Music in Just Intonation - Any good samples?

[Tonal Architect]

Maybe some pop songs?

Well, equal temperament is supposed to sound a bit off, to someone with a sharp ear, so I'm trying to find some good pieces in just intonation in order to get a feel of how it sounds. Youtube seems unable to provide anything other than crappy 90's-midi-sounding clips, and I'd rather see real instruments playing.

Any tips?

[JoshL]

As a general tip, any orchestral recording without a piano. With a piano the instruments play to it. Without leads to all sorts of microtonal variations, where they play to the right chord, rather than the right intonation. String quartets in particular will get you where you want to be.

Pop songs, less likely, mostly because you're dealing with a lot of tempered instruments (guitars, for example). And poorly pitched drums throw everything off (I hated drums for years because of this).

Wendy Carlos' work in the 80s and 90s (Tales of Heaven and Hell) is worth listening to, but sometimes falls prey to the "midi-sounding" trap you mentioned (pet peeve...midi is data and has no sound. but that poorly programmed, general midi soundset stuff that you're talking about, I know what you mean). Technically, it's 15 equal temperament, but you can hear a lot of those rich "right" chords. And if you REALLY want to go off the edge, Glenn Branca and Gyorgi Ligetti are worth listening to.

But in terms of pop context, listen to a guitar playing a power chord versus a major or minor chord. The 5th (and 8va) are a perfect interval, but the third, minor or major, is not. There's a certain "pocket" that a power chord fits into that a more full guitar chord (without retuning) does not.

[AsteriskAmp]

Maybe some pop songs?

Well, equal temperament is supposed to sound a bit off, to someone with a sharp ear, so I'm trying to find some good pieces in just intonation in order to get a feel of how it sounds. Youtube seems unable to provide anything other than crappy 90's-midi-sounding clips, and I'd rather see real instruments playing.

Any tips?
I doubt you'll find anything after the Baroque in Just Intonation. The main reason is because equal temperament is very very convenient, mainly because transposition and key changes are easy and seamless while in Just Intonation you'd have to retune everything (which is just not possible in terms of key changes due to time). Even in the Key an instrument with Just Intonation was tuned to, you'll get odd sounds, more so if you play anything with a 7,9,11 or 13 at the side.

Playing in Just Intonation is also annoying because it's only good for one key, which means unless you have everything in the same key then you have retune. Some electric instruments which have the option to change tuning have a Just intonation setting, but I've never seen anyone use it. Throw on top that the people who care about anything beyond equal temperament are normally not those playing pop songs and you can see why it's unlikely you'll find a sample.

How does one even sing in just tuning is also something I wonder...

[JoshL]

How does one even sing in just tuning is also something I wonder...

Actually, that's easier than you'd think if you have a singer with good relative pitch (as opposed to absolute pitch). The singer won't be thinking C#, they'll be thinking "minor third above A#" (given an A# minor chord). The trick is linking to the intervals (which a purely chromatic instrument, like orchestral strings), rather than an absolute "this is what D sounds like."

[Moff Chumley]

In barbershop music, the melodies are equally tempered but the harmonies are all in just intonation. I imagine that'd apply to most a cappella music.

[Heliomance]

What are equal temperament and just intonation?

[Kneenibble]

What are equal temperament and just intonation?

They're paradigms for determining the distance between intervals. With Just Intonation it is based on ratios of whole numbers, which leads to intervals that are slightly uneven if you measured their frequency but that, strangely, sound more gentle and intimate. With Equal Temperament, the intervals are based on exact measurements of frequency between tones and they sound brighter and harder and slightly dissonant.

There used to be a concert series here every year put on by a really well-known harpsichordist, and he tuned in Just Intonation. It sounded so nice. I wish he would do them again.

Probably someone else could explain it better than I, but I thought I'd give it a shot.



Maybe some pop songs?

Well, equal temperament is supposed to sound a bit off, to someone with a sharp ear, so I'm trying to find some good pieces in just intonation in order to get a feel of how it sounds. Youtube seems unable to provide anything other than crappy 90's-midi-sounding clips, and I'd rather see real instruments playing.

Any tips?

Do you live in a city big enough to have a baroque music society or something similar? If you went to their concert they would probably use historical tuning.