Exploring microtonal tunings: A kaleidoscope of extended just tunings and their compositional applications. (Volumes I and II)
Extended just intonation is a field with infinite tonal resources, from pure major scales to Asian music to complex tunings; the resources for performing extended just intonation range from flexibly-pitched traditional instruments to specially-built acoustic instruments to computer programs. This work describes ways to begin working in microtonal music, theory of just intonation, finding and making appropriate tools for hearing tunings and creating compositions, and theoretical ideas from Arabic, Indian and Indonesian music as sources of tuning ideas. It also examines the problem of measuring pitch in Chinese speech and performances of Persian music, as well as the problem of analyzing a tablature notation system used in Harry Partch's music. It includes some examples of microtonal compositions in a number of the tuning systems examined, including American gamelan works by Lou Harrison, Daniel Schmidt and Ingram Marshall.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign