--- In tuning@y..., "lev36" <lev@h...> wrote:
> --- In tuning@y..., "paulerlich" <paul@s...> wrote:
> > --- In tuning@y..., "lev36" <lev@h...> wrote:
> > > or to an older, somewhat
> > > Pythagorean system devised by al-Farabi (c.f. Touma, 1995,
pp.18-
> > > 28), which includes tones close to 24-TET quartertones.
> >
> > are you sure about that? the medieval arabic system, which
> consists
> > of an extended chain of pure 3/2 fifths, does not resemble 24-
> equal
> > quartertones at all, but rather is extremely close to a subset of
> the
> > turkish koma system.
>
> Touma (p. 21) gives an example of one of the tone rows devised by
al-
> Farabi in the 10th c. CE. Expressed in cents:
> C 0
> D 204
> E 355
> F 498
> G 702
> A 853
> B 996
> C 1200
>
> As you can see, the third and the 6th are very neary quarter-tones,
> while the rest resemble Pythagorean values.

the whole thing is very close to a subset of 24-equal.

ok, i was thinking of something different, then, not al-farabi . . .
i'll have to look it up . . . it's the one in partch's and
helmholtz's books . . .

> Of the above, 162/149 clocks in at 145 cumulative cents, and 27/22
> at 355 cents. Touma goes as far as saying of this 355 cent interval
> that the approximately three-quarter tone interval is what gives
> Arabian music its particular character, as early as the 10th
century.

that's fine by me. there is a 17-tone chain of 3/2 fifths, though,
that's often called the 'medieval arabic' system, and some have
claimed (erroneously, i feel) that it continues to govern arabic
music to this day. it doesn't have any neutral thirds in it (355
cents, or 345 cents, or anything in the vicinity), so it seems to be
far removed from any arabic music i've heard.