Persian 17-tone system, a more chromatic music

The Persian 17-tone system is an extension of the heptatonic scale with three possible variations of the tone in each scale degree. In this video, according to the findings of my master’s thesis at McGill, using distinct colors, I briefly explain how this system works! Also see: DISCLAIMER #1: The selection of the colors, except for the seven natural tones, is arbitrary! I just intended to show three distinct shades of the colors. DISCLAIMER #2: The 17-tone system that underlies Persian music is not 17-Equal-Temperament (17-ET) or 17 Equal Division of the Octave (17-EDO), since in 17-ET/17-EDO the place of fourth and fifth intervals is greatly deviated from their perfect value, which is not favorable at all in Persian music! DISCLAIMER #3: Studying the exact amounts of the intervals in Persian music requires the nine-fold division of a whole tone, which results to a 53-Equal-Temperament (53-ET). But the point is that in practice, we can have an acceptable approximation of all these 53 tones in a neat and polished 17-tone system. If you’re interested to know more about the details, I’ve dedicated a section of my thesis to the topic of tuning and approximation. DISCLAIMER #4: The reason for removing the (so-called devil!) Tritone interval is that it is extremely deviated from its representative in the Harmonic Series. DISCLAIMER #5: Don’t confuse 8 tetrachord genera with different Gushes in the Persian seven dastgahs! DISCLAIMER #6: The arrangement of the tones in this system, and the Abjadic notation system connected to it is a relative-pitch system, which works like a Moveable Do! If you assign the first tone of the 17-tone system to a note different than C, you will lead to a different collection of notes. ------------------------------- 00:00 Introduction 00:54 Issac Newton’s color-note analogy 01:35 Seven color-tones in Diatonic (natural) scale 02:38 Twelve color-tones in Chromatic scale 03:40 My Thesis 04:18 Seventeen color-tones in Persian scale 05:31 Quarter-flat / Quarter-sharp 06:15 Eight tetrachord genera in Persian music 07:20 A More-Chromatic music ------------------------------- Resource: Daemi Milani, Farzad. “Persian-Arabic Seventeen-Tone Temperament: A Microtonal Extension to the Heptatonic Scale“ Master’s thesis, McGill University, 2023. -------------------------------- SoundCloud Spotify Instagram Facebook Telegram #persianmusic #persian_music #persian_dastgah #maqam #maqamat #traditionalmusic #arabicmusic #arabicmusictheory #turkishmusic