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Lecture Notes

The document provides lecture notes and references for a course on microtonality for modern musicians, covering terminology, the benefits of working in 31 equal divisions of the octave, constructing scales and chords in 31 EDO, practical hardware and software for playing microtonal music, and different compositional philosophies. Resources are recommended for learning microtonal piano tuning and custom scale building, as well as YouTube educators specializing in microtonal theory concepts in 31 EDO.

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Daniel Giovanni Music
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69 views5 pages

Lecture Notes

The document provides lecture notes and references for a course on microtonality for modern musicians, covering terminology, the benefits of working in 31 equal divisions of the octave, constructing scales and chords in 31 EDO, practical hardware and software for playing microtonal music, and different compositional philosophies. Resources are recommended for learning microtonal piano tuning and custom scale building, as well as YouTube educators specializing in microtonal theory concepts in 31 EDO.

Uploaded by

Daniel Giovanni Music
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Microtonality for the Modern Musician Lecture Notes & References

Chapters:

Terminology (2:53)

Why 31? (9:42)

The Diesis & Constructing the Microchromatic Scale (15:47)

Subsets & Scale Building in 31 (21:30)

Chord Building in 31 (26:30)

Practical Hardware / Software for the Microtonalist (40:58)

Compositional Philosophies in 31 (50:50)

Terminology (2:53):

EDO: “Equal divisions of the octave”. a tuning system that divides an octave into some number
of equal steps. Also called “TET” - “Tone Equal Temperament”.

Cent: a unit of interval measurement. 100 cents = 1 semitone. 1200 cents = Octave.

Microtonal: music that uses intervals smaller than a semitone.

Macrotonal: music that uses intervals larger than a semitone.

Xenharmonic: music that uses intervals or a tuning system which is distinctly unlike 12TET

Comma: a very small interval: the difference resulting from the process of tuning up by several
steps from one note to another in two different ways.

Just Intonation (JI): a tuning system which represents musical intervals as whole number ratios.

Limits: the highest prime number fraction included in the intervals of a scale.

Septimal: intervals which relate to a 7-limit tuning system

Quarter-comma meantone: a popular tuning temperament favored in the 16th and 17th
centuries which achieves close justly approximated major thirds
Why 31? (9:42)

- Better tuned thirds, both major and minor


- Better approximation of just intervals compared to 12, or 24
- Enough notes to be useful but not too much to be too cumbersome
- Easy to work with because all of the chords, scales and theory you already know still
works the same in 31.
- 31 gives you access to subminor, supermajor, and neutral tonalities.
- Behind 12 & 24, 31 is the most popular EDO to work with. There is a small but useful
cannon of music, and theory to draw from when starting out.
- Why not?! It can sound amazing!

The Diesis & Constructing the Microchromatic Scale (15:47)

- The diesis is the smallest step size in 31 EDO. It is about 38 cents large.
- Stacking the diesis creates two uneven semitones, the chromatic semitone (chromatone)
at … cents (or two diesis) and the diatonic semitone (diatone) at … cents (or three
diesis)
- The diesis is known historically as the fifth tone, as it can be created by splitting the
whole tone into 5 equal parts.
- There is historical precedent for the diesis, and composers like Nicola Vincentino have
been writing music in 31 since the mid 1550s. The greeks, like Aristotle, Ptolemy, and
Plutarch also wrote on the utility of the diesis - this is not a new idea.
- There are no enharmonic equivalents in 31
- You can construct the microchromatic scale (also called the 31 chromatic scale, or 31
scale) by stacking diesis until you hit the octave.
- If you number each step going up the microchromatic scale you can refer to the notes by
their given number instead. This is a simple notation system called EDOstep, which a lot
of microtonalists like to use to express specific pitch classes over text.

Subsets & Scale Building in 31 (21:30)

- A subset is a selection of individual pitches within a given microchromatic scale to


compose with. Sometimes 31 is too much to work with in its entirety, so we can create
subsets so it’s more manageable. This becomes more relevant the higher up you go with
EDOs.
- You can create multiple versions of familiar scales you know and love. By applying
diesis alterations to certain intervals, you can change the weight or feel of a given scale
or subset.
- Half tone whole tone scales are particularly interesting. In 31 you can have two versions:
chromatone - whole tone scale, and diatone - whole tone scale. You can also mix and
match and start to hodge podge different scale ideas together in interesting and unique
ways.

Chord Building in 31 (26:30)

- Chords can be expressed in cents, notation, or EDOstep


- New chord tonalities, with new shorthand names:
sin = subminor, saj = supermajor, neu = neutral, sim = subminor diminished, nem =
neutral diminished
- Supermajor (0-11-18) is like major but with a slightly sharp 3rd (sharp by one diesis)
- Subminor (0-7-18) is like minor but with a slightly flat flat 3rd (flat by one diesis)
- Neutral (0-9-18) is right in the middle between minor and major with a neutral third in the
middle of the chord. Sounds nebulous, undefined.
- Each chord has endless possibilities when it comes to diesis alterations.
- Diminished chord in particular has a lot of variety!

Practical Hardware / Software for the Microtonalist (40:58)


- Acoustic instruments that can accommodate microtones: pianos, toy pianos, fretless
bass/guitar, guitars/basses with modified microtonal necks, lumatone, dulcimers, zithers,
marimbas, xylophones, vibraphones, voice, etc.
- You may need to retune some of these instruments to accommodate microtones.
- Scrapbooking: a recording technique that allows you to turn anything microtonal, at the
expense of a lot of work, and a lot of takes.
- Best piano software for microtones: pianoteq
- Look for software that is fully microtunable for most compatibility.
- List of microtonal software plugins:
https://en.xen.wiki/w/List_of_microtonal_software_plugins

Compositional Philosophies in 31 (50:50)


- Compose however you want to, there is no right or wrong way! Go make something
beautiful… or not… up to you!
My favorite microtonal theory educators for 31:

Hear Between the Lines


https://www.youtube.com/@HearBetweenTheLines

Zheanna Erose
https://www.youtube.com/@ZheannaErose

Stephen Weigel
https://www.youtube.com/@stephenweigel

Microtonal Piano Tuning Resources:

I highly recommend hiring a qualified piano technician when tuning any piano, especially if you
are tuning to microtones. That being said, if you’re going to do it yourself, let’s get you off on the
right foot. You’ll need four basic things to start out: A tuning hammer, piano mutes, a piano
specific tuning app, and a good set of ears. I can help with three of those things.

This is the tuning app I use:


https://www.tunelab-world.com/

This is the tuning hammer I recommend to start with:


https://www.howardpianoindustries.com/professional-extension-piano-tuning-hammer-with-
hardwood-handle/
You can find cheaper tuning hammers, but I recommend against them, as tuning with them will
surely be more challenging, less accurate and less stable. You wouldn’t buy a guitar with a 3
inch high action, don’t handicap yourself by getting a tool that will only do half the job.

If you have an upright piano, use these mutes:


https://www.howardpianoindustries.com/piano-tuning-mutes-with-handles-set-of-4/

If you have a grand piano, use these mutes (get two):


https://www.howardpianoindustries.com/piano-tuning-felt-wedge-mute/

Watch this video for the basics of how to tune:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPeef2_yhko

If you are interested in further study into piano tech work, this book will tell you most of what you
need to know:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Piano_Servicing_Tuning_and_Rebuilding/
XoirDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
Scale workshop from Sevish. Great microtonal resource for creating custom scales:
https://sevish.com/scaleworkshop/?version=2.1.0

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