Post-spectralism influence on tuning


According to Helmholtz (2011), a musical note is due to the fundamental frequency and the quality of a musical sound is due to the presence of upper partials. For traditional western music, pitch perception is mainly fundamental, rather than the frequencies in the spectrum which Teodorescu-Ciocanea (2003) describes as a “note proper” tradition. The spectralism composers shifted the domain from absolute pitches, intervals and chords to the spectrum.

Spectral music is a complex approach to timbre, Teodorescu-Ciocanea (2003) classified 9 tendencies and their possibilities in spectral music. To conclude the techniques, tuning the frequencies according to the harmonic series is the major approach; while working with noise, generated digitally and/or extended techniques on instruments, is a sort of timbral dissonance which dilutes the pitch perception of a musical sound.

Teodorescu-Ciocanea describes inharmonicity as the combination of frequencies that are not integral multiples of the fundamental frequency, it is correct. But she falsely categorises inharmonicity as noise. Percussion instruments vibrate with inharmonic spectra and can have a clear pitch perception (Dunn et al, 2015). Noise is a proper subset of inharmonicity.

For my piece, A 15-ET Jingle, I challenged the traditional practice of scale, interval and tonality generated from a harmonic series spectrum. I work with the spectrum in order to fit the 15-ET. The “note proper” practice and spectralism approach share equal importance in constructing a timbre and temperament. The pitch of each note is precise with an inharmonic pattern of a spectrum. Hence, I reckon my piece is post-spectralism or neo-spectralism to acknowledge the influence of spectralism, working on the spectrum.

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