source file: mills2.txt Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 19:30:43 -0700 Subject: Brian is a true From: Will Grant conversationalist of the old school: He seems to say things because they are putative, not because he is trying to win some special contest. He said in Tuning 809: << Many cultures think musically in terms of adding constant Herz intervals, disregarding whether the sum comes out to a 2:1 or not. In fact the Banda Linda, Banda Ndopka, Ngaka-Manza and Banda Gbambiya peoples of Central Africa prefer an "octave" of 1150 cents. Lou Harrison has not explained how to reconcile these facts with the notion that just intonation forms the basis of world music. >> I think this objection is interesting, and I believe I can answer it. I am not arguing here that just intonation forms the basis of all musics (though I do tend to agree with that supposition). I am arguing only that an arbitrary octave of 1150 cents does not preclude reference to a just standard. The music I've listened to from central Africa (mostly from Zimbabwe) relies on a "gamut" (perhaps in adapting these terms "tessitura" would be better) of a major third, which is different from the characteristically European tetrachord. Tetrachords carry inevitably a potential toward modulation, so that restraining from modulation can be as forceful as a modulation would have been. European thirds must remain chastely just in order to avoid becoming leading tones. Nevertheless, sharping thirds can be pleasant. That is exactly why Frescobaldi sounds better in meantone. The central African musics aren't concerned about melodic modulatory implications, because their excursions tend to be rhythmic, and therefore they are free to indulge in extravagently wide thirds. The very extravagence, however, would be meaningless without reference to a just standard. Therefore, I do not see that the specific use of wide octaves can be used to discredit the theoretical notion of a just standard. Will Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Sat, 17 Aug 1996 14:40 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA10438; Sat, 17 Aug 1996 15:22:39 +0200 Received: from eartha.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA10440 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id GAA06160; Sat, 17 Aug 1996 06:22:36 -0700 Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 06:22:36 -0700 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu