What role has theory played in your compositions and how important is it for people to know the theory behind the music in order to appreciate it? David B. Doty
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Like any composer working in just intonation, I find a certain amount of theory necessary. When choosing from among a potentially unlimited variety of pitches and intervals, some kind of roadmap is essential. Of course, the composer’s ear should be the ultimate judge of what pitches are correct in a given musical context, but one must have knowledge of the probable choices.
However, it is possible to have “too much of a good thing.” Tuning theory can become a fascination in its own right—divorced from the practice of music; it becomes a kind of recreational mathematics.