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Scale 157: "BALian"

Scale 157: BALian, Ian Ring Music Theory

Bracelet Diagram

The bracelet shows tones that are in this scale, starting from the top (12 o'clock), going clockwise in ascending semitones. The "i" icon marks imperfect tones that do not have a tone a fifth above. Dotted lines indicate axes of symmetry.

Tonnetz Diagram

Tonnetz diagrams are popular in Neo-Riemannian theory. Notes are arranged in a lattice where perfect 5th intervals are from left to right, major third are northeast, and major 6th intervals are northwest. Other directions are inverse of their opposite. This diagram helps to visualize common triads (they're triangles) and circle-of-fifth relationships (horizontal lines).

Analysis

Cardinality

Cardinality is the count of how many pitches are in the scale.

5 (pentatonic)

Pitch Class Set

The tones in this scale, expressed as numbers from 0 to 11

{0,2,3,4,7}

Forte Number

A code assigned by theorist Allen Forte, for this pitch class set and all of its transpositional (rotation) and inversional (reflection) transformations.

5-11

Rotational Symmetry

Some scales have rotational symmetry, sometimes known as "limited transposition". If there are any rotational symmetries, these are the intervals of periodicity.

none

Reflection Axes

If a scale has an axis of reflective symmetry, then it can transform into itself by inversion. It also implies that the scale has Ridge Tones. Notably an axis of reflection can occur directly on a tone or half way between two tones.

none

Palindromicity

A palindromic scale has the same pattern of intervals both ascending and descending.

no

Chirality

A chiral scale can not be transformed into its inverse by rotation. If a scale is chiral, then it has an enantiomorph.

yes
enantiomorph: 1825

Hemitonia

A hemitone is two tones separated by a semitone interval. Hemitonia describes how many such hemitones exist.

2 (dihemitonic)

Cohemitonia

A cohemitone is an instance of two adjacent hemitones. Cohemitonia describes how many such cohemitones exist.

1 (uncohemitonic)

Imperfections

An imperfection is a tone which does not have a perfect fifth above it in the scale. This value is the quantity of imperfections in this scale.

3

Modes

Modes are the rotational transformations of this scale. This number includes the scale itself, so the number is usually the same as its cardinality; unless there are rotational symmetries then there are fewer modes.

5

Prime Form

Describes if this scale is in prime form, using the Starr/Rahn algorithm.

yes

Generator

Indicates if the scale can be constructed using a generator, and an origin.

none

Deep Scale

A deep scale is one where the interval vector has 6 different digits, an indicator of maximum hierarchization.

no

Interval Structure

Defines the scale as the sequence of intervals between one tone and the next.

[2, 1, 1, 3, 5]

Interval Vector

Describes the intervallic content of the scale, read from left to right as the number of occurences of each interval size from semitone, up to six semitones.

<2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0>

Proportional Saturation Vector

First described by Michael Buchler (2001), this is a vector showing the prominence of intervals relative to the maximum and minimum possible for the scale's cardinality. A saturation of 0 means the interval is present minimally, a saturation of 1 means it is the maximum possible.

<0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.333, 0.5, 0>

Interval Spectrum

The same as the Interval Vector, but expressed in a syntax used by Howard Hanson.

p2m2n2s2d2

Distribution Spectra

Describes the specific interval sizes that exist for each generic interval size. Each generic <g> has a spectrum {n,...}. The Spectrum Width is the difference between the highest and lowest values in each spectrum.

<1> = {1,2,3,5}
<2> = {2,3,4,7,8}
<3> = {4,5,8,9,10}
<4> = {7,9,10,11}

Spectra Variation

Determined by the Distribution Spectra; this is the sum of all spectrum widths divided by the scale cardinality.

4

Maximally Even

A scale is maximally even if the tones are optimally spaced apart from each other.

no

Maximal Area Set

A scale is a maximal area set if a polygon described by vertices dodecimetrically placed around a circle produces the maximal interior area for scales of the same cardinality. All maximally even sets have maximal area, but not all maximal area sets are maximally even.

no

Interior Area

Area of the polygon described by vertices placed for each tone of the scale dodecimetrically around a unit circle, ie a circle with radius of 1.

