Shohé Tanaka

Shohei Tanaka (Japanese田中 正 平; * May 15, 1862, † October 16, 1945 ) was a Japanese physicist, music theorist and inventor.

Work

Shohei graduated in 1882 from a science degree at the University of Tokyo. With a state scholarship, he was sent together with Mori Ogai to Germany, where he studied with Hermann Helmholtz and Carl Stumpf. Tanaka's dissertation concerned the pure sentiment and practical tools to implement them.

Tanaka proposed the division of the octave into 53 equal steps before as an accurate approximation for pure major and minor chords. When first he came to a clear understanding of this mood. The pure major third is approximated by the 17th stage and the perfect fifth through the 31 level. Tanaka noted that also be tempered because of the Kleisma by commas both because of schism, as. Moreover, he showed that the 53 -step humor is the only equal temperament with this property to temper both schism and Kleisma.

To represent the classes of pitches that occur during progression in perfect fifths and thirds, Tanaka used as well as the music theorist Hugo Riemann Euler's tone lattice. Tanaka's construction of the 53 -stage mood was later generalized by Adriaan Daniël Fokker.

Tanaka proposed a class of harmonic cadences before, to be played by a traditional Japanese aesthetic of sound, with pentatonic scales ( see Japanese scales ) and allows derivative tones are included, as they occur in the play with Shō chords. Tanaka's proposals were taken up in the 20th century by a number of Japanese composer and music theorist.

Tanaka was both inventor and theorist. To make music in just intonation, he designed a Enharmonicum with 20 keys and 26 pitches in each octave, which he patented. From Berlin instrument maker John Kewitsch he let build a version with five octaves. Tanaka led this unit in various cities, including in Berlin, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Zurich and July 1890 before the Vienna Conservatory. In addition, he demonstrated it in the Japanese Legation in Vienna the composer Anton Bruckner, who showed great interest for the instrument. Tanaka also developed a calculating machine.

Writings

• Studies in the areas of pure atmosphere, in: Vierteljahrsschrift of Musicology, Volume 6, No. 1, Breitkopf and Härtel, Leipzig, 1890, pp. 1-90 ( Ascii scan failed)