Open Access“Machine Sound” and Microtonal Music
Author(s) -
Natalia Nowack,
AUTHOR_ID
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
hudožestvennaâ kulʹtura
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2226-0072
DOI - 10.51678/2226-0072-2021-3-278-297
Subject(s) - polyphony , octave (electronics) , tone (literature) , natural (archaeology) , computer science , musical , sound (geography) , speech recognition , acoustics , point (geometry) , word (group theory) , linguistics , art , visual arts , history , mathematics , philosophy , physics , archaeology , geometry
In the essay devoted to the invention of “machine” (or electromechanical) sound, one tries to rethink the familiar word combination “machine and artificial”. The latter one is not a word game. By the user-friendly separation of an octave into 12 uniform tone steps, the modern tonal system of the western hemisphere is therefore artificial by definition. In contrast to that, the vocal polyphony of the Renaissance is based on an increased usage of acoustically pure or natural intervals. Early attempts to extend instrumental compositions with the benefits of just intonation failed. An unexpected support for microtonal structures within instrumental music came from machines. Primarily by the dynamophone, one of the first electromechanical instruments, developed close to the beginning of the 20th century. Beside its primary task — the additive synthesis — its inventor Thaddeus Cahill aimed for a union of sound art and the laws of acoustics. Therefore, this instrument had the sheer amount of 36 keys per octave. From the point of view of representatives of the musical avant-garde, the control over pitch that came with the mastery of sound synthesis allowed the use of new tonal systems.