Sagittal integration with Tall Kite color notation

[George Secor]

Originally posted 7 June 2018
UPDATED 11 June 2018

This message involves a proposed integration of a selection of the most common Sagittal symbols with the Tall Kite color notation system that is currently under development. This message has been cross-posted with one on the Tall Kite forum so that others may see the actual Sagittal symbols that are supposed to represent certain ASCII characters (r, y, v, m, A, and b).

UPDATE: The color notation topic on the Tall Kite forum is at:
http://www.tallkite.com/forum/index.php/topic,86.0.html

The Tall Kite color notation system includes a staff notation that uses the initial (lower-case) letters of colors as symbols to indicate microtonal pitch alterations to nominal notes. This proposal recommends the integration of Sagittal symbols (as an option to color-initial characters) and involves the establishment of symbol-color assignments based on the resemblance of certain symbols to those characters, as follows:

red = , 7-comma (63:64) up, which resembles ed; used for 9/7
yellow = , 5-comma (80:81) down, which resembles ellow; used for 5/4
Colors for primes 11 and 13 (presented below) will go here, which will be used for 11/9 and 39/32.
Azure = , 5-comma up, which resembles zure; used for 6/5
blue = , 7-comma down resembles lue: used for 7/6

Note that the progression of red, yellow, (11-13 gap), azure, and blue is a correlation between color wavelength and the size of the ratio of the 3rd that is notated using that color.

It is my understanding that blue has been removed from consideration because a lower-case "b" might be confused with a flat symbol on the staff. However, I recommend that, since an upper-case "A" must be used to establish the resemblance between the initial letter and the appearance of the Sagittal symbol, upper-case "A" and "B" could be used on the staff to indicate azure and blue, respectively.

UPDATE: Hooray! Evidently blue was reinstated around the time that this message was posted here. My upper-case suggestion does not satisfactorily solve the main problem, which involves the requirement that "b" represent both "blue" and "flat" in chord notation. I also suggested that the color be named "cobalt blue", so that "c" could be used (instead of "b") as the initial character in the color notation (while "b" would continue to serve as a mnemonic for "cobalt Blue" for the Sagittal symbol ). Kite's reply was that "cobalt" would not be readily recognized by many non-English speakers, and I countered that cobalt is not only a chemical element (with international abbreviation "Co"), but also "cobalt blue" is a paint pigment that has been used for centuries. Since I have not received any further response, I have just let the matter go, since I was just trying to be helpful, and, anyway, it's not my problem. As far as I can tell, they're still working on a solution.

Now for primes 11 and 13.

violet = ; 11M-diesis (32:33) down resembles iolet; used for 27/22
This one does not fit into the rainbow color scheme; however, its color complement, chartreuse (or yellow-green), can be used for the 11M-diesis up symbol:
chartreuse (violet complement) = ; 11M-diesis up; used for 11/9

magenta = ; 13-Ldiesis (26:27) up resembles agenta
This one also does not fit into the rainbow color scheme; however, its color complement, green, can be used for the 13L-diesis down symbol, , which resembles a "W" (or upside-down "M"):
green (magenta complement) = ; 13L-diesis down, used for 39/32 (and 13/8)

UPDATE: I am now recommending that the magenta line be replaced by the following two lines, limiting my color proposal to the 11 limit for the color notation, but leaving an alternate (13-limit) color interpretation open when the colors are used on the Terpstra keyboard (since the two ratios are conflated when mapping all of the important EDOs of 55 tones or less on the keyboard):
magenta = ; 11L-diesis (704:729) up resembles agenta
magenta (alternate interpretation) = ; 13L-diesis (26:27) up resembles agenta

So the color rainbow of 3rds would be:

red = , 7-comma (63:64) up, which resembles ed; used for 9/7
yellow = , 5-comma (80:81) down, which resembles ellow; used for 5/4
chartreuse (violet complement) = ; 11M-diesis up; used for 11/9 in certain keys (such as D)
green (magenta complement) = ; 13L-diesis down, used for 39/32
Azure = , 5-comma up, which resembles zure; used for 6/5
blue = , 7-comma down resembles lue: used for 7/6

UPDATE: I am now recommending that the color name "yellow-green" be used in place of "chartreuse", because non-English speakers may not be familiar with that name. (Hmm, it looks like a French word to me.)

UPDATE: I am now recommending that the green line above be replaced by the following two lines:
green (magenta complement) = ; 11L-diesis down, used for 11/9 in certain keys (such as C)
green (alternate interpretation) = ; 13L-diesis down, used for 39/32

If these color assignments are accepted, they may then be used to identify key groups on the Terpstra keyboard (which is still under development) by means of LEDs under each key, which will be programmed to change colors according to the tuning. Additional colors (a total of 16) will be required to accommodate all of the most popular EDOs (including 41, 43, 46, 50, 53, and 55) possible on the keyboard. This proposal is therefore being presented as a possible starting point, and further discussion will be required to bring it to completion.