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| Omar, leader and tuba player in the band, wrote this song to his lovely wife Angelina. There is a story to the song. . . . | |
Credits: Selena, Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Harry Partch |
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| This is a piece with musical material from the Partch Tonality Diamond. The primary scale is based on the overtone series starting on A#, expressed in ratios as 8:8, 9:8, 10:8, 11:8, 14:8, 16:8. In note names, they are A#, C, D, E-, F, G++. The piece modulates to chords chosen from the undertone series of C: A#, Ab, G--, F, D++, and C, or expressed as ratios, with A# as 1:1 they are 9:9, 9:10, 9:11, 9:12, 9:14, 9:16, 9:18. At any one time, only the overtones of one undertone are played.
After an opening chord progression of four otonalities on the utonality (overtones on A#, Ab, G--, F or 9:9, 9:10, 9:11, 9:12), the cello plays a melody in A# otonality, with modulations to the utonalities after a few measures. This is the basic structure of the song: melody moving from one otonality to another, following the progression of the utonality. This is separated by occasional slow chord progressions through the utonality progression.
I voice the chords so that the progression sounds like it is rising, as the fundamental of the chord descends. This contrary motion is used throughout the song, with frequent upward or downward glissandi from one set of overtone triads to another, sometimes simultaneously. A favorite glisando takes an 8:10:12 triad down to a 7:9:11, or back up. At about 4:50 into the piece, there is a slow progression through the overtones of the undertone series, using a set of glissandi for each of the notes in the scale.
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Credits: Harry Partch, Philip Glass, Sangkar Agung, Omar y Los Bandeleros |
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| This is a piece based on the otonalities of the Partch Tonality Diamond. The primary tonality is what I call D++, an 8:7 above the center of a tonality diamond based on C as 1:1. The song moves around the diamond in a kind of circle of chords, from D++ (8:7) to F (4:3) to A flat (8:5), C (1:1), G-- (16:11), to A# (16:9) and back to D++. If you voice the chords just right, you can go around this cycle three times and end up with a kind of chromatic scale that drops an octave.
The song spends most of its time in D++ major. The opening section uses a horn glissando on a triad 7:9:11 to the triad 8:10:12. The glide is gradual over a whole note. At the start of the glide, there is a prominent difference tone three octaves below the 9:11:14. At the end, the difference tone is one octave below the 10:12:16. I play around with shifting difference tones all throughout the piece, some more noticable than others.
The instruments used are trombones, tuba, flute, cello, violin, guitar, finger piano, and percussion. Bass gongs that glissando down appear at different times.
The title is taken from the South American native Jivaro warriors, who smeared themselves with blood and danced with the shrunken heads of their enemies dramatizing the killing. Tsantsa is the native word for shrunken head. Imagine hearing the trombone glissandos across the forest valley, the triumphant victory dance of revenge.
Set the riffmobile to triademonium, sit back and listen to the changes. Notice your head getting smaller?
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Credits: Harry Partch, Philip Glass, Sangkar Agung, Omar y Los Bandeleros |
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| This is a piece based on the otonalities of the Partch Tonality Diamond. The primary tonality is what I call D++, an 8:7 above the center of a tonality diamond based on C as 1:1. The song moves around the diamond in a kind of circle of chords, from D++ (8:7) to F (4:3) to A flat (8:5), C (1:1), G-- (16:11), to A# (16:9) and back to D++. If you voice the chords just right, you can go around this cycle three times and end up with a kind of chromatic scale that drops an octave.
The song spends most of its time in D++ major. The opening section uses a horn glissando on a triad 7:9:11 to the triad 8:10:12. The glide is gradual over a whole note. At the start of the glide, there is a prominent difference tone three octaves below the 9:11:14. At the end, the difference tone is one octave below the 10:12:16. I play around with shifting difference tones all throughout the piece, some more prominent than others.
The instruments used are trombones, tuba, flute, cello, violin, guitar, finger piano, and percussion. Bass gongs that glissando down appear at different times.
The title is taken from the South American native Jivaro warriors, who smeared themselves with blood and danced with the shrunken heads of their enemies dramatizing the killing. Tsantsa is the native word for shrunken head. Imagine hearing the trombone glissandos across the forest valley, the triumphant victory dance of revenge.
