 19:05:50 +0200 Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 19:05:50 +0200 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA12678 Received: (qmail 21077 invoked from network); 23 Sep 1997 17:05:42 -0000 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 23 Sep 1997 17:05:42 -0000 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu