ABSTRACT
The diatonic collection is the set of pitch classes with the same intervallic structure as a major scale. Pandiatonicism describes the non-functional and sometimes dissonant use of the diatonic collection. A pandiatonic work or passage lacks an obvious pitch center. Any pitch of a diatonic collection may be defined as a musical focal point through certain compositional procedures. Each octatonic collection (OCT) transposition may be spelled on the staff as a scale beginning with any pitch class. OCT can transpose and invert onto itself in numerous ways. It is highly symmetrical, and, while it lacks a natural pitch center, any note may be emphasized and contextually defined as a center. An outlier, or “noncollectional tone,” is similar to a nonchord tone in tonal practice.