Set the riffmobile to triademonium, sit back and listen to the changes. Notice your head getting smaller? | |
Credits: Harry Partch, Philip Glass, Sangkar Agung, Omar y Los Bandeleros |
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| This is a recording or a large music box I found at an antique store in the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle. Fremont is a district that welcomes visitors with the sign, "Welcome to Fremont, Center of the Universe. Throw your watch away". The only two industries are beer and antique stores. The music box is about the size of an old washing machine, made of wood. The only markings on the box are a small label on the bottom: "F. Nicole 014751". It has a crank on the right side, which connects to a spring-loaded drive for the cylinder. Inside is a long row of about 100 metal teeth, from about 1/4 inch at the top to almost 8 inches long at the bottom. The big ones make the whole case vibrate when they play. Inside is a large metal cylinder, with tiny pins that pluck the metal teeth. It appears to be removable, but there weren't any more cylinders at the store. It runs for about 6 1/2 minutes on a full crank, and has a delightful gradual deceleration as the spring runs down. I'm not sure where to start the song, as it doesn't appear to have a beginning or an end mark. For this recording I start and end at around the same place. The tuning of the keys is what attracted me to it in the first place. I have no way of knowing if it has drifted from its original tuning, but it is a charming sound, nonetheless. It appears to shift from a utonality-type sad minor key into a harsh super-major, and sounds a bit like some of the changes in a Philip Glass composition. (I know because I have been listening to a lot of Glass lately.) There is a cryptic notation on the drum: "#38 Cuernavaca 1975 CN". This must be the title of the piece I guess, but it doesn't sound very Mexican to me. Perhaps there are some more cylinders somewhere that I could try out. Sounds kind of like circus calliope music, for a Javanese circus troupe. Boogie-woogie on Saturn. If anyone has any idea about the music box, let me know. I took a few pictures of the box, which can be found on my web page. | |
Credits: With apologies to Conlon Nancarrow, Harry Partch, Philip Glass and Wayang Krit. |
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| This is a piece that uses more material from the Partch Tonality
Diamond. The title is taken from the web page of the Museum of
Jurassic Technology, the work of David Wilson. Mr. Wilson recently
won a MacArthur Foundation grant to continue the work of his museum.
On his web page is a quote from Charles Willson Peale, "...guided
along as it were a chain of flowers into the mysteries of life." This
refers to the technique of guiding visitors to a museum along a path
towards what you want them to learn by entertaining them along the
way, like a path of flowers. Mr. Peale's museum was one of the first
American museums in the early 19th century. He would lead visitors
from familiar objects toward the unfamiliar, sometimes horrific in
his exhibits. I use a technique of repetition to highlight the unique
sounds of the tonality diamond, kind of like a chain of flowers. Each
flower is made up of petals, which are made up of smaller parts, and
built into a complete structure. The musical material consists of
chords and arpeggios using the otonality, moving to other chords by
steps in the utonality. For example, if C major is 1:1, the chord for
C major consists of 4:5:6:7:9:11, called C : E : G : A++ : D+ : F++
in the score. This moves to an Ab major with the intervals
4:5:6:7:9:11 as Ab : C : E-- : F# : Bb : D- . Then to F major as F :
A- : C : D# : G : B- , then to D++, A#, and G-- major. This C major,
Ab major, F major, D++ major, A# major, G-- major is the basis of the
piece. I also use the sub-minor variant of each. I call the 6:7:9
chord the sub-minor: G : A++ : D+ . Each of the major chords has a
subminor complement. G complements C, E-- sub-minor complements Ab
major, and so on. There is a great deal of indeterminacy in the
piece. The specific chords in the key are chosen more or less at
random, within a list of allowable choices. Limitations on the order
of choice contribute to consistency. Sort of. A second version of the
piece, realized a few minutes after this one, will also be available
on this web site as soon as they approve it.
Set the Riff-mobile to "Triademonium".
