Definitions of tuning terms

© 1998 by Joseph L. Monzo

All definitions by Joe Monzo unless otherwise cited


temperament


    A tuning which is not just-intonation; that is, the intervals are not small-integer ratios.

    The various kinds of temperament are equal, meantone, well, and non-just non-equal, the second and third being specific examples of the last category, which is more general.

    [from Joe Monzo, JustMusic: A New Harmony ]

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    [From Graham Breed:]

    I would prefer:

    A tuning which approximates just-intonation; that is, the intervals are close to small-integer ratios, and the scale is somehow simplified relative to its just equivalent.

    Some tunings make no attempt to approximate JI, and so should not be considered temperaments.

    [Graham Breed, Onelist Tuning Digest #531, message 3]

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A tuning system which contains tempered intervals.

    [from John Chalmers, Divisions of the Tetrachord]


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