QUOTE
"with chromatic instruments that can handle accidentals, and tunes that mix rhythms and styles" the notion of mode is even more useful.
UNQUOTE

Sorry. Missed the boat! Although I do admire your efforts to assist others to start off on the torturous path of understanding 'Modes', even if you are getting distracted by 'Modern Pseudo-Modes'.

Strictly speaking, based on Music Historical Theory, 'Just Tempered Chromatic Instruments' able to play in all keys WITH other instruments from random makers is very ironic, and damn near impossible(###) ...

In the days before "Major & Minor" took over, instruments were built ONLY with "Just Tuning"... yes, an 'old' un-fretted 'Just tempered' string instrument CAN play in EVEN Temper, but only if the muso knows HOW to..., and vice versa...

You should really ask a Trombone Teacher about the delights of getting 'cloth eared' beginners to play in Real Even Temper Tuning!!! :-) hehehehe! My Grandfather was a Brass Band player! "Even Tempered Trombones", is an OLD Brass band Players JOKE!

Those who do not understand History are condemned to keep repeating their mistakes.

If you try to play an 'old' wind instrument like a recorder in Just temperament with a modern Even tempered one, you will NOTICE the problem...

Artful Codgers comments of 13 Jun 06 - 08:18 PM sidestep this somewhat, as he appears to be saying all that from the viewpoint of 'Modern Even Tempered Instruments' - which is technically VERY misleading.

You CANNOT disentangle($$$) 'Modes' from 'Just Temperament', unless you are doing a 'Lewis Carroll Humpty Dumpty' and 'making words mean just (pardon the pun!) what you want them to mean'! You CAN do 'SORTA MODES' thingies with Even Tempered Instruments, but the technical things, and they can be easily displayed on an oscilloscope screen! say there are BIG DIFFERENCES in the beat frequencies!!!

(###)
A 'Just Tempered Instrument Built In The Key of C'(@@@) behaves VERY differently technically when 'demonstrating pseudo-modes' from an Even Tempered Instrument Tuned to C - Concert Pitch... and also behaves VERY differently technically to a 'Just Tempered Instrument Built In The Key of D'(@@@), which is WHY 'The Well Tempered Clavier' was brought into existence by that famous Composer, and the instrument it was INTENDED to be played on, WAS NOT an Even Tempered one, but one of the better practical (not mathematical!) hand built attempts to create what _evolved_ INTO modern 1/12 based Even Temperament!

(@@@)
And these two CANNOT be played ensemble to make sweet music...
which is WHY 'Even Temper' had to be created!

($$$)
Of course you CAN discuss all the variants of differing SCALES (a predefined set of consecutive tones separated in pitch by predetermined fixed pitch intervals) all you want, but since NOWADAYS, it is ALWAYS ASSUMED that they will ALL be in 'Even Temper'... sigh, here we go around again... (Scales are NOT Modes...)

Confused yet? :-)

Try Indian Classical Music then :-) ...

Robin