On the political correctness of dissonance

[Kevin Austin <kevin.austin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dissonance and culture?

Which is more dissonant, an augmented sixth or a minor seventh?


I remind my classes that Helmholtz published: 
Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen als physiologische Grundlage für die Theorie der Musik
(On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music)
in 1863, with a reason, as given in the title.

The context is important. Albert wouldn't be born for another 16 years. As I recall, Helmholtz was much more of a 'Rameau-man', than a 'Bach-man'.


The simple experiment, can be done live or with multi-channel sound.

Four voices:
Voice One:      C   D   E   F   G
Voice Two:      G   G#  A   A   G
Voice Three:    C   B   C   C   G
Voice Four:     E   E   E   E   G


Voice one can be top or bottom.

Place the four singers, or loudspeakers close together (strong integration for most non-AP listeners).

Place the four singers / loudspeakers in four far corners of the room.

Does the final G sound like one pitch(class) with an octave, or four different notes, possibly of the same pitch.

In the second example, does auditory streaming dominate, ie, do the "chords" [sic] ever integrate into 'harmony'?

As I look at the four lines written above, I stream four voices, and do not hear the tritone in the second chord, or the semitone/major seventh in the fourth.

One advantage of not having to deal with 'sound' in this experiment is that the voices are not out of tune.



Kevin