We do not prefer chords to be perfectly in mathematical ratios: study

Re:We do not prefer chords to be perfectly in mathematical r... by mrob on Wednesday March 27, 2024 @03:23PM (#39843456)

Just intonation tuning of chords (but not melodies) is the ideal in barbershop music. Barbershop music also uses harmonic sevenths, which are not found in standard 12EDO equal temperament. I've never heard of anybody calling barbershop "strange" or "disturbing".

I don't think anybody is likely to call a perfect fifth or third those things either. You can easily check using the "Generate, Tone..." feature in Audacity. I recommend using a sawtooth wave, which contains prominent high harmonics that make it easy to hear subtle difference in tuning. The worst criticism I'd make of perfect just intonation is that it can sound boring, for the reason the GP post suggests.

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Re:We do not prefer chords to be perfectly in mathematical r... by ben_w on Wednesday March 27, 2024 @03:30PM (#39843540)

My suspicion is that learning music theory (for any specific cultural norm) is a bit like learning about font kerning: https://xkcd.com/1015/

Many of the auditory things that trained musicians describe as creepy or weird, seem unremarkable to me.

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Re:We do not prefer chords to be perfectly in mathematical r... by xotesos on Wednesday March 27, 2024 @05:07PM (#39844614)

I would say that is because there is nothing to compare barber shop music too.

I am a big fan of Terry Riley's - Harp of New Albion exactly because its five-limit just intonation piano sounds so incredibly weird to my ears.

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Re:We do not prefer chords to be perfectly in mathematical r... by dekhn on Wednesday March 27, 2024 @05:20PM (#39844740)

See also La Monte Young- Forever Bad Blues Band. I listened to it and it sounded "different" but not particularly weird (I was already listening to Phish, The Dead, and indian music, so I think I was prepared for blues in just intonation).

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