source file: m1538.txt Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 21:51:14 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Neutral Third From: Johnny Reinhard On Mon, 28 Sep 1998 DFinnamore@aol.com wrote: > Johnny, could you please clarify this intriguing statement: > > >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. > > Do you mean that neutral thirds have the same relationship to the tonic > regardless of how the 5th is tuned, or that the pitch of the 3rd rises and > falls in logarithmic proportion to the height of the 5th, or...? While the thirds accordian proportionately to the fifth (however large is one third, the other is condensed), the neutral third is always dead center, dividing the fifth into 2 identical parts. Just as the tritone bisects the octave, the neutral third bisects the perfect fifth. The neutral thirds of all the meantones, 12-TET, 31-TET, quartertones, Egyptian music, and others are roughly all in the same place because the fifth is so etched in its shape. The difference of a few cents in either direction from 351 cents (at perfect fifth of 702 cents) is negligible for musical purposes. > Is this a > function of Arabic theory, something that you have observed universally, > something stated by someone else in a referencable document, ...? > > David J. Finnamore Consider it anecdotal in that I've come to recognize the place of the neutral third as a distinct relationship in the order of musical sounds, common to more than its share of tunings. Johnny Reinhard AFMM ------------------------------ End of TUNING Digest 1538 *************************