Xenharmlib (music theory library) adds support for Just Intonation
The music theory software library Xenharmlib has released version 0.4.0, introducing support for Just Intonation and various regular temperaments. This update allows the library to mathematically represent a wide range of global musical traditions and experimental compositions.
Why it matters
It provides a standardized, open-source tool for musicologists and composers to analyze and create complex, non-Western, or experimental tuning systems.
As far as new features are concerned, version 0.4.0 is not a step but a leap forward. Xenharmlib’s core has been refactored to allow not only equal-division temperaments but also tunings with multiple generator intervals. This means that it now supports the entire range of regular temperaments, including Just Intonation.
With the sole exception of irregular temperaments (such as the “Werckmeister temperaments”), xenharmlib can finally represent the entire cosmos of musical traditions in mathematical form. It can now be used for the accurate analysis of music from the Byzantine Empire, the European Renaissance, Indian classical music, the Indonesian gamelan tradition, Arabic Maqam and 20th-century American experimental music (such as the compositions of Harry Partch or Ben Johnston)
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