The β scale is a non-octave-repeating musical scale

Musical scale

In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...

 which splits the perfect fourth

Perfect fourth

In classical music from Western culture, a fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions , and the perfect fourth is a fourth spanning five semitones. For example, the ascending interval from C to the next F is a perfect fourth, as the note F lies five semitones above C, and there...

 (just: 498.04 cents , 12-tet: 500 cents , Beta scale: 512 cents ) into two equal parts, or eight equal parts of approximately 64 cents each . This totals approximately 18.75 steps per octave

Octave

In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...

. It may be derived from using 11:6 to approximate the interval 3:2/5:4, which equals 6:5 .

It was invented by and is a signature of Wendy Carlos

Wendy Carlos

Wendy Carlos is an American composer and electronic musician. Carlos first came to notice in the late 1960s with recordings made on the Moog synthesizer, then a relatively new and unknown instrument; most notable were LPs of synthesized Bach and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film A...

 and used on her album Beauty in the Beast

Beauty in the Beast

Beauty in the Beast is an album by Wendy Carlos using alternate tunings and scales and influenced by jazz and world music. On the back she includes a quote by Van Gogh: "I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it."...

(1986).

One advantage to the beta scale over the alpha scale

Alpha scale

The α scale is a non-octave-repeating musical scale which splits the minor third into two equal parts, or four equal parts of approximately 78 cents each . This totals approximately 15.39 steps per octave...

 is that 15 steps, 957.494 cents, is a reasonable approximation to the seventh harmonic (7:4, 968.826 cents) though both have nice triads

Triad (music)

In music and music theory, a triad is a three-note chord that can be stacked in thirds. Its members, when actually stacked in thirds, from lowest pitched tone to highest, are called:* the Root...

 .

The delta scale

Delta scale

The δ scale is a non-octave repeating musical scale. It may be regarded as the beta scale's reciprocal since it is, "as far 'down' the circle from α as β is 'up.'" As such it would split the minor second into eight equal parts of approximately 14 cents each...

 may be regarded as the beta scale's reciprocal since it is, "as far 'down' the (0 3 6 9

Diminished seventh chord

A diminished seventh chord is a four note chord that comprises a diminished triad plus the interval of a diminished seventh above the root. Thus it is , or enharmonically , of any major scale; for example, C diminished-seventh would be , or enharmonically...

) circle from α as β is 'up.'"

External links

• Carlos, Wendy (1989–96). "Three Asymmetric Divisions of the Octave", WendyCarlos.com.