This is a work in progress...
Variable variability.Microtonal Music is music using more than 12 tones per octave. I compose music using Csound and a preprocessor I wrote in Turbo Pascal. I post small updates as the compositions are being created, and a few final versions once I'm done. I strive towards music that could be played if we had the instruments capable of playing the notes. Think of it as "fake but accurate".
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Another in a series
Saturday, February 24, 2007
A bridge from a circle of fifths
This is a work in progress...
Make a bridge from a circle of fifths. How simple. Since the introduction is in C major, go up a 5:4 (17 steps in 53) to E minor, then down a 3:2 (31 steps) to A, down a 3:2 to D, down a 3:2 to G, then up a 77:76 (one step) to G+, then down a 3:2 (31 steps) back to C major. 77:76 is the ratio of a single step in 53 tone equal temperament (or Equal Divisions of the Octave, EDO). If the 3:2 were really a 3:2 instead of 31 steps of 53 EDO, and if the 5:4 were really a 5:4 instead of 17 steps of the 53 EDO, then the comma would be 81:80, instead of 77:76. But it's close enough for audio work.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Add another finger piano
This is a work in progress...
I added a finger piano playing arpeggio based on descending triads. 6:5:4 and 11:9:7 in the key of C.
The percussion is more of that sitka spruce board with the contact microphone and an assortment of combs, rocks, screws, and other devices glued to the surface. One makes a kind of "cookie" sound from a metal comb with different length prongs.
Monday, February 19, 2007
More of the 53 tone music
Friday, February 16, 2007
Sing in 53 - EDO
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Another in a series - Working towards a piece in 53 Tone Equal Divisions of the Octave - 53-EDO
This is a work in progress...
Considering the ability to modulate, why not refer to all chords as relative steps:
Here's how major triads in their three inversions can be written. First you see the inversions of the 4:5:6 overtones, then the 9:11:14 overtone triads:
.maj3-u-a135 t+0 t+17 t+14
.maj3-u-a351 o-1t+17 t+14 t+22
.maj3-u-a513 o-1t+31 t+22 t+17
@
.maj3-u-b247 t+9 t+16 t+18 t+19
.maj3-u-b472 o-1t+25 t+18 t+19 t+16
.maj3-u-b724 o-1t+43 t+19 t+16 t+18
@
Then when you want to call a chord, just start it with the key like this:
t0&maj3-u-a3*.
This translates to Csound code for three notes at scales steps 17, 17+14=31, and 31+22 = 53, which translates to 0, the tonic.
More insect life as percussion from the Dry Spring.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Sing the song in 53 - 2
This is a work in progress...
These are samples from an instrument I made in 1975 or so. It's a piece of 1/4 inch Sitka Spruce, with a contact microphone attached. I've glued assorted noise makers to the surface of the wood. Each is rubbed with rosined fingers, struck, or scraped with small tools. I call it a dry spring.