source file: m1538.txt Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 01:05:27 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Neutral Third From: Johnny Reinhard > One special characteristic of the neutral third is that no matter what > kind of 5th there is in a system, the neutral third is always in the same > place logarithmically. > > Can you explain what it means to be in the same place logarithmically? Simply, that while there are widely divergent types of major and minor thirds in different systems, they move proportionately in opposite directions per specific system. Their midpoint is the same nonetheless. The temperament of the perfect 3/2 fifth is the least of any interval to be tempered, except perhaps the identity intervals (of unison and octave). Its logarithmic middle is realtively stable and therefore recognizeable in many different tunings. Johnny Reinhard AFMM p.s. I'm off for Amsterdam now with 4 other musicians, and then to Wolfenbuttal, Germany with 8 musicians (and where we'll do Carrillo's Cristobal a Colon). Of course, I'm excited to hear my new quartet "Trespass," and to meet all my Dutch friends.