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CD: none
Label: none
Credits: Harry Partch, Philip Glass, Sangkar Agung, Omar y Los Bandeleros |
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| This is a song that explores the Partch Tonality Diamond. It starts on the overtone series of C, and then moves through a cycle of overtones on the undertone series. The main theme is in C major, with the notes C, D+ E, F++, G, A++, also known as 1:1, 9:8, 5:4, 11:8, 3:2, and 7:4, or 8:9:10:11:12:14. The cycle of overtones is then played on the undertones Ab (8:5), F (4:3), D++ (8:7), A# (16:9), and G-- (16:11). The 8:9:10:11:12:14 is played on each of the undertones. The bass accents the 3:2 and the 1:1 on each undertone ... more info ... | |
Credits: Csound |
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| More Diamond Music. This music explores the Partch Tonality Diamond. The piece is based on a four note chord picked from the overtone series, on the 1st, 5th, 7th, and 9th overtones: 1:5:7:9. The chord shifts up a degree to 9:11:16:20, back down to 1:5:7:9 then down again a degree to 7:9:12:16. These three chords share a common sound, but have very different sense of stability. The first is very stable, with all the tones in their proper place in the overtone series. The next two are very unstable, and provide tension. The piece starts with the second of these chords. It modulates from D++ as the 8:7, down to C 1:1 and plays the same series of three chords. It also shifts down to A# a 16:9 below the C. When it does this, it keeps a number of tones in common: the 1:1 in C becomes the 7:4 of D++, and the 9:8 of A#. More striking are the notes that are not in common. The 5:4 above C is E, but the 9:8 above D++ is E++. These changes are a bit challenging. Keep at it. | |
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| This song explores both utonality and otonality
portions of the tonality diamond. The piece
starts out in F minor, with a scale that includes
the tones F, G--, Ab, A#, C, D++, which are the ratios
of 4:3, 16:11, 8:5, 16:9, 1:1, and 8:7. It shifts
after a while to the same melodies in A# major,
using the tones A#, C, D, E-, G++, which are
ratios 16:9, 10:9, 4:3, 14:9, 1:1, 11:9. The
tones in common with F minor are C, F, and A#.
More modulations take place to other parts of
the tonality diamond. | |
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| Believe it or not, I found another cylinder for the famous music box. This one was in a trash can outside a McDonalds in Queen Anne. Wrapped in old Seattle Times newspapers, it looked just like the first one, except for the title. The sound is very similar to the previous cylinder. Must be by the same composer, or his wife of something. | |
Credits: Conlon Nancarrow, Philip Glass, John Cage, Harry Partch |
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| This is the second version of Chain of Flowers. I use indeterminacy a lot. Every few milliseconds, a program has to make decisions based on what it has decided before. This is the second (actually the 197th) pass through with the polytonic riffmobile set to triademonium. |
CD: none
Label: none
Credits: Harry Partch, Philip Glass, Sangkar Agung, Omar y Los Bandeleros |
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| This song uses the Utonality scale
to the 11 limit. Utonality is Harry Partch's
term for the "undertone" series, the mirror
image of the "overtone" series realized by
cutting the length of a string in 1/2, 1/4, 1/5,
and so on. The Utonality scale is something
like F, G--, Ab, A#, C, D++. This is a six
note scale, a Hexany, and is subdivided in the
sone into the triads F, Ab, C, which is almost
identical to the traditional minor triad; a
second triad consiting of G--, A#, D++ is
definitely NOT traditional sounding and gives
the scale a definite bite. Makes some peoples
hair curl. | |
Credits: Csound and Tuning mailing lists on the internet |
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| This is a song based on six notes derived from the otonality, taken mostly three at a time. The ratios of the primary triad are 6:7:9. This triad has a minor feel to it, but the minor third is very flat compared to the minor key derived from the utonality. It gives the triad a sharp edge to it. To derive additional triads from the six note scale, I walk up the scale through five other triads: 7:8:10; 8:9:11; 9:10:12; 10:11:14; 11:12:16. Triads that include the 11 ratio are especially challenging. These six chords make up the harmonic material of the piece. | |
Credits: Tonality Diamond from Harry Partch |
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| This piece is a study on four triads from the tonality diamond. It moves through two minors, two majors, and back again. The triad ratios are 6:7:9 (what I call subminor) from the otonality; 4:3, 8:5, 1:1 (minor) from the utonality; 4:5:6 from the otonality(major), and 16:9, 8:7, 4:3 from the utonality (supermajor). In this order, the middle note increases from low to high, while the two outer notes stay the same. The instruments (from MUMS) are three string quartets, pizzacato, martele, and non vibrato, plus a double bass and a cello solo voice. The melody is based on the triads, plus other notes from the otonality and utonality. | |
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| This song is a rhythmic, percussive exploration of very strong harmonies, based on the 11-limit tonality diamond. Imagine a jazz band with a three armed bass player, a 17 string guitar, a 240 key piano played by a five armed pianist, and a drum kit. | |
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| This piece traverses the tonality diamond by
repeating, more or less, a set of sequences
in C major, C minor, Ab major, D# minor,
D++ major, and then back to C major. Each
modulation keeps a number of notes in common.
Rhythm is a key component, 9/8 that sounds
more like 8/8 plus 1/8, like a covered wagon
with a few missing spokes on a rocky trail.
On Mars. During a meteor shower. | |
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| The title is from Verse 1 of I Corinthians 13:
"If I speak in the tongues [1] of men and of
angels, but have not love, I am only
a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."
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Credits: Harry Partch, Carl Ruggles |
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Microtonal Music by Prent Rodgers
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