Quarter Tone - Interval Size in Equal Temperament

Interval Size in Equal Temperament

Here are the sizes of some common intervals in a 24-note equally tempered scale, with the interval names proposed by Alois Hába (neutral third, etc.) and Ivan Wyschnegradsky (major fourth, etc.):

interval name size (steps) size (cents) midi just ratio just (cents) midi error
octave 24 1200 play 2:1 1200.00 play 0.00
semidiminished octave 23 1150 play 2:1 1200.00 play −50.00
supermajor seventh 23 1150 play 35:18 1151.23 −1.23
major seventh 22 1100 play 15:8 1088.27 play +11.73
neutral seventh 21 1050 play 11:6 1049.36 play +0.64
minor seventh 20 1000 play 16:9 996.09 play +3.91
supermajor sixth/subminor seventh 19 950 play 7:4 968.83 play −18.83
major sixth 18 900 play 5:3 884.36 play +15.64
neutral sixth 17 850 play 18:11 852.59 play −2.59
minor sixth 16 800 play 8:5 813.69 play −13.69
subminor sixth 15 750 play 14:9 764.92 play −14.92
perfect fifth 14 700 play 3:2 701.95 play −1.95
minor fifth 13 650 play 16:11 648.68 play +1.32
lesser septimal tritone 12 600 play 7:5 582.51 play +17.49
major fourth 11 550 play 11:8 551.32 play −1.32
perfect fourth 10 500 play 4:3 498.05 play +1.95
tridecimal major third 9 450 play 13:10 454.21 play −4.21
septimal major third 9 450 play 9:7 435.08 play +14.92
major third 8 400 play 5:4 386.31 play +13.69
undecimal neutral third 7 350 play 11:9 347.41 play +2.59
minor third 6 300 play 6:5 315.64 play −15.64
septimal minor third 5 250 play 7:6 266.88 play −16.88
tridecimal minor third 5 250 play 15:13 247.74 play +2.26
septimal whole tone 5 250 play 8:7 231.17 play +18.83
whole tone, major tone 4 200 play 9:8 203.91 play −3.91
whole tone, minor tone 4 200 10:9 182.40 +17.60
neutral second, greater undecimal 3 150 play 11:10 165.00 play −15.00
neutral second, lesser undecimal 3 150 play 12:11 150.64 play −0.64
15:14 semitone 2 100 play 15:14 119.44 −19.44
diatonic semitone, just 2 100 play 16:15 111.73 play −11.73
21:20 semitone 2 100 play 21:20 84.47 play +15.53
28:27 semitone 1 50 play 28:27 62.96 play −12.96
septimal quarter tone 1 50 play 36:35 48.77 play +1.23

Moving from 12-TET to 24-TET allows the better approximation of a number of intervals. Intervals matched particularly closely include the neutral second, neutral third, and (11:8) ratio, or the 11th harmonic. The septimal minor third and septimal major third are approximated rather poorly; the (13:10) and (15:13) ratios, involving the 13th harmonic, are matched very closely. Overall, 24-TET can be viewed as matching the 11th harmonic more closely than the 7th.

Read more about this topic:  Quarter Tone

Famous quotes containing the words interval, size, equal and/or temperament:

    “The yearning for an afterlife is the opposite of selfish: it is love and praise for the world that we are privileged, in this complex interval of light, to witness and experience.”
    —John Updike (b. 1932)

    “Great causes are never tried on their merits; but the cause is reduced to particulars to suit the size of the partizans, and the contention is ever hottest on minor matters.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “Three foolish cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang, the master mind.”
    —Chinese proverb.

    “These philosophers dwell on the inevitability and unchangeableness of laws, on the power of temperament and constitution, the three goon, or qualities, and the circumstances, or birth and affinity. The end is an immense consolation; eternal absorption in Brahma.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)