The WTF Bach Podcast What’s a Pythagorean Comma? (Introduction to Temperament)
More than simply, “in tune” or “out of tune” a temperament is a solution to the ancient problem of creating a circle out of a spiral. By the time Bach had his shake at this problem, the musical world had advanced far enough, setting the stage for his great mind to create a well-tempered solution that allowed him to compose in all 24 keys. Not all keys sound the same in the vast majority of temperaments, in fact, in only our modern equal-tempered one do we find all keys equal. Does our insistence on this system destroy the whole point of temperament? Or is it the most perfect arrangement of tones?
Plus:
-Actually listen to a pythagorean comma, the root of the problem...
-The circle of (pure) fifths
-Bach chorales in different temperaments
-The Art of Fugue, 6th fugue in a funky temperament
Try the frequencies experiment yourself!
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