source file: mills3.txt Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 00:35:12 +0100 Subject: Escaping the diatonic hegemony From: "Paul H. Erlich" >[>]>[for escaping the diatonic hegemony, 22TET] >>>may be our only hope. > >>I am on my knees! You cannot believe this, Paul! You just can't! There >>must be a million and one good ways to escape diatonic hegemony! That they >>might not meet the same criteria you use to make 22TET good does not >>dis-qualify them! > >>MHO, with nothing against your criteria for 22TET. > >I am speaking more in the popularist vein of Gregg Gibson. Yes, I have been >emotionally moved even by 1/6-tone atonal music (I am thinking of the set of >improvisations by Steven Lantner and Mat Maneri at the recent Boston >Microtonal Society event -- a powerful performance where occasional 1/6-tones >(33 cents) were effectively elevated to the status of autonomous melodic >intervals -- despite Gregg Gibson's theory). But the vast majority of music >with popular appeal in this culture is pentatonic or diatonic. There has >still not been a threat to this status in the West. The decatonic scales of >22TET have more important properties in common with pentatonic and diatonic >scales in a Western-style harmonic context than any other scales yet >described and so represent, in theory, the best chance for an alternative. >The second-best chance is probably an extended-diatonic chromatic style in >31-TET that encompasses septimal harmony; 19-TET's septimal harmonies are a >bit too coarse for me to stomach. By the way, 31-TET played as a scale seems >to satisfy me that all notes are distinct, but couldn't be any closer without >losing that property. > >Meanwhile, I go on blissfully playing diatonic/pentatonic music, with >occasional octatonic excursions amongst my more educated musician friends, >and feel quite artistically fulfilled. I will truly have to lock myself in a >room with only 22 someday. SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu From: "Paul H. Erlich" Subject: RE: Misc 3 PostedDate: 11-12-97 00:36:08 SendTo: CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH ReplyTo: tuning@eartha.mills.edu $MessageStorage: 0 $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: 11-12-97 00:34:16-11-12-97 00:34:17,11-12-97 00:34:02-11-12-97 00:34:02 DeliveredDate: 11-12-97 00:34:02 Categories: $Revisions: Received: from ns.ezh.nl ([137.174.112.59]) by notesrv2.ezh.nl (Lotus SMTP MTA SMTP v4.6 (462.2 9-3-1997)) with SMTP id C1256569.0081778B; Thu, 11 Dec 1997 00:36:03 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA12163; Thu, 11 Dec 1997 00:36:08 +0100 Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 00:36:08 +0100 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA12161 Received: (qmail 16783 invoked from network); 10 Dec 1997 15:35:31 -0800 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 10 Dec 1997 15:35:31 -0800 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu