SamSuka
The Exciting Universe Of Music Theory
The Exciting Universe Of Music Theory

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Hierarchy of Truncations (new!)

This is a better version of a diagram I made back in 2016 or so. These are the truncations of modes of limited transposition, described by Messiaen. A truncation is when you remove tones from a scale to produce a subset with preserved rotational symmetry. Solid arrow indicates removal of 2 tones (preserving symmetry of 6 semitones), a dashed arrow indicates removal of 3 tones (preserving symmetry of 4).

It's fun to note scale 1365 can be arrived at from 1 path through 1911, or via two truncations 2015 and 1495.

This diagram is going in the book.

Hierarchy of Truncations (new!)

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