Re: Math and music

From: Phil Carmody (thefatphil_demunged_at_yahoo.co.uk)
Date: 10/14/04 

Date: 14 Oct 2004 12:08:55 +0300

"David Webber" <dave@musical.demon.co.uk> writes:

> "Jon Slaughter" <Jon_Slaughter@Hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:10mrf125rgb2pc8@corp.supernews.com...
>
> > This is a quite from
> > http://geodyne.com/schillinger/index.html#top:
> >
> > "Music has remained in the dark, without geometric form, because
> > we still refer to C as 1 instead of zero. Geometry begins with 0,
> > not 1. With C as 0, coherent visual form ensues. The twelve notes
> > in our primary selective system are used because 12 is the most
> > versatile number; 12 is the smallest number with the most
> > divisors."
> >
> > Now, as an "advanced" mathematician, does that make sense to you?
> > If it does, then your not as advanced as you think.
>
> Indeed, it is a load of cobblers (as we say over here). The fact
> that we use 12 semitones has nothing whatever to do with the fact
> that 12 is an abundant number (ie one whose divisors sum to more
> than itself) and everything to do with the intervals found by
> generating pitches at intervals of a 5th.

Ahem, Intervals with a 3:2 frequency ratio, to which nowadays the
5th is just an approximation.

Right, back to singing in wolf tones, to annoy the neighbours. :-)

Phil 

-- 
They no longer do my traditional winks tournament lunch - liver and bacon. 
It's just what you need during a winks tournament lunchtime to replace lost 
... liver.   -- Anthony Horton, 2004/08/27 at the Cambridge 'Long Vac.'

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