Just Intonation vs. Equal Temperament

A comparison of just intonation to equal temperament (standard tuning) from Justonic.com...

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  Music

[Cullen Delmore]

These are Lissajous curves (search this on Wikipedia), which are actually two-dimensional, though they do seem to imply a three-dimensional figure. They provide an indication of the ratio of the frequencies of two waveforms. Essentially, the more complicated the curve is, the more complex the ratio of frequencies. For example, 3:2 (perfect fifth) looks rather simple, while the equal-tempered fifth (2^(7/12)), appears more complicated and active because of the odd ratio and phasing.

[NeptuneatDawn]

How does the program know what kind of 7th lets say, to put in a C7? If you were going to Bb major next, wouldn't the Bb note be different than if you were going to an F major chord. How can the program know where you are going next and tune accordingly?

[Strefanasha]

this is the first time i really heard the difference, though i was a musician for many years. I have heard of this of course, just has not heard it.

the thing is you cannot modulate very far in this system - the outer keys go out of tune very quickly, so I am told. So Bach figured out a compromise, ie mean temperament and wrote the 48 to demonstrate

and the rest is musical history. we cannot, it seems to me, go back, not without reducing our tonal palette

[Hermann Otto]

THANK YOU I was looking forward to this . On a synthesiser I stretched 12 note to 61 notes and found a pure decime C to E, and something in my spine started to respond

favourably. The well tempered syst rules the road at moment,but I heard some Bulgarian singers ,using the just tuning ,very effectivly

[sirenharp]

It's a party!

[ColorMusicTheory]

Why aren't our auditory systems tuned to the harmonics of the Undertone Series?

[hateeternalmaver]

i guess it could analyze the recorded progression and add it accordingly...?!

o_O

[J Batalla]

so cool



[silkroadcaravan]

Hi Jim! Kevin Cloud here: nice to bump into you in this odd little corner of the web ;-)

[Jim Grippo]

Just intonation is not tempered in ANY way. By definition, a just-tuned scale is perfectly in-tune with the overtone frequencies inherent in its fundamental pitch. Simply put, each subsequent pitch is tuned to the fundamental so that there is no beating (wave interference), which is why the waveforms appear (and sound) so clean.

Just intonation IS pure, not "closer" to pure.