Music Banter - View Single Post - How do you play a quarter-tone on a trumpet?

**Frownland** · 06-08-2013, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herbythefornicationbug

I am trying to compose music in the Arabic scale. Now for those familiar with Middle-Eastern music, it uses a 24-note system. This is the regular Western 12-tone system but with exactly 12 other notes exactly in between each Western tone.

If D-flat is the 1st and 2nd valves fully depressed on the trumpet, then would D-flat-flat (quarter tone between C and D-flat) be the 1st and 2nd valves halfway depressed? Or is it not that simple?

Also, if I rig my guitar with extra struts to affect the 24-tone system, where would those struts need to be constructed? Not exactly half-way between the two main struts, I imagine. Perhaps 2/3 of the way?

Thank you.

I'm awful at brass instruments, so any advice from me would only be a hindrance. For the fret placement though, you can use a fret placement calculator that can give you the right measurements that you can do yourself if you have a precise enough way to measure it out. The ratio is something odd but I don't quite recall what it is, but here's a link to one of the calculators: ExMI’s Fret-Placement Calculator.