Post #975784

2026-04-03 16:23 UTC

A #Microtonal #MusicTheory question: is there any research or experimentation about scales in 53-ET? For instance, here is a 13-note #scale in 53-ET (notes 0 to 52, 0 is tonic): a=0 b=4 c=9 d=13 e=18 f=22 g=25 h=28 i=31 j=35 k=40 l=44 m=49 (a=53) The differences, in steps, between notes, are 4 5 4 5 4 3 3 3 4 5 4 5 4, nicely symmetric. How many nice-sounding #chords can be found in this scale? If one is allowed to bend some of the notes one or two steps (up or down), which other nice-sounding chords can be found? Is there a site where I can assign arbitrary frequences to computer keyboard keys (53-ET if possible), and play some #tunes?

Replies (3)

@cyllhu@kind.social 2026-04-03 19:54

@jcastroarnaud I'm not sure if you are aware of the xen wiki? That would be a starting point... https://en.xen.wiki/w/53edo (People have made up SO MUCH more scales and names for them than actually written music, so it's still possible to be the first to *actually* do something with a scale.) As for assigning frequencies to keys, ... there is scaleworkshop; I don't particularly like it for playing, but it does that. You'd start writing the scale as 4\53 13\53 and so on, I think?

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@benjamingeer@piaille.fr 2026-04-03 19:54

@jcastroarnaud Maybe @cassana knows?

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@drzdrowie@mastodon.social 2026-04-07 10:09

@jcastroarnaud If by research you mean people talking about numbers they like and by experimentation you mean getting bogged down by impractical scale, then yes, a lot. The thing is that 53edo is largely a theoretical concept and a notational device. It's motivated by it approximating many fairly simple frequency (just intonation) ratios well. The main issue (there are other as well) here is conceptual. It obscures the fundamental structure behind it. Running out of characters.

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