// Microtonal music
…much more coming soon…
But for now, here is a quick tutorial on how a 31 note microtonal chromatic scale sounds, as well as the “harmonic seventh” chord. You’ll notice the microtonal scale has a lot of notes, and has a rather elastic sound to it, as it glides up the scale. The harmonic seventh chord (in the key of C) has an upper note that lies in between the A and A# on a standard piano. A hidden pitch.
We know that a standard western-tuning chord with a C and a G sound nice together because they form a 3:2 harmonic ratio – a very low numbered ratio and thus naturally resonant. The harmonic seventh ratio is 7:4 which means that it is quite resonant as well, and even though ears are not used to it at first (because we’re not used to hearing a C note played with a pitch that’s in between A and A#). If you listen closely at the end of the YouTube clip you’ll notice that it is a nicely consonant especially when the E note comes in. The below graph shows is an illustration of how the 7:4 ratio does not line up with the standard western tuning scale (on the top). Compare that with how it lines up with one of the notes of the 31 note scale (#25 on the scale at the bottom)… perfectly. Below you’ll find a tutorial video regarding some of these principles..