1.683

Polygon Perimeter

Perimeter of the polygon described by vertices placed for each tone of the scale dodecimetrically around a unit circle.

5.381

Myhill Property

A scale has Myhill Property if the Distribution Spectra have exactly two specific intervals for every generic interval.

no

Centre of Gravity Distance

When tones of a scale are imagined as physical objects of equal weight arranged around a unit circle, this is the distance from the center of the circle to the center of gravity for all the tones. A perfectly balanced scale has a CoG distance of zero.

0.447213

Ridge Tones

Ridge Tones are those that appear in all transpositions of a scale upon the members of that scale. Ridge Tones correspond directly with axes of reflective symmetry.

none

Propriety

Also known as Rothenberg Propriety, named after its inventor. Propriety describes whether every specific interval is uniquely mapped to a generic interval. A scale is either "Proper", "Strictly Proper", or "Improper".

Improper

Heteromorphic Profile

Defined by Norman Carey (2002), the heteromorphic profile is an ordered triple of (c, a, d) where c is the number of contradictions, a is the number of ambiguities, and d is the number of differences. When c is zero, the scale is Proper. When a is also zero, the scale is Strictly Proper.

(14, 8, 38)

Coherence Quotient

The Coherence Quotient is a score between 0 and 1, indicating the proportion of coherence failures (ambiguity or contradiction) in the scale, against the maximum possible for a cardinality. A high coherence quotient indicates a less complex scale, whereas a quotient of 0 indicates a maximally complex scale.

0.12

Sameness Quotient

The Sameness Quotient is a score between 0 and 1, indicating the proportion of differences in the heteromorphic profile, against the maximum possible for a cardinality. A higher quotient indicates a less complex scale, whereas a quotient of 0 indicates a scale with maximum complexity.

0.05

Generator

This scale has no generator.

Common Triads

These are the common triads (major, minor, augmented and diminished) that you can create from members of this scale.

* Pitches are shown with C as the root

Triad TypeTriad*Pitch ClassesDegreeEccentricityCloseness Centrality
Major TriadsC{0,4,7}110.5
Minor Triadscm{0,3,7}110.5

The following pitch classes are not present in any of the common triads: {2}

Parsimonious Voice Leading Between Common Triads of Scale 157. Created by Ian Ring ©2019 cm cm C C cm->C

Above is a graph showing opportunities for parsimonious voice leading between triads*. Each line connects two triads that have two common tones, while the third tone changes by one generic scale step.

Diameter1
Radius1
Self-Centeredyes

Modes

Modes are the rotational transformation of this scale. Scale 157 can be rotated to make 4 other scales. The 1st mode is itself.

2nd mode:
Scale 1063
Scale 1063: GOMian, Ian Ring Music TheoryGOMian
3rd mode:
Scale 2579
Scale 2579: PUPian, Ian Ring Music TheoryPUPian
4th mode:
Scale 3337
Scale 3337: VAFian, Ian Ring Music TheoryVAFian
5th mode:
Scale 929
Scale 929: FUJian, Ian Ring Music TheoryFUJian

Prime

This is the prime form of this scale.

Complement

The pentatonic modal family [157, 1063, 2579, 3337, 929] (Forte: 5-11) is the complement of the heptatonic modal family [379, 1583, 1969, 2237, 2839, 3467, 3781] (Forte: 7-11)

Inverse

The inverse of a scale is a reflection using the root as its axis. The inverse of 157 is 1825

Scale 1825Scale 1825: LECian, Ian Ring Music TheoryLECian

Interval Matrix

Each row is a generic interval, cells contain the specific size of each generic. Useful for identifying contradictions and ambiguities.

