The baritone bowed psaltery has a range of C3 to C6, fully chromatic. I tried to strike a balance between incorporating as many of the 33 pitches in my scale as possible and replicating reinforcement pitches at various octaves. For example, because 1/1, 31/16, and 253/128 (11×23) would each be tuned to a C string, …
I am working with two different tunings, one consisting of the first 32 prime partials (“prime tuning”), the other consisting of 13-limit constellations over the 29-limit prime partials – and throwing 31 in for good measure, resulting in a 33-pitch scale (“constellation tuning”). Prime tuning is, for now, focused around my solo keyboard work. For …
I’ll be a while getting my ears acquainted with the possibilities inherent in this tuning, especially given numerous intervals that I calculated through one path but ended up nearly identical with other meaningful intervals suggesting other harmonic paths (2233/2048, which is 29x11x7, is practically indistinguishable from 12/11). So here’s a bit of a test in …
I have always been fond of free reed instruments. In designing an ensemble that could be fixed in a tuning and that would feature simple enough instruments for students to join in the fun, Indian harmonium seemed the way to go: easy enough to tune, easy enough to play. I designed the tuning with a …
Here are the layouts for the two harmoniums. Partials are indicated in large numerals, with factors in small numerals. The lower row shows alternative approximated partials on that given note. See my previous post for more information.
The chart below shows the network of frequency relationships among all pitches between the two harmoniums in my just intonation ensemble. (Note that not every pitch is present in each instrument.) Each line’s length and angle indicate its relationship to the pitch it branches off from. For example, all pitches with a 3/2 relationship to …
I love to teach Form and Analysis. Of all the parts of my job, it is the one I cherish most. But the name of the class stinks. Form and Analysis is the last course in a required five-semester sequence of music theory for all our music majors. Given its status as the end of …
“You are important only because you are part of the structure.” Read More »
I do music. Not, “I am a musician.” There is devastating absoluteness in the words “I am”; a potential death sentence to identity. I do music. Or, more accurately, I do music for now. A friend of mine, who shares my church affiliation, once expressed to me the sentiment that “composer” is core to his …
Music in a Life is a bit of autobiography via essays on music. It is not intended as autobiography per se, but it is fiercely autobiographical in conception and nature. I am writing this series of essays as a summative exercise after over twenty years of teaching and thinking about music in relation to my …
Philosophical Guideposts Purity, exactness, integrity (integer). The distinctive buzz of purely tuned harmony, especially in lower limits. Acoustic instruments. Too much JI music for headphones already. Nothing replicates physical acoustic instruments. Favor instruments with independently-tunable strings or pipes or bars (no frets, no tone holes): piano, concertina, organ, psaltery, tube chimes, etc. The harmonic series. …
