Microtones (a poll)

Here's a Poll (a first try... it might not work) about microtones... and an open discussion about it. There's probably other specialists of microtones around here, exchange would be fun ! For those willing to have informations, feel free to ask !!

You're missing an important option, which I believe is the most common mindset among composers who play non-keyboard instruments.

I nominally write only with the twelve tones, but musicians who play instruments other than the piano can be expected to introduce microtonal inflections on their own, without need for directions. Thus, the microtonal colors are not written by me, but I expect players to use them as appropriate. One cannot say I write by equal temperament, but at the same time I don't write microtones either, or specify any kind of temperament; likewise I am aware of microtonal inflections, and expect them to be played but don't feel the need to specify them as they have always been an integral part of musicianship.

would i be right in thinking that micro tones are the bit in between two semitones?

i thought those were quarter-tones. but oh well, it could be that too.

Yes Mark. That is intervals smaller than the semi-tone. But it is also more complexe than that !... There is plenty of ways to write with microtones. As CaltechViolist said (although I hope he doesn't had quartertones when not ask to do so !ahaha) it is normal to any players without fixed tuning on their instruments to play all kinds of intervals.

Usually these can be defined as 'pure intervals' by some theorists. The egal temperament of the piano you play on or the midi files your computer plays has a long story... the egal temperament is not just but was sought to enable composer to be able to transpose in any tonalities without passing from very just tonalities to very discordant tonalities. But naturally, instrumentalists 'never' play perfectly tempered as a piano.

Is that giving you a little background on egal temparement... so that you can know how the different types of microtonalities differ from or are similar to our most common temperament ?

Quater-tones are just a part of the microtones.

You can have lots of possibilities... here are some of the principal categories:

Just intonation - working on rational intervals (such as the ratios 3:2 for the pure fifth and the ratio 5:4 for the pure major third). The more high these numbers gets the more complexe usually is the interval. It bears a close relationship with the harmonic series.

Subdivisions of the egal temperament - here lies what is commonly called the quarter-tones, sixth-tones, eighth-tones, sixteenth-tones... etc... These are frequently sought to approximate just intonation intervals that are lets say... for the least complexe to notate.

temperaments, micro-temperaments and microtonal modes - here we have vast sum of stuff also. Temperaments where created to allow composer to modulate in relative tonalities when this problem began to arise at the beginning of the baroque period... and even before to be true. Microtonal modes (which are simply called microtonal for occidentals actually) can be the modes composed of 'just' quarter-tones in the Arab music or the refined intervals named Shruti in the indian music.

Hmmm... that's about it... anyone wish to complete !?

sorry, way over my head, i think i'll just concentrated on simple stuff for the time being, like ornamenting a flute!

Ahaha ! Totaly understandable !... but that doesn't mean to be aware that there is a bigger world out there... not too out of reach !

I don't use them specifically, but do try and evoke the concept (among many others) from the musicians. Especially in my recent writing, the concept of tonality is quickly slipping into a more timbral perspective.

can you talk more about that 'timbral' quality in which your tonal harmony is slipping ?