Not sure what you are saying. It is chance how close they are. It works out fair... | Hacker News

Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit

		robbrown451 on Oct 26, 2016 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Music Theory: An Education from First Principles Not sure what you are saying. It is chance how close they are. It works out fairly well in 12 tone scales, worse in most others. Is "coincidence" the wrong word? Maybe. But it didn't have to work out that way, luck or whatever you want to call it was involved.

nandemo on Oct 27, 2016 [–]

Just intonation is based on intervals that are ratios of small whole numbers.

The 12-tone equal temperament scale is historically a development of just intonation (a "fork" in software terms).

So it's not a coincidence that 12-tone equal temperament intervals are close to ratios of small whole numbers.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact