Frequency tracking of ecclesiastical Byzantine music frequency intervals

Two Byzantine music (BM) pieces performed by two well‐established traditional chanters are quantitatively analyzed using modern frequency tracking methods to estimate the tone frequencies of the diatonic scale, one of the three main scales of BM. The two experimental versions of the diatonic scale are compared with each other and with two of many theoretical diatonic scales proposed by traditional BM theorists. This constitutes a measure of how well theoretical scales model performance. Then a direct comparison between Byzantine and common European music scales is attempted. Statistical techniques are employed to reveal any significant differences among the different scales. The attraction effect (AE) or ‘‘elksis,’’ i.e., when a specific secondary tone intentionally takes on different frequency values (micro‐sharpened or micro‐flattened) depending on its direction in the musical script, is measured. This is part of a continuing attempt to quantify the AE empirically. Both main and secondary tones are independently examined to assess their reliance on the AE, but only secondary tones are found subject to it. A connection to the psychophysics of pitch perception illustrates whether the differences among scales are distinguishable by the human ear.