11/29/2006

The Measurement of Pitch


Microtonal music involves experimenting with collections of musical pitches that are different from what we are normally used to.


If we are to understand what microtonal music involves, it is helpful to be able to measure and describe what pitch is. This is not just a dry technical topic to get out of the way as soon as possible. The principles involved in the way we measure and describe pitch affects, not just the way we perceive the structure of music, but also the way we perceive and understand the universe itself.


We know that sound is caused by vibration and that this vibration is transmitted by air or water or some other object. This vibration can be measured easily by describing how many vibrations occur within a second. This unit of measurement is called hertz. Every pitch can be described in terms of hertz. The A above middle C, for example, is usually considered to have a measurement of 440 hertz (although this can vary depending on which standard or tuning is used.)


Hertz are useful for describing something called the harmonic series.


Consider the notes that are made by a horn without valves, like a hunting horn. Suppose that the lowest note that can be produced by the horn is 100 hertz. The horn can also produce notes at 200 hertz, 300 hertz, etc. This is an easy sequence to understand. You just keep adding 100 hertz to the proceeding number. This series of tones produces a harmonic series. A vibrating string also produces a harmonic series. The fundamental frequency is being produced at the same time as overtones that correspond to the progression of a harmonic series.


It has long been recognised that you can use notes in a harmonic series to produce music. It is interesting to consider how the brain tries to categorise these notes. If one note has twice the frequency of another note, they are heard as being the same note, even though they differ in pitch. The distance between these notes is called an octave. So how many hertz are there in an octave? It depends on the octave. If one octave spans the distance of 100 hertz, then the next octave above it will have 200 Hertz, then 400 hertz and so on. An octave represents a different way of measuring differences in pitch.


A series of octaves forms a logarithmic progression. Each new term is achieved by multiplying the preceding term by a specific amount (in this case by two). This is very different from the harmonic series. The harmonic series is a linear progression because each new term results from adding a certain amount to the preceding term.


The concept of the octave is nearly universal. You can make music that isn't based on octaves, but the human tendency to categorise pitches into octaves is extremely strong. The vast majority of music throughout the world and throughout history is based on octaves (The octaves may not always be exact because of something called inharmonicity).


A series of octaves has a sort of pure crystalline beauty. Every octave is exactly the same size (in a logarithmic sense). Octaves are a way to measure and map "musical space" that fits in very nicely with how we perceive pitch.


It is convenient to have a unit of measurement that is logarithmic, like the octave, but smaller. The equal tempered semitone is one such measurement. It is exactly one twelve of an octave. The semitone can also be broken down into one hundred cents.


Octaves are powerful because they represent a simple 2/1 ratio of frequencies. It has been the traditional approach to use other simple ratios to fill in the space within an octave. This causes conflict. Simple frequency ratios provide a high degree of consonance (they sound harmonious), but for mathematical reasons, ratios of whole numbers can't duplicate the crystalline regularity of spacing that already exists on a higher level among the octaves. To accomplish this regular spacing, you have to use irrational numbers (numbers that can't be expressed as the ratio of two whole numbers, you can't completely write them down because they go on forever.)


It is not my intention to say whether it is better to divide an octave into rational or irrational intervals. I do intend to point out that either option produces a kind of tension. I also believe that both options have a basis in how we perceive pitch. There is a natural response to the consonance of rationally tuned intervals. There also seems to be a natural response to regularly spaced intervals.


A simple demonstration of these competing forces can be shown by comparing a keyboard that is tuned to twelve note equal temperament with one that is tuned to small number, rational intervals (just intonation). If you play the same chord on both instruments, it will generally be agreed that the keyboard tuned to just intonation sounds more consonant. If you play an ascending chromatic scale, many people will prefer the even progression of the equal tempered keyboard.


Consonance and dissonance are sometimes thought of as fundamental competing forces in music. I would like to suggest the possibility that there are two competing forces that are even more fundamental. I would consider these to be the conflicting tendencies to measure nature in either linear or logarithmic terms. I would also suggest that this fundamental conflict plays a crucial role in the human perception of what constitutes harmony and dissonance.


