
Relating Tuning and Timbre - mrob
http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/consemi.html
======
mrob
This is the informal summary of William Sethares' model of musical consonance
and dissonance perception. The full paper is available at:
[http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/paperspdf/consonance.pdf](http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/paperspdf/consonance.pdf)

This model generalizes musical theory to arbitrary timbres and tuning systems.
It shows how the Pythagorean idea of simple integer frequency ratios being
consonant is not fundamental, but a result of the design of common Western
musical instruments. Instruments with enharmonic timbres, such as those used
in Indonesian gamelan music, require different tuning. The underlying
principal remains the same. Combined with synthesized timbres, this model
allows for even more unusual tunings, without the dissonance usually
associated with microtonal music.

