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From: gtaylor@lasspvax.UUCP (Greg Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.music.classical,net.music.synth
Subject: Re: Microtonal music questions
Message-ID: <243@lasspvax.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 16-Mar-85 12:32:38 EST
Article-I.D.: lasspvax.243
Posted: Sat Mar 16 12:32:38 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 18-Mar-85 07:44:56 EST
References: <520@ahuta.UUCP> <662@pyuxd.UUCP> <>
Reply-To: gtaylor@lasspvax.UUCP (Greg Taylor)
Organization: LASSP, Cornell University
Lines: 42
Xref: watmath net.music.classical:987 net.music.synth:135
Summary: 

In article <> brucec@shark.UUCP writes:
>------
>On a slight aside from classical music, I believe that the gamelan music of
>Java and Burma is microtonal (it sounds that way, anyhow).  There's  a
>gamelan group local to this area (Portland, OR), so maybe someone around here
>can respond on that.

I have sort of a problem with that formulation if it implies that western
scales and tuning formulas are the "right" from which microtonal scales
diverge.

You're right about the musics of Bali, Java, and Sunda using a different scale
with differing intervals from our own. But it goes farther than that. Each
different gamelan is *differently* tuned, so that it is very difficult to
pluck a single instrument out of one ensemble and play it with another collection of instruments. Not only that-in many cases, the octaves are narrower or
wider than what we call our octave. Ditto for their "fifth". A part of the
reason for this is that much of the music relies for its effect on the beating
that occurs when two slightly differently tuned pitches are struck together:
that is what gives much of the music what westerners commonly refer to as the
"floating" quality it has.

It should be said that this sense of slight difference in pitch is not used
merely for "effect" only. The good Indonesian ear has a much greater
capacity for the appreciation of very minor changes in pitch. Many gamelans
throughout Indonesia are venerated for their specific tunings (one of those
situations in which diversity is seen as an advantage) and their characteristic
sound. Certain pieces in the repertoire are *only* played on certain instruments because of their unique qualities. Often, a very old and venerated collection
of instruments will go out of tune on a certain pitch. Retuning a single pitch
would necessitate retuning the whole ensemble. The Javanese cherish the sound
of those instruments so much that the scores actually have changed over a
course of years to avoid the "embat" (bad, false, unemphasized) tones.

I'm citing this as an example to point out how it is possible to think
very differently about the idea of pitches and tunings. It's a question
of the imbedded assumptions.

When the Indonesians first heard western classical music, they are reported
to have wondered why it wept and moaned so. They suspected that the music 
was lacking its fundamental component-the drum, and was thus badly out of
balance...speeding up and slowing down without apparent purpose.

Didn't expect this to be that long. Sorry.