An Overview of Western Tuning
Tuning, as a concept, is not as simple as Western practices make it out to be. The western beliefs on tuning seem natural to us because we have been trained for years to hear them. Perhaps the best example of Western 12-tone tuning is on the piano, which is specifically in equal temperament. This means each pitch is separated by the same interval (100 cents). Instruments of fixed-pitch in Western music (pianos, organs, etc.) are tuned in equal temperament. Other western instruments can be approached using pythagorean tuning (a system of fifths and fourths) or just tuning which attempts to make all chords and harmonies as consonant as possible.
Take these three examples of the same piece played with different tuning methods. Remember that equal temperament is mostly found on pianos, as other instruments are rather hard to play with perfect 100 cent intervals.
Equal Temperament:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6XkgNT20Eg
Hear that the leading tones seem somewhat flat, though octaves are in tune.
Just Intonation:
Notice the half steps now seem to wide and don’t carry the melody as well.
Pythagorean Tuning:
Listen and observe how the wider whole steps and narrow half steps make leading tones pleasing to hear. However, thirds and sixths may seem out of tune.
Of course, no performance of this Bach Air is going to follow the rules of these tuning systems to a matter of cents. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages; the trouble is determining what adjustments to make to each pitch to find a happy medium between these tuning mechanisms.
If this much variability exists in Western tuning, do we as Westerners really have the right to believe our ways are inherently better?
The Gamelan
Perhaps one of the most diverse musical traditions from that we are used to is the Javanese and Balinese Gamelan. Note that Gamelan refers to the type of ensemble, in which many percussive (often pitched) instruments are played. Even within this Indonesian tradition, there are variants in tuning methods. Generally speaking the two main forms of tuning are slendro and selog. Slendro consists of five notes within an octave, evenly spaced, while pelog employs seven pitches in an octave in uneven intervals. Not only are the intervals of tuning foreign to westerners, but the pitches within the scale as well. It is fair to say that there is not one set of specific pitches a gamelan is tuned to, while you would make the opposite argument about a piano or organ (assume 440hz as a standard western tuning pitch).
Slendro and pelog tunings:
Notice that unlike our western instruments, which can usually play the scale we need without much change, the gamelan requires an entire change in instrument to go between tunings. This makes for song pieces set in slendro tuning and some set in pelog; these would be played on different instruments. Traditional Indonesian gamelan players appreciate these variants in pitches, while a western trained ear pay perceive them as out of tune. In fact, most gamelan groups are not “tuned” to one another, causing discrepancies depending on which gamelan you listen to:
This is a chart showing a comparison between gamelan ensembles and what pitches they use. “ding” refers to the lowest sounding note while “ding octave” is the upper note. The notes between are placed at their respective interval. While the ratios between notes remain somewhat similar (such as the smaller distances between “dung” and “dang”), playing all these “dung” and “dang” together would result in a wide range of notes.
In Conclusion
The idea of tuning is so arbitrary that it is hard to say if there is a correct way of tuning or even if one system is better than another. Even in our Western culture there are multiple different ways to tune one instrument. Tuning is one of the many ways cultures identify themselves through music. A twelve tone chromatic scale on a piano sounds “correct” to our ears while a five tone Slendro scale will sound odd or out of tune, however, that does not make the Chromatic scale any more “correct” than the Slendro scale. How a culture tunes their instruments is simply a representation of how they use music to express themselves. Therefore, every method of tuning is just as reputable as the next.
Hannah Gorham: Writing
Brian Loughridge: Media
Works Referred:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamelan
http://www.gamelan-bali.eu/pitch_and_tuning.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_temperament
Donellan, Grant. "Tuning Systems". 13 February 2016. Print.
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