modern solfeggio tonality

Inspiration:
“If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have the key to the universe.”
– Nikola Tesla

Description:
The numbers 3, 6 and 9 have ancient, numerological application.  For example, 3 can symbolize two opposing extremes with a point of balance in between, and the numbers 6 & 9 govern the I-Ching’s Yin-Yang dynamism, but this is only scratching the surface.  If you wish to take the plunge, consider immersing yourself with this thread on Lo Shu.

One way of incorporating this idea will be the use of specific frequencies that have a ‘digit sum’ of 3, 6 or 9, just like those in ‘solfeggio’:

UT – 396 Hz
RE – 417 Hz
MI – 528 Hz
FA – 639 Hz
SOL – 741 Hz
LA – 852 Hz

Example:
For instance FA = 639:  6 + 3 + 9 = 18, and  1 + 8 = 9.
Therefore the ‘digit sum’ of 639 is 9.

UPDATE!!  There is some confusion online as to what is ancient and what is modern in respect to this system.  What we know for sure is that the ancients did not have any devices for measuring or producing pitches in absolute cycles-per-second values (i.e. they did not have any digital computers).  As such, these pitches are a modern, absolute and experimental translation of this numeric series into Hz or cycles-per-second values and therefore could not have been sonically available to the ancients.  That being said, there are also many traditional musical characteristics that can be found within this system.

Here is a scale created with the following set of 81 Lo-Shu tones within the 729 fabric:

111,123,135,147,159,162,174,186,198
219,222,234,246,258,261,273,285,297
318,321,333,345,357,369,372,384,396
417,429,432,444,456,468,471,483,495
516,528,531,543,555,567,579,582,594
615,627,639,642,654,666,678,681,693
714,726,738,741,753,765,777,789,792
813,825,837,849,852,864,876,888,891
912,924,936,948,951,963,975,987,999

The following audio clip represents my first attempt at composing using only pitches from this scale:

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Much of melodic expressionism lies in the ‘notes between the notes’ so-to-speak, and this scale is one specific way of exploring such a practice.  Weighing in at a little over three octaves (111, 222, 444 and 888), its intervals resonate with unique harmonic characteristics unheard in 12-tone equal temperament.  These 81 tones are a ‘geometrically-coherent, crystalline structure’ ripe for harvest.  There is much to explore in composition.

The technical how-to:

This scale was fabricated digitally with the help of the software CSE (Custom Scale Editor) which can be used separately or in conjunction with Scala.  If you’re looking to get involved with MIDI microtunings, I recommend to skip the elaborate process of installing Scala and simply use CSE to save time and potential frustration.  CSE is all you need to create and/or perform custom tonalities.  Its author, Aaron Hunt at H-Pi Instruments was hugely helpful in getting this little experiment off the ground.  To download my template files, click here.

nancarrow improvisation II

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After a long hiatus, I’ve delved into more of Conlon Nancarrow‘s work for player piano.  Inspired by an excerpt from Study No. 33, I’ve programmed a drum set improvisation to its rhythm.  Consider this track a long awaited sequel to this one which prompted Nancarrow expert Kyle Gann to post about it here.  The drum sounds are from my personal collection and seem to compliment the rawness of Nancarrow’s piano quite nicely.

For years, evidently, he [Conlon Nancarrow] lived on practically nothing but coffee… It’s silly, I know, but sometimes when his music takes on a particular nervousness or intensity, I can’t help thinking of Conlon diligently roasting, grinding and drinking his coffee. Perhaps Nancarrow’s stomach is as “rugged” as his music! Now, despite being on doctor’s orders, he remains unrepentant: “I have no regrets. Do it while you’re young, and can!”
-Peter Garland, 1979

Read more about this work at the Greenleaf Music Blog.

bing crosby remixed

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I gave an assignment to a group of aspiring sound designers not too long ago.  The task was to take two completely different tracks of music and find a way to make them work together and sound somewhat uniform using only editing, transposition and time compression/expansion.  They all had an afternoon to complete it.  Here’s my ‘remixed’ example.  Even caught some of the ii-V harmony in the second half!

Thanks to choreographer Cherice Barton for asking me to attempt this in the first place!  It was a fun experiment.  Makes me think what other wild juxtapositions are out there waiting for discovery.

programmed drums & piano II

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Composer Darren Miller recently wrote a series of several short pieces for the digital player piano – in fact, for the very same instrument I wrote something for last fall – (see previous post here).  I asked Darren to give me the audio he recorded from the player piano so that I could layer in some drums and other sound bites to the piece.  After many wakeful nights tucked away behind samplers, constructed constructed this collage.

There are hundreds of samples used in this piece, some of which originated from the drums of Nasheet Waits, Eric MacPherson and Jim Black.  (see previous post “Nancarrow Arrangement” and This Mention on Post Classic).  I took it further this time, asking drummer Max Goldman to visit the studio one afternoon.  I recorded him performing all sorts of improvisations spread over 2 drum kits and percussion sets.   His sound is who you are listening to for most of this little experiment.

the viper matrix vol.1

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This track is easily performed live, and is constructed so that no matter how hard you try it will sound different every time, it’s very intuitive to perform.   This opens up many ways to improvise and interact with additional instrumentalists and computer rigs.  As a bonus, all of the samples used in this example are acoustic.  David & I worked with the goal to make a live, interactive patch that sounds as if it had the vibe of a field recording.

collaborations

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Remember the previous post involving the recorder?  Well, I promised you more, and here I am hyping it once again.  Terri Hron (recorder), Dan Porter (mixing/mastering engineer) and myself (remix composition / production) have been passing files back and forth all over north america to keep the flame alive when it comes to our little trio deluxe.  I have for you now, two new recorder remix pieces that are quite contrasting from each another.  One, is a startling recorder-distorto-drum-maniac-fantasia (drums samples performed by long-time friend and collaborator Alex Wyatt), and the other is a harmonic-retrospective-ballad.

two pieces for player piano

Two pieces composed for the Disklavier digital piano.  I used a sequencer to feed the piano MIDI information in “live” performance at the Banff Centre in 2008.

a taste of nancarrow

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I’ve recently delved into the music of Conlon Nancarrow.  Here is a sample-based improvisation of one of his “etudés” for player piano.  Nancarrow once said: “ever since I’d been writing music I was dreaming of getting rid of the performers”.  Here’s an homage to that very idea.