source file: mills2.txt Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 06:14:54 +0200 Subject: et/ji discussion From: Aline Surman Basically, although it's been said many times before, it's worth saying again...equal temperaments were evolved to play music that modulates to distant keys. The discussion about ji this or eq that is rather academic, I feel, with little substance at this point. I certainly agree that pure tunings are part of the Universal structure, and to be in harmony with the Universe is the most worthy goal of life...however, if you like music with chord changes, as I do, you gotta use some sort of eq...at least, as far as I know, you do. So, we sacrifice the pureness that comes with modal oriented music, and at what cost, I know not. But, I love jazz, Bach, Bartok, Debussy, and lots of other music that modulates...what's a feller to do? And, I do indeed love modal music as well, and am studying like crazy to understand the mysteries of the harmonic series better. Theoretically, on a fretless instrument, one could play absolutely every note purely, in any key...can this be done in reality? I don't know...to play "Donna Lee" by Charley Parker on a fretless axe, with every note perfectly aligned with a natural ratio, would be tough, indeed...perhaps possible, though. Rather than engage in fruitless speculation about eq versus ji (which for me is a non issue), or which eq is better than that one, we should look at different issues, such as: which tuning will bebop sound best in? How about bluegrass, or reggae, or Celtic folk music? Which tuning best expresses what the Bedouins of Arabia feel? How about a guy in Argentina, singing about how lonely he is...what tuning works best for him? What about a European (say, German) keyboard player, who hears music with 4 or 5 voices...what tuning should he play in? What if a composer wants to write about the death of his wife, whom he dearly loved...which tuning system best expresses such feelings? My point is simple...I am interested in music and composing, and I am concerned about how to 1. say something meaningful and profound 2. learn to play the shit out of my instrument, because the better my proficiency, the deeper my expressive powers, plus I enjoy the challenge of trying to "master" the guitar, which is an impossible task, but a worthy goal for this life. The discussion of tunings without a corresponding body of music to supplement it is quite boring, I'm afraid, and I increasingly see this forum heading in exactly that direction. In fact, I know several people who are losing interest in the forum for exactly this reason. Of course, that's neither here or there, and the minds I encounter on my computer are quite stimulating at times. Again, however, I find the amount of great music, or virtuoso players (and that is indeed a deceptive word, I know, but I am making a point) connected with alternate tunings to be quite small, as opposed to the endless theorizing about this or that tuning, or which one is "better". Yikes, guys...let's make some monster music that touches people in their hearts, that makes the world a better place to be, that fights injustice, that changes people's consciousness for the better. Use a tuning that fits your musical needs, that allows you to say the things you need to say. And, learn to play your instruments and compose on a level that's much deeper than most of the microdoodling that I've heard up to this point. Practice and study...that's what it takes. We don't need to hear someone demonstrate how cool a "just" scale sounds on a cheesy sounding synth; we need masterful compositions, with skillful playing. Are we gonna get it? I sure hope so. Because if we don't, the world at large is just going to view us as a sort of quirky, fringe group, talking about vague subjects that have little meaning to anyone's real life...and, that's a shame, because there is such potential to use other tuning systems to change music for the better...Hstick Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 15 May 1997 09:24 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA02368; Thu, 15 May 1997 09:24:32 +0200 Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 09:24:32 +0200 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA02366 Received: (qmail 25956 invoked from network); 15 May 1997 07:24:28 -0000 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 15 May 1997 07:24:28 -0000 Message-Id: <199705150719.JAA15071@reliam.teaser.fr> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu