I keep working my way closer to recording in strict just intonation. Here’s one I did today, of my song Breakup Songs.
The acoustic guitar is in equal temperament, and the bass and vocals are untempered. I love singing harmony when the fretless bass is playing lattice notes. Sometimes I feel like I’m sliding along a groove in the tonal gravity field.
It would be natural to read these posts and wonder why I’m so passionate about intonation, and why I’m going to so much trouble to explore it in this blog and in real life. After all, we’re talking about tiny differences in tuning here, why be so picky when it’s the heart that counts? It’s…
Musical nomenclature has been cobbled together over the centuries like a medieval city. Different systems leave their imprint in convention, later developments try to be compatible with accepted names, and the whole thing ends up confusing and contradictory. Take enharmonic equivalents, for example. G# and Ab are the same note on the piano, the black…
The simplest untempered tuning of the major scale is: 1 — 0 cents 2 — 204 3 — 386 4 — 498 5 — 702 6 — 884 7 — 1088 Here’s how that tuning compares with the equal tempered scale: The black numbers show the pitches of 12-tone equal temperament. They are equally…
In one of my favorite passages in Harmonic Experience (p. 104-105), W.A. Mathieu points out that by the time Mozart came around, equal temperament was well enough established that a D# and an Eb could be thought of as the same note. So when Mozart wanted his melody to go back and forth between an Eb and…
More fun with the Q2HD. Bug Zapper is a co-write with my friend Scott Bryson. I’ve reworked it endlessly, and this is where it sits right now. For years, there’s been a major II chord in the chorus, clinging like the kitten in the “Hang in there, Baby” poster. I finally got over it and…
I often have the pleasure of singing at one of Steve Key’s Songwriters At Play showcases. These are held several times a week in San Luis Obispo area. There’s a lot of talent in the county, and Steve books many good traveling acts. These tend to be excellent shows. Brian Jeffrey is one of those…