Microinterval
In musical acoustics, a microinterval is a pitch distance ( interval ) that is smaller than a semitone distance . Usually the subdivided interval is the octave . However, each octave in a corresponding pitch system does not necessarily contain more than twelve pitches. The frequencies of the tones can have logarithmic intervals. Often micro-intervals are also defined unequal distances within an octave.
The unit of measurement for micro-intervals in music is the cent , one hundredth of a semitone, or one thousand two hundredth of an octave.
Human auditory physiology intervals
The human ability to distinguish between pitch differences is limited. The musically trained human ear can work in the frequency range of
- 16 to 500 Hz approx. 270 pitches with a linear distance of 1.8 Hz and from
- 500 to 15,000 Hz differ from approx. 350 tones with a logarithmic interval of 3 cents .
The concert pitch , the a 1 of the tuning fork with 440 Hz, can thus be between 440.5 and 439.5 Hz without a difference (struck one after the other) being audible.
use
Micro-intervals have practical musical significance in the scales of new music , quarter-tone music and in various non-European musical cultures. Sixth-tone step sequences and twelve-tone systems have also been tried out in European music (for example by Alois Hába ).
Microintervals are also used as a unit of measurement to compare two different scales relative to each other (see intonation ) .