12 is the simplest scale whose intervals match the harmonic sequence. It's a technology.
12 is the simplest scale whose intervals match the harmonic sequence. It's a technology.
It’s also worth noting that modern 12-TET is not the series of whole number ratios that someone might expect from basing it off a harmonic series [1]. It’s an approximation based off a logarithmic scale. 12 Tone Just (or “Pure”) Intonation sounds pretty weird, and in my opinion, bad. If people had been making music with 12 Tone Just Intonation for the last millennium, maybe it would sound good to me!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_equal_temperament#Just_inte...
To make just temperament sound "good" even relative to the ears of another time period, probably required playing music written for that particular tuning.
As a double bassist, playing pitches repeatably enough to claim any specific temperament would be a lifelong challenge, if it's even attainable. Most of the time, musicians don't think about temperaments. We try to play in tune and sound good.