In this scale, the ratios between successive steps are either the whole tone 9/8 (204 cents) or the diatonic semitone 256/243 (90 cents). However, the corresponding disadvantage is that no matter how ...

In defence of Pythagoras, that he showed us music was based on harmonic intervals was a very impressive analysis with the primitive tools at his disposal. What is more, some of nature’s most wonderful ...

Julian Treasure, in his work on “Sound Affects” states, “Almost every sound we hear comprises rich harmonics—overtones that we may not notice, but that are essential in producing the timbre and the ...

A new theory suggests a natural basis for our preference for musical consonance. But does such a preference exist at all, wonders Philip Ball. What was avant-garde yesterday is often blandly ...