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These consonances cannot be replicated on a Western piano, for instance, because they would fall between the cracks of the scale traditionally used. Sounds lik
by jimbob45 3y ago
These consonances cannot be replicated on a Western piano, for instance, because they would fall between the cracks of the scale traditionally used.
Sounds like the author doesn't realize you can tune a piano. Actually, it doesn't sound like they know anything about music because the octave is surely universally harmonic.
- phailhaus 3y agoOf course you can tune any instrument to any scale. "Western piano" implies a standard tuned piano.
- karencarits 3y agoPerhaps, but baroque ensembles often play with weird tunings where the intervals are different from the modern ones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_temperament https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_temperament
- ben7799 3y agoOctaves stay the same though. Other temperaments are not "weird", they just make different rules about how perfectly in tune different intervals are with each other.
- karencarits 3y agoTrue, they are not weird but may sound somewhat foreign as some intervals suddenly are purer than others Personally, I think it's sad that we are so little exposed to various temperaments as they give each key a bit more personality
- ByQuyzzy 3y agoThere's no such thing as an Eastern, Southern, or Northern piano. The poor author was trying to say something but ended up flubbing it.
- phailhaus 3y agoI really don't think anyone is actually confused when he says that a "Western piano" can't replicate certain harmonies. We all know what he's saying here, because pianos aren't known for having custom tunings. This kind of pedantry is not useful.
- john61 3y agoOctaves on a piano are tuned slightly wider and "out of tune" because of the Inharmonicity of the strings.
- itishappy 3y agoTIL! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_acoustics#The_Railsback_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_acoustics#The_Railsback_...
- beardyw 3y agoYes, I agree. No mention of well tempered scales and the contortions that were needed to achieve them. Even at the time they knew it was a compromise. Yet today we (in the west) take them for granted. And not only octaves. Most instruments will yield various harmonics and no civilisation will have been unaware of them. It is no coincidence that for us a natural harmonic lies between a major 3rd and a minor one.