It would appear this conflict is at least partially responsible for the wide variety of scales and tunings that have arisen through history. There doesn't seem to be any one optimum way to balance the forces that are at play.


With great difficulty, I can dimly perceive what a universe might be like if these opposing forces were not in conflict. In such a universe you could construct a tuning that features perfectly tuned intervals and equal spacings within an octave. This would require a rewriting of the very laws of mathematics. This is not only impossible within our own reality, I question whether it is possible in any conceivable reality.


If such a universe is possible, I can't say what it would be like. There is only one thing that I am fairly certain of. Its music would be incredibly dull.


See also Logarithmic Interval Measures

11/24/2006

Take Advantage of Free Music Software


Making microtonal music with software can get pretty expensive. Fortunately, there's a large supply of free music software that might be able to fill many of your needs. Considering that you can easily spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on music software, it's well worth checking out free versions first.


There's a lot of places on the web to get free or inexpensive software, but I would recommend that you check out Hitsquad. It has a very large directory of sites that offer music software. A lot of the software isn't free, but much of it is. You can also find a lot of demo versions.


Of course, most of the software doesn't offer microtuning abilities. It can still be difficult to find what you are looking for, especially if you are into more exotic microtonal scales that require unconventional keyboard mappings. Still, it doesn't cost anything to browse the titles.


If you are thinking of spending a couple hundred dollars on some software with microtuning abilities, you will likely want to see if you can find a demo version first. It's been my experience that much of the microtonal software is so limited that it's virtually worthless for the type of music that I want to make.


You may also want to consider whether the sounds of the software match the tunings that you are interested in. It may sound like a lot of fun to use fat sounding synthesised tones with exotic and dissonant scales, but the actual result might not be pleasing to your (or any one's) ears. It can take a lot of experimenting to match sounds with scales, just another reason to try before you buy.


If there's a problem with Hitsquad, it's that it can be too much fun. It's easy to waste a lot of time downloading every title that looks interesting. I recommend that you check it out, but use some moderation so that you still have time to actually make music.

11/07/2006

L'il Miss' Scale Oven™


Recently, I've heard a lot about the L'il Miss' Scale Oven™ microtonal software. It sounds like a great resource for microtonal musicians.

Alas, I can't comment on it personally as it's only for Mac, and I'm a PC user. I did, however, run across a glowing review of it at the Post Classic blog. You can also visit the Nonoctave.com website for ordering information.

Even if you use a PC or aren't interested in the software, it is worth visiting this site because it is a good source of information on nonoctave music, an interesting subcategory of microtonal music.

If you have used L'il Miss' Scale Oven™, please post a comment telling us what you think. If you have any comments on other Mac only tuning software, that would also be appreciated.

See also the Bohlen-Pierce Site, another good web site on nonoctave music.

11/01/2006

Is Equal Temperament a Danger to World Culture?


I have previously discussed some of the reasons why twelve tone equal temperament has become so common. See Equal Temperament.

Equal temperament has become so popular that, in many parts of the world, it is displacing other musical traditions and tunings. Some of these traditions are very ancient and offer an important link to the past.

I think equal temperament is a very useful tuning with obvious advantages in instrument building and as a standard for multiple instrumentalists to play together. I am glad that so many people have the option of using equal temperament. On the other hand, it's sad to see the decline of so many other rich musical traditions.

There's much more involved than the potential loss of beautiful and exotic music. Even if a musical tradition was recorded and documented for posterity, it would still be a great loss if it ceased to be practiced by living people.

Music is not static. Its depends on a complex interaction between multiple cultural, acoustic, and physiological factors that we, at present, don't properly understand. We can record the music, but a knowledge of the factors that lead to the music can easily be lost forever, along with an understanding of how this music was interpreted by the listener.

Different musical traditions are like different languages. Many languages are also being lost at an alarming rate. With the death of a language comes the loss of an irretrievable supply of information about the people who spoke it. In my opinion, a musical tradition is just as important as language in defining a culture.

What do you think? Is the loss of ancient musical traditions simply the price of progress? Or should more be done to preserve these traditions?