was a Japanese physicist, music theorist, and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

. He graduated from Tokyo University in 1882 as a science student. On an imperial scholarship, he was sent to Germany for doctoral studies in 1884, together with Mori Ōgai. His dissertation concerned

just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to ...

and practical means to its implementation. Tanaka was an early advocate of

53 equal temperament In music, 53 equal temperament, called 53 TET, 53 EDO, or 53 ET, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 53 equal steps (equal frequency ratios). Each step represents a frequency ratio of 2, or 22.6415 ...

as a means of closely approximating

5-limit Five-limit tuning, 5-limit tuning, or 5-prime-limit tuning (not to be confused with 5-odd-limit tuning), is any system for tuning a musical instrument that obtains the frequency of each note by multiplying the frequency of a given reference note ...

. He was the first to obtain a clear understanding of the temperament, noticing that it tempered out both the schisma, 32805/32768, but also the

kleisma In music theory and tuning, the kleisma (κλείσμα), or semicomma majeur, is a minute and barely perceptible comma type interval important to musical temperaments. It is the difference between six justly tuned minor thirds (each with a freq ...

(), an interval of size 15625/15552 = 2⁻⁶ 3⁻⁵ 5⁶, which is the interval by which five just minor thirds of size 6/5 exactly differs from a just tenth of size 5/2 exactly. Tanaka was the first to take practical note of this interval and gave it its name. Tanaka realized that the 53 equal temperament was completely characterized as a five limit temperament by the fact that it tempers out both the schisma and the kleisma. Tanaka was also an early advocate of the use of the hexagonal lattice for representing the pitch classes of 5-limit just intonation. First proposed in the 18th century by Leonhard Euler, this model was also used by

Hugo Riemann Karl Wilhelm Julius Hugo Riemann (18 July 1849 – 10 July 1919) was a German musicologist and composer who was among the founders of modern musicology. The leading European music scholar of his time, he was active and influential as both a musi ...

in his theory of harmony. Tanaka also suggested what would now be called a Fokker block as a way of viewing the pitch classes of 53 equal temperament. Tanaka proposed a set of harmonic cadences designed to reflect a traditional Japanese aesthetic, acknowledging pentatonic scales and incorporating suspended tones in the manner of the chords played by the shō. Tanaka's suggestion was taken up by a number of 20th-century Japanese composers and theorists. Tanaka was an inventor as well as a theoretician. He designed and patented a just intonation '' Enharmonium'' (

enharmonic In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a written n ...

+ harmonium) with 20 keys and 26 pitches in an octave. He had Johannes Kewitsch, of Berlin, construct a 5-octave version and in 1891 he demonstrated it to

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

in Vienna, who was impressed with its potential. He also constructed an early calculating machine.

External links

*S. Tanaka. Musical Instrument

December 23, 1890 ( ttp://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat443305.pdf pdf version *Anonymous
''Testimonials, Etc. (Translations) Relating to the "Enharmonium," Invented by Shohé Tanaka.''
London, 1891.

Japan, Shizuoka Pref., Hamamatsu Nippon Gakki 1936 G1 - c4 Invented by Shohei Tanaka, 1931. Gakkigaku Shiryôkan (Collection for Organology)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Shohe Music theorists Japanese musical instrument makers 1862 births 1945 deaths

Further reading

External links