No one today knows the origin of the term
diabolus in musica.
Re: the article that Gooze posted:
All Western Music from before Bach to today relies "heavily on tritones". The
Dominant 7 chord, which is the basis of Western tonality contains a tritone between the third and seventh.
Bob Ezrin needs to shut the hell up. There's a reason why he's a "rock producer".
Quote:
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In the Middle Ages when people were ignorant and scared, when they heard something like that and felt that reaction in their body they thought 'uh oh, here come the Devil'.
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There is nothing in music history that backs this up. The term
diabolus in musica is referenced in some musicological works.
My guess:
Some early church composer was probably trying to write a piece in the Lydian mode and the tritone kept popping up and screwing with his voice leading. He then felt the urge to shout out "The Devil's Interval! The Devil's Interval!" out of frustration.
Because of the old way of thinking (normality of sonorities), it was thought of as a disturbing occurrence. Musicians have since learned how to use it effectively.
There are more "dissonant" sonorities then a tritone anyway.