Showing posts with label Nonoctave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nonoctave. Show all posts

8/01/2009

Canon in J (Bohlen Pierce Scale)


Here is an attempt to reinterpret Pachelbel's famous Canon in D in the less famous Bohlen-Pierce scale. Bohlen-Pierce is a very exotic and experimental scale that is not based on the octave. Instead it involves dividing the tritave (a 3/1 frequency ratio instead of the octave's 2/1 frequency ratio) into thirteen equally spaced intervals. Why thirteen? Because this division results in an unusual scale that reduces dissonance when played with instruments that favor odd harmonics, such as the clarinet and the panpipe. In fact, special clarinets exist for the performance of Bohlen-Pierce music. (See this site for an example.)


Nonoctave music like this can be pretty strange and take a while to get used. We are so used to hearing music based on octaves that our brains can find it hard to make sense of this kind of deviation from the norm. I found that watching this video several times helped me to make sense of it.


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.