Category Archives: music+verse

increasing harmony

Posted on Thursday, 2026 April 30 by Anton

In 1987 I conceived a theoretical improvement on the quarter-comma meantone scale: the generators are 2−5/4 31/4 57/16 (a ‘tone’, 194.501 cents) and 27/2 3−1/2 5−9/8 (a ‘semitone’, 114.420 cents). I previously showed a guitar concept fretted accordingly; see that … Continue reading →

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David Bowie

Posted on Wednesday, 2025 April 02 by Anton

Somehow I never had anything by David Bowie in my collection (other than a German version of “Heroes” on some sampler album, and “Under Pressure” on the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack) until recently when I picked up Best of Bowie … Continue reading →

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rolling top hits

Posted on Friday, 2023 April 07 by Anton

Rhino Records made a series of CDs of Billboard Top Ten songs for various years. I wonder, if you summed every sequence of 52 consecutive weeks, how many songs would show in those Rolling Top Tens that never made a … Continue reading →

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a question of aspect

Posted on Tuesday, 2022 October 25 by Anton

The refrain of P. F. Sloan’s song “Let Me Be” (recorded by the Turtles) concludes, I am what I am and that’s all I ever can be. Defiance or fatalism?

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more bent frets

Posted on Monday, 2022 July 18 by Anton

Some simplified meantone guitars (here showing only the first octave): pentatonic (GDAEB); seven naturals; three flats and two sharps; six flats and six sharps.

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31 frets

Posted on Sunday, 2022 May 22 by Anton

Here is the neck of a guitar that I’d like to have made someday, if I should ever develop the dexterity to make it worthwhile. The blue stripes show where standard frets would be, for comparison. The tuning is my … Continue reading →

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a wave in the air

Posted on Wednesday, 2020 December 16 by Anton

“Radar Love” (1973) is the biggest hit of the Dutch band Golden Earring. Some folks strongly prefer a cover (1989) by White Lion. I don’t; is there a reason for that, other than my notorious conservatism? White Lion’s version fills … Continue reading →

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