source file: m1567.txt Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 20:05:47 -0500 Subject: Re: consonance definition? From: Gary Morrison > Can anyone offer a comprehensive mathematical explanation of consonance? I doubt it, frankly. I have no doubt whatsoever though, that a lot of us can suggest mathematical definitions of something we want to *call* consonance. But defining consonance itself is somewhat like defining beauty. Not to suggest that it's synonymous with beauty, but just that it's an experiential quality that depends on far too many considerations to be quantified. Or let me rephrase that in terms similar with Bill Sethares' book: There are physical and perceptual qualities of sound and music. Logarithmic amplitude is a physical quality, and volume (loudness) is a perceptual one. Logarithmic frequency is a physical quality, and pitch is a perceptual one. You'll probably find a good 25-30 or so mathematically-formulable and physically-measurable phenomena that will be called "consonance," or something like that. But don't confuse it with actual consonance, because that's a perceptual quality, not a physical one.