Generalized Carlos Scales
History and Overview
2025-09-30 v5
Abstract
In 1986, composer Wendy Carlos introduced three unusual musical scales she called alpha, beta and gamma, equal temperament-inspired scales that de-emphasize the octave as the primary interval in favor of the major and minor thirds and the perfect fifth. A derivation of the alpha, beta, and gamma scales due to David Benson is generalized to produce many Carlos-type scales.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2408.14551,
title = {Generalized Carlos Scales},
author = {Andrew V. Sills},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.14551},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
6 pages, version 5 is a revision in response to peer review; this is the version that has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Mathematics and Music