Bill Sethares joins us for a conversation about the relationship between timbre and tuning. Research from Kevin Hobby and Bill Sethares shows us how to design strings with arbitrary inharmonic spectra. One use for this technique is to make inharmonic tunings sound consonant. An example of such an instrument is the Hyperpiano - tuned to the whole tone scale ("hyper-octave scale") but the dissonance curve of the instrument is stretched to double that of a regular harmonic string. The outcome - the octave sounds dissonant but the double-octave sounds consonant! Tune in to this episode for a lot more discussion of unusual timbres and tuning.

NOTES

This was originally a conversation between Bill Sethares, Kevin Hobby, Stephen Weigel and Sevish however due to technical reasons we were unable to retrieve Kevin Hobby's audio. Music Intro: "Ants at the Office" by Carlos Devizia (for 10-tet string) Outro: "Improvviso" by G. Dettori (for Hyperpiano) Socials/Projects http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/ http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/papers/hyperOctave.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcSod-sj2CE (Inharmonic strings and the hyperpiano) https://www.academia.edu/34296564/Inharmonic_strings_and_the_hyperpiano

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