source file: mills3.txt Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 20:44:22 +0100 Subject: RE: Surman/b5 ratios From: "Paul H. Erlich" >}Why are the 19 tone 18/25 and 25/36 ratios important? Because blues >}leans heavily on the so called b5; in 19, having both to chose from is >}real hip. More options either as bent, or unbent notes. Can I tune them >}by ear? Never tried, but I am sure I could learn to do so if I had the >}need to. > >I submit that the only way you could learn to tune them by ear is to learn >them by rote. Acoustically, 25:18 and 36:25 are too complex to be tuned by >eliminating beats. The most complex ratio I ever tuned by ear was a 17:13, >and this was on a synth in a high register played very loud through >headphones so that I could hear the difference tone clearly. Therefore, the >fact that 19TET nails these ratios is irrelevant (in my opinion). If you >really wanted two fairly consonant tritones, some approximation to 7:5 and >10:7 would serve you better. 31TET does a marvelous job, being under two >cents off both. > >I do think there is a lot of value in being able to divide the interval >between the p4 and p5 into three equal parts, and I agree that the ability to >do so in 19TET works within, and enriches, the blues vocabulary. Blues >players use all kinds of b5s by bending the p4th up, but bending is a less >accurate way to reach pitches than fretting (or even "fretlessing"). This is >because string tension can vary from string to string, the amount of string >behing the nut (and sometimes beyong the bridge) can vary from guitar to >guitar, and even the tension of one string will vary over its lifetime as it >becomes corroded. > >When playing funk on the fretless bass, I often subdivide the interval >between the p4 and p5 into three or four equal parts, and it works well even >if the other instruments are in 12TET. SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu From: "Loffink, John" Subject: RE: MID/Audio Wish List PostedDate: 15-01-98 21:35:06 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: 15-01-98 21:34:32-15-01-98 21:34:33,15-01-98 21:34:18-15-01-98 21:34:19 DeliveredDate: 15-01-98 21:34:19 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 C125658D.00710309; Thu, 15 Jan 1998 21:34:52 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA20878; Thu, 15 Jan 1998 21:35:06 +0100 Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 21:35:06 +0100 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA21313 Received: (qmail 24627 invoked from network); 15 Jan 1998 12:35:03 -0800 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 15 Jan 1998 12:35:03 -0800 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu