40edo

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Revision as of 14:48, 4 March 2026 by Lériendil (talk | contribs) (Created page with "'''40edo''', or 40 equal divisions of the octave (sometimes called '''40-TET''' or '''40-tone equal temperament'''), is the equal tuning featuring steps of (1200/40) ~= 30 cents, 40 of which stack to the perfect octave 2/1. 40edo is a straddle-3, or dual-3, system, as it has both the 5edo fifth of 720{{c}}, and a very flat diatonic fifth at 690{{c}}, being the smallest 5n EDO to have a diatonic perfect fifth. == General theory == === JI approxi...")
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40edo, or 40 equal divisions of the octave (sometimes called 40-TET or 40-tone equal temperament), is the equal tuning featuring steps of (1200/40) ~= 30 cents, 40 of which stack to the perfect octave 2/1.

40edo is a straddle-3, or dual-3, system, as it has both the 5edo fifth of 720¢, and a very flat diatonic fifth at 690¢, being the smallest 5n EDO to have a diatonic perfect fifth.

General theory

JI approximation

While 40edo has two intervals that can be considered a perfect fifth, its patent 3/2 is the flat, diatonic one. The 7th harmonic is similar, with the 7/4 inherited from 5edo (960¢) being a closer approximation compared to a very sharp mapping at 990¢; as is the 11th. However, 40edo approximates 5/4 rather well, with its 390¢ interval, and due to being a multiple of 10edo and 4edo, it represents the 13th and 19th harmonics through those EDOs' respective approximations.

Therefore, the case is not dissimilar to 29edo's treatment of harmonics 5, 7, 11, and 13, as 40edo's patent mappings of 3, 7, and 11 are relatively unambiguous, though damaged, and approximately equally flat. Combining this with primes 5, 13, 19, and 23, we find that 40edo approximates a rather broad subgroup of 2.5.7/3.11/3.13.19.23, and a consistent slight sharp tendency for the basis elements in this group.

As 40edo approximates 9 better than it does 3, a slight extension of this group would be to treat 40edo as a dual-{3 7 11 17}, implying 9, 21, 33, and 51 as basis elements; this is the interpretation as a subset of 80edo. Of course, the patent approximations can still be used, an interesting consequence of which is that 6/5 is mapped to the quarter-octave (300¢), like it is in 12edo (though note that this is not the best 6/5, the 330¢ interval being slightly closer).

Approximation of prime harmonics in 40edo
Harmonic 2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31
Error Absolute (¢) 0.0 -12.0 +3.7 -8.8 -11.3 -0.5 -15.0 +2.5 +1.7 -9.6 -5.0
Relative (%) 0.0 -39.9 +12.3 -29.4 -37.7 -1.8 -49.9 +8.3 +5.8 -31.9 -16.8
Steps

(reduced)

40

(0)

63

(23)

93

(13)

112

(32)

138

(18)

148

(28)

163

(3)

170

(10)

181

(21)

194

(34)

198

(38)

Edostep interpretations

This page or section is a work in progress. It may lack sufficient justification, content, or organization, and is subject to future overhaul.

Intervals and notation

This page or section is a work in progress. It may lack sufficient justification, content, or organization, and is subject to future overhaul.

Compositional theory

Chords

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Scales

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ViewTalkEditEqual temperaments
EDOs
Macrotonal 57891011
12-23 121314151617181920212223
24-35 242526272931323435
36-47 36373940414344454647
48-59 4850515354565758
60-71 60636465676870
72-83 72778081
84-95 848789909394
Large EDOs 99104111118130140152159171217224239270306311612665
Nonoctave equal temperaments
Tritave 4913172639
Fifth 891120
Other