72 Equal Temperament - Byzantine Music

Byzantine Music

The 72 equal temperament is used in Byzantine music theory, dividing the octave into 72 equal moria, which itself derives from interpretations of the theories of Aristoxenos, who used something similar. Although the 72 equal temperament is based on irrational intervals (see above), as is the 12 tone equal temperament mostly commonly used in Western music (and which is contained as a subset within 72 equal temperament), 72 equal temperament, as a much finer division of the octave, is an excellent tuning for both representing the division of the octave according to the diatonic and the chromatic genera in which intervals are based on ratios between notes, and for representing with great accuracy many rational intervals as well as irrational intervals.