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Prompted by answers and comments on this question, I'd like to collect up some online references for microtunings and microtonal music. This subject seems to be picking up ever more interest but it remains quite hard to learn about online.

Ideally I'm looking for sources that are substantial but still accessible to a musician with limited background in the theory of tunings. By "accessible" here I mean such a person should be able to get something of value from it, not that every part of it should be non-technical. By "substantial" I mean more than just a blog post or a list.

Areas of interest (to me) include, but are not limited to:

  • Active online communities
  • Sites / pages dedicated to the practicalities of making microtonal music
  • Introductory treatments of technical aspects of tuning theory
  • Accounts of actual music that uses unusual tunings (Western or non-Western, historical or contemporary)

I hope this is allowed here; I'm sure mods will let me know if not. IIRC "recommended reading" posts are allowed on mathematics se, which I'm moe familiar with, so I thought it was worth a shot. If it's allowed to stand I presume this would be a good candidate for community wiki?

helveticat
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  • Apart from being off-topic as search for resources, this is an _absurdly_ too-broad question. Do you consider anything “non-standard tuning” that's not 12-edo? Well, then it's basically like asking about “information on the political systems of countries outside of Switzerland”. – leftaroundabout Oct 22 '20 at 21:33

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Scientific papers in music theory and physics. Synthesis communities may have some interesting things. Harry Partch's "Genesis of a Music" is a must.

For temperament history, there are plenty materials as we have a prolific Worldly historic performance scene. Names are many, but Christensen have edited some books on this. Harpsichordists usually write about this, as well.

Rodrigo B. Furman
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