Contradictions (14)

Ambiguities(8)

Hierarchizability

Based on the work of Niels Verosky, hierarchizability is the measure of repeated patterns with "place-finding" remainder bits, applied recursively to the binary representation of a scale. For a full explanation, read Niels' paper, Hierarchizability as a Predictor of Scale Candidacy. The variable k is the maximum number of remainders allowed at each level of recursion, for them to count as an increment of hierarchizability. A high hierarchizability score is a good indicator of scale candidacy, ie a measure of usefulness for producing pleasing music. There is a strong correlation between scales with maximal hierarchizability and scales that are in popular use in a variety of world musical traditions.

kHierarchizabilityBreakdown PatternDiagram
11101110010000157k = 1h = 1
21101110010000157k = 2h = 1
31101110010000157k = 3h = 1
43111([0][0]1[0])0([0][0]1[0])157k = 4h = 3
53111([0][0]1[0])0([0][0]1[0])157k = 5h = 3

Enantiomorph

Only scales that are chiral will have an enantiomorph. Scale 157 is chiral, and its enantiomorph is scale 1825

Scale 1825Scale 1825: LECian, Ian Ring Music TheoryLECian

Center of Gravity

If tones of the scale are imagined as identical physical objects spaced around a unit circle, the center of gravity is the point where the scale is balanced.

Position

with origin in the center

(0.44641, -0.026795)
Distance from Center0.447213
Angle in degrees

measured clockwise starting from the root.

86.565
Angle in cents

100 cents = 1 semitone.

288.55

Transformations:

In the abbreviation, the subscript number after "T" is the number of semitones of tranposition, "M" means the pitch class is multiplied by 5, and "I" means the result is inverted. Operation is an identical way to express the same thing; the syntax is <a,b> where each tone of the set x is transformed by the equation y = ax + b. A note about the multipliers: multiplying by 1 changes nothing, multiplying by 11 produces the same result as inversion. 5 is the only non-degenerate multiplier, with the multiplier 7 producing the inverse of 5.

Abbrev Operation Result Abbrev Operation Result
T0 <1,0> 157       T0I <11,0> 1825
T1 <1,1> 314      T1I <11,1> 3650
T2 <1,2> 628      T2I <11,2> 3205
T3 <1,3> 1256      T3I <11,3> 2315
T4 <1,4> 2512      T4I <11,4> 535
T5 <1,5> 929      T5I <11,5> 1070
T6 <1,6> 1858      T6I <11,6> 2140
T7 <1,7> 3716      T7I <11,7> 185
T8 <1,8> 3337      T8I <11,8> 370
T9 <1,9> 2579      T9I <11,9> 740
T10 <1,10> 1063      T10I <11,10> 1480
T11 <1,11> 2126      T11I <11,11> 2960
Abbrev Operation Result Abbrev Operation Result
T0M <5,0> 3337      T0MI <7,0> 535
T1M <5,1> 2579      T1MI <7,1> 1070
T2M <5,2> 1063      T2MI <7,2> 2140
T3M <5,3> 2126      T3MI <7,3> 185
T4M <5,4> 157       T4MI <7,4> 370
T5M <5,5> 314      T5MI <7,5> 740
T6M <5,6> 628      T6MI <7,6> 1480
T7M <5,7> 1256      T7MI <7,7> 2960
T8M <5,8> 2512      T8MI <7,8> 1825
T9M <5,9> 929      T9MI <7,9> 3650
T10M <5,10> 1858      T10MI <7,10> 3205
T11M <5,11> 3716      T11MI <7,11> 2315

The transformations that map this set to itself are: T0, T4M

Nearby Scales:

These are other scales that are similar to this one, created by adding a tone, removing a tone, or moving one note up or down a semitone.


This scale analysis was created by Ian Ring, Canadian Composer of works for Piano, and total music theory nerd. Scale notation generated by VexFlow and Lilypond, graph visualization by Graphviz, audio by TiMIDIty and FFMPEG. All other diagrams and visualizations are © Ian Ring. Some scale names used on this and other pages are ©2005 William Zeitler (http://allthescales.org) used with permission.

Pitch spelling algorithm employed here is adapted from a method by Uzay Bora, Baris Tekin Tezel, and Alper Vahaplar. (DOI, Patent owner: Dokuz Eylül University, Used with Permission.

Tons of background resources contributed to the production of this summary; for a list of these peruse this Bibliography. Special thanks to Richard Repp for helping with technical accuracy, and George Howlett for assistance with naming the Carnatic ragas. Thanks to Niels Verosky for collaborating on the Hierarchizability diagrams. Thanks to u/howaboot for inventing the Center of Gravity metrics.