Greetings all, As we dance with angels on our pin, there are temperament discussions occurring all across the net. This is good, it speaks of the vitality in music. I am including the following as another perspective on our place in the world of tuning and the tuning of the world. It may be the sort of thing to keep in mind as we argue the finer differences between our endeavors. The following is a post on the "Tuning" list: Regards, Ed Foote Neil Haverstick made an assertion about the impact of the west on tunings in the rest of the world. This has to be answered in two important regards: The first is that all of the great cultures of Asia have long possessed their own technical means to implement such temperaments, without the influence of western tonal hegemony. Indeed, it is we in the West who owe the Islamicate world for critical elements of tonal and mathematical understanding. The second point is simply that the major exporters, whether direct or through corporate holdings, of tempered music, instruments and technology to the world are East Asian, of which Japan has the largest share. The major exporter of non-tempered music is the Indian film industry, a major force in world popular culture, but one virtually unknown in western countries. In a real sense, a competition between ETs and non-ETs is being played out on the world stage by India and East Asia. (At the moment, the score is 2:1 for 12tet Hong Kong martial arts films over Indian musicals.) Europeans and Americans, although providing raw musical products to the 12tet side, are basically watching it all from the substitute's bench.
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