With digital synths and VSTs, it’s much easier now to re-tune on the fly. While it’s easy for a talented musician to re-tune into different microtonal systems on a fretless instrument like a violin, or a slide instrument like the trombone or slide guitar, playing different tunings on a mechanical keyboard requires completely re-tuning the instrument for every key change. Most common in Europe was a system called Meantone Temperament (or just Meantone) which sounded good in many keys, but out of tune in other keys. Richard James (Aphex Twin) recently did some microtonal consulting for Korg, making microtonal tuning systems for the next Monologue hardware synth, which will have microtonal capacity.īefore the mid-17 th century, artists used a variety of tuning systems. And Aphex Twin has used microtonal tunings here and there on albums as far back as 1994. Also used are the terms microtonal scales, microtonal tunings, neither of which are as accurate as saying microtonal systems or microtonal temperaments.Īccurate, but less used, are the phrases “microtonal pitch systems”, “microtonal harmonic languages”, or ” microtonal approaches to organizing pitch.”Ī few exceptions to the “not much microtonal music in the mainstream” rule are King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, who made a microtonal album called Flying Microtonal Banana. The correct phrase is microtonal systems, but it is used interchangeably by many with the phrase microtonal temperaments. Few well-known contemporary musicians use other systems, known collectively as microtonal systems. Most western musicians make music in 12-EDO.
More on 12-EDO, and EDOs in general is here. ( Per Mike Battaglia) Galileo’s father Vincenzo Galilei, was one of the first popular advocates for twelve-tone equal temperament.
EDO means “Equal Divisions of Octave.” 1 2-EDO has been rediscovered multiple times in the West and China, and was known even to Galileo. From Chuck Berry to Radiohead, to almost certainly the project you have open right now in your DAW.ġ2-TET is also called 12-EDO. Microtonal Music is music that does not use the standard 12-tone equal temperament of “normal” Western music.ġ2-Tone Equal Temperament, or 12 TET, does covers everything from later period classical music to the Sex Pistols.
But will incorporate the writing, playing and engineering skills you’ve already developed? Plus you can make some darned cool music that doesn’t sound like everything else. Wanna do one simple thing that will immediately break you out of any musical rut you can imagine?Īnd it’s one thing one that will, in some ways, make you feel like you’re just starting to play music again, in a good way. And put the Spotify playlist on Shuffle: Enable Shuffle button on Spotify (poorly circled in red)