Just intonation vs 12-tone equal temperament demonstration | Barbershop tag

Описание: Yesterday, I recorded the tag "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" (originally performed by the Four Freshmen) to demonstrate how just intonation affects harmony to the quartet I sing with. I’d like to share it so you can also hear the difference.

First, I sang the tag as purely in just intonation as I could, and then I pitch-corrected everything to standard 12-tone equal temperament. The results are pretty fascinating.

What I noticed is that chords that sounded rich and unique in just intonation lost their charm in equal temperament. For example, the chords on "When a" in bar 6 feel dissonant and messy in 12-TET, but in just intonation they’re incredibly cool and natural. The run in bar 9 also sounds much tighter in just intonation.

It’s really interesting to listen to each individual part on its own. Hearing them separately makes the impact of just intonation even clearer. In the lead part, there are so many notes that feel “off” compared to what you’d expect. But when all the voices blend together, they resonate as one cohesive melody.

If you focus on the tenor only recording, around bars 15 and 16, you’ll notice I sing the same Db twice, but it sounds totally different depending on what note the bass part is singing.

I'm also sorry to the people with perfect pitch who are bothered by me not transposing the sheet music. It was less effort for me to sightread it in a different key than to adjust the sheet music. :)

I hope this demonstration gave you a better idea of the impact of just intonation on harmony! I am very fascinated by this concept and hope to share that with you.

You can find the sheet music here:
https://www.barbershoptags.com/tag-52...)

0:00 just intonation
0:51 12-tone equal temperament
1:44 just intonation (baritone only)
2:37 just intonation (lead only)
3:27 just intonation (tenor only)