Why did they choose the diatonic scale?
I have many questions, but all related to the necessity (if any) of the diatonic scale and the consequences of this choice. First: what are the reasons behind the choice of the Western Music diatonic scale with its definite pattern of tones and half-tones?
Who made this choice and why? Was this choice a limiting one? Does it rule out a wealth of non-diatonic music? Were they some important composers and instrument builders who used different scales or just wrote music out of the chromatic scale?
What if the music I have in my mind is non-diatonic? I know I can constraint it into a diatonic melody, but it is not the same music and can be more or less beautiful than the original, depending on the tune. It looks to me I can still harmonize it by combining notes. Yes, the number of combinations mathematically explodes, but the constraints of (ease of) playability on a certain instrument reduces all possible choices quite a bit. And of course it is up to the artist to choose for the better.
Are there other music theories not based on the diatonic scale? Why some out-of-scale chords sometimes embellish a melody better than in-scale chords? Does this make music theory arbitrary and useless because it is based on a too restrictive premise like the diatonic scale?
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The question is a little confused. First, many cultures evolved completely different scale systems and conceive of music quite differently. There have been many attempts to tie in the diatonic and polyphonic system that evolved in "Western" music to the harmonic series. It's an interesting exercise and much can be learned (I would recommend Paul Hindemith's "The Craft of Musical Composition, Vol. 1" as a starting point), but I think we can safely spare ourselves at this point from constricting our thought in this way. With the tools we presently have at our command (particularly computers), I don't see any reason to bother with such speculation.
Who made this choice of the diatonic scale? It probably goes back to primitive man chanting and beating drums. It is inculcated in our minds. It's hard to hum a tune that isn't diatonic.
Anyway, here's an interesting web site that seems to dig deeply into some of the questions you are asking. It's long and has many references that may take you further along in your quest.
A lot to think about, but hopefully you will find some answers there.
The Creation of Musical Scales from a mathematic and acoustic point of view, Part II, by Thomas Váczy Hightower vaczy.dk/htm/scales2.htm
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