Namoic

Xenharmonic music is music that uses tuning systems other than 12‑tone equal temperament (12‑TET). The term was coined by American microtonalist Ivor Darreg, drawing on the Greek xenos, meaning both "foreign" and "hospitable." In Darreg’s formulation, xenharmonic explicitly welcomes just intonation and equal temperaments such as 5‑, 7‑, 11‑, 19‑, 22‑, 24‑, 31‑EDO (equal divisions of the octave) and far beyond, as well as non‑octave and alternative interval cycles. In practice, xenharmonic music emphasizes scales, chords, and melodic gestures that arise naturally from these tunings rather than attempting to imitate 12‑TET. It includes everything from pure, beating‑free JI harmonies to vividly "alien" sonorities from non‑octave and higher‑prime temperaments, realized on acoustic, electronic, and hybrid instruments.