source file: mills3.txt Date: Sun, 14 Dec 1997 02:27:27 +0100 Subject: Reply to Graham Breed From: Gregg Gibson > No Indian theorist I've read ever claimed 22 equal has anything > to do with Indian music. Some mention a 22 note scale, but > most emphasise that it is _not_ equally tempered. You may wish to consult the most famous of all Indian musical theorists, Sarngadeva, who says (I quote from Levy, Intonation in North Indian Music, p. 12:) "Of them, the first [note] must be made as having the lowest possible; the second must be made to have a slightly higher sound, without any intermediate sound possible, since no sound could be heard in between these two srutis." He goes on to instruct that the same procedure should be used to form the entire scale of music. To me, who certainly have no bias in favor of 22-tone equal, this sounds like 22-tone equal. Innumerable other authorities, both traditional and modern, say much the same thing. It is true that other authorities give - very slightly - unequal scales (Ellis, for example), and one, the quite untrustworthy Westerner Danielou, constructs a highly unequal 22-tone pseudo-pythagorean system, apparently out of thin air. Ravi Shankar, as I recall, says he uses 22 pitches in the octave - I don't remember whether equal, nearly equal, or unequal. Normally there would be no melodic difference between using a slightly unequal and an equal temperament, but since the tuning degree of 22-tone equal is at the edge of the critical zone of 55-60 cents, it could possibly make some difference in this case. My own opinion, however, is that while the 22-tone equal does seem to enjoy some instrumental use in India, the evidence - very scanty, admittedly - supports 19-tone equal for Indian vocal music. So far as I can determine - but I am no expert - Indian instrumentalists use a wide variety of tunings, so if you are confused, join the club. The experts seem to think that the Indians tried to use something very like 22-tone equal in antiquity, but under Arab influence (ultimately Greek influence?) gave it up in favor of pythagoreanism. The attitude of the typical modern Westerner (at least until very recently) seems to be: why don't those crazy Indians use God's gift to humanity, 12-tone equal temperament... uhhh... they probably do... they just don't know it... SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu From: Gregg Gibson Subject: Reply 2 to Graham Breed PostedDate: 14-12-97 02:42:55 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: 14-12-97 02:40:54-14-12-97 02:40:55,14-12-97 02:40:37-14-12-97 02:40:37 DeliveredDate: 14-12-97 02:40:37 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 C125656D.00093B43; Sun, 14 Dec 1997 02:42:46 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA14777; Sun, 14 Dec 1997 02:42:55 +0100 Date: Sun, 14 Dec 1997 02:42:55 +0100 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA14774 Received: (qmail 29461 invoked from network); 13 Dec 1997 17:42:52 -0800 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 13 Dec 1997 17:42:52 -0800 Message-Id: <34939BE6.48CF@ww-interlink.net> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu