[LAU] Chord finder

[Rustom Mody]

On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 10:13 PM, Funs Seelen <funsseelen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello,
> I'm new to this list. This topic immediately got my attention because of
> some surprising statements related to music theory that were posed.
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 5:42 PM, Rustom Mody <rustompmody at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>>
>> I recently got into an argument (on the python list so more OT there than
>> here :-) ) about whether a B# is the same  as C.  If we allow that they may
>> not always be the same then we have a case where the
>> theory-of-musical-harmony (may be) breaking.
>>
>>
> I don't understand what you mean with "theory-of-musical-harmony". Not
> intended to repeat an earlier discussion on another list, but C and B# are
> definitely not the same.


Yes That is what I was saying (on that list)
http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2012-July/626135.html

This was in response to the statement that there is no B# except when its C
http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2012-July/626127.html
and suggesting that a 12-tone (chromatic?) scale is the best foundation for
music


They happen to represent the same frequency in equal temperament but that's
> all. On keyboards with 12 fixed pitches per octave (like a piano) they will
> also be represented by the same key, whether tempered equal, according to
> Werckmeister's theories or else. However theoretically they are different
> notes. That's one big part of the problem piano tuners have to deal with.
> Very recently I published an external for Pure Data (
> http://student-kmt.hku.nl/~funs/software.html) that translates midi notes
> to frequency with a variable semitone and a settable modulation (set of
> notes to be represented by the 12 keys). One of its effects is that B# and
> C represent a different frequency unless a semitone is exactly set to half
> a whole tone (like in equal temperament, equal division in 12). I don't
> feel anything breaking in any case, or I might have understood you wrong.
>
> --Funs
>

As I understand it the foundation of almost all (western) music is the
tempered scale and tempering comes about by amortizing the pythagorean
comma so that we dont 'notice' it.

The pythagorean comma is (by definition??) the gap between B# and C where
by B#  means the 12th in a circle of perfect fifths starting at C.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_comma
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