source file: m1469.txt Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 12:41:20 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Sauveur and (hepta)merides From: Paul Hahn On Wed, 8 Jul 1998, John Chalmers wrote: > Helmholtz (p.421) proposed 24 tones of JI, then expanded the series to 28 > or 30 notes (p.422). His translator, Ellis, suggested 27 tones of meantone > or Pythagorean (p.433-434) and it was he who named the 1/8th skhisma tuning > after Helmholtz (p.435). On page 437, Ellis says it is audibly equivalent to > Sauveur's theoretical cycle of 301 tones/octave (heptamerides). Reading this, I wondered where Sauveur came up with 301, and Ellis tells me it is a 7-way subdivision of his cycle of 43 merides (hence, heptamerides, duh). However, what is his reasoning for choosing 43? I quite figure out much that's very noteworthy about 43 except that it's very close to 1/5-comma meantone. And 301's not bad, but in that same neighborhood 270 is much better for anything under the 17-limit. --pH http://library.wustl.edu/~manynote O /\ "Churchill? Can he run a hundred balls?" -\-\-- o NOTE: dehyphenate node to remove spamblock. <*> ------------------------------ End of TUNING Digest 1469 *************************