An empirical study of quarter-tone intonation
Donald Bousted · Contemporary Music Review · 2003
The article offers an investigation of the precise tuning outcomes of a recorded, one-take performance of one movement of the author’s nine-movement, quarter-tonal work for two alto recorders A Journey Among Travellers. Using the sound-analysis computer software program AudioSculpt to plot pitch movement throughout the work, the proximity to just and equal-tempered intervals is mapped and an analysis made in terms of closeness to harmonic limit. The conclusions are relevant to composers and performers and have implications for microtonal notations, practice techniques and the exploration of n-tet microtonal structures beyond twenty-four equal divisions of the octave.