source file: m1494.txt Date: Tue, 4 Aug 1998 16:46:51 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: Scales and Numerology From: Paul Hahn On Tue, 4 Aug 1998, Paul H. Erlich wrote: > Those of you who have read my paper or followed my posts know that I > suggest replacing the 7-out-of-12 scale, which has defined most Western > music for centuries if not millenia, with a 10-out-of-22 scale. Although > the considerations were purely mathematical, it became clear later that > 7 and 12 are strong Christian symbols while 10 and 22 are strong Jewish > ones. Being of Jewish birth, perhaps I was led to the scales by > unconscious, mystical forces :). Interesting. I've lately been toying with a 9-out-of-31 scale. What religion do those numbers occur in? Nine is significant in Norse mythology, I think--the Norse cosmology contains Nine Worlds--but finding a religion in which 31 is significant may be quite a task. 8-)> Incidentally, I'm an atheist of Chinese ancestry, but I don't know that 9 or 31 are of any significance in Buddhism, Taoism, ancestor worship, or traditional Chinese mythology/folklore. I'll have to get some books out tonight . . . --pH http://library.wustl.edu/~manynote O /\ "Churchill? Can he run a hundred balls?" -\-\-- o NOTE: dehyphenate node to remove spamblock. <*>