source file: mills2.txt
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 15:38:04 -0700

Subject: 12-tET in China

From: COUL@ezh.nl (Manuel Op de Coul)

There is a CD with Chinese bell music called "The imperial bells of 
China" of which booklet contends the following:

"In the summer of 1978, in China's central Hubei province, 
archaeologists discovered a historically significant Warring States 
period (475 - 221 B.C.) tomb. The tomb, which dates back more than 
2400 years, belonged to a high ranking noble, a certain Marquis Yi, of 
a small kingdom called Zeng. Among the early ten thousend relics 
unearthed were more than 120 musical instruments. [...] The fully 
intact set of 64 bronze bianzhong-chime bells was of special interest. 
Not only was it a physically impressive, exquisite work of art, it 
was, moreover, the earliest example in China of an instrument of such 
broad range employing a chromatic scale with set pitch. The ancient 
bells were delicately inlaid in gold filigree with intricate dragons 
and inscriptions, documenting music theory and the precise 
instrumentation of ancient orchestras over two thousand years ago. 
Each bell is capable of producing two distinct musical notes. Their 
design, with a fixed twelve tone scale and a tonal range beyond that 
of most contemporary instruments, requires a theoretical grasp of 
physics, engineering, and musical acoustics formerly thought to have 
evolved only in the late 18th century."

I can't hear from the music if it's equal temperament, but perhaps it
was already known more than 2000 years ago?
The CD is from Fortuna Records/Kuckuck Schallplatten 17075-2.

Manuel Op de Coul    coul@ezh.nl

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