Tuning recommendations for beginners
This article contains lists of various users' optimal tunings for a new xenharmonist to start with. It is recommended to pick one early and focus on it so that tuning theory does not become more important than composition.
User lists
Ground
This is my list of the most versatile microtonal tunings, split into two tiers:
Absolute best: 19edo, 22edo, 24edo, 31edo, 41edo.
Second best: 17edo, 26edo, 27edo, 29edo, 37edo.
I intend to add sound examples to make the selection process easier.
- 19edo: The best when it comes to simple practical composition. Similar to 31edo, but smaller.
- 29edo: Translates popular 12edo music well because it has a perfect fifth very close to 3/2. Most composers will be fine using a different tuning though.
- 31edo: Something of a standard. Easy to use and full of consonant intervals, but on the larger side.
- 37edo: A highly efficient and interesting array of intervals, but no clear perfect fifth. Requires an understanding of straddling to be used on the same level as the others.
Main types of scale-based composition theory required for the list, according to me:
- Diatonic: Already known from 12edo, affects everything
- Dicoid: 17, 24, 27, 31, 37, 41
- Slendric: 26, 31, 41
- Semiquartal: 19, 24
- Porcupine: 22, 29, 37
- Aberrismic: 22+
I was not expecting dicoid to be so prevalent, but apparently it can't be avoided. Dicoid is LLLsLLsLLs, generated by a neutral third in the range (2\7, 3\10), half of a diatonic fifth. Its subset mosh is LsLsLss is more melodically useful, but has a wider generator range. The non-dicoid part is unusual and not represented here. I suggest writing composition theory based on two categories of the tuning range, just like we do for diatonic xen theory: ~11/9 and ~16/13, with 17edo about in the middle. Tunings near the middle of the range melodically resemble 12edo depictions of Middle Eastern scales, which new xen composers should basically know what to do with.
Aberrismic is a broad category because blackdye theory can be synthesized from diatonic + dicoid, diasem from diatonic + semiquartal, and so on.
