Re: Tonality and harmonics

soren <sorensen89@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thank you Margo, I enjoyed your comments.
As my ears are tuned to Western culture primarily, that is my
reference. In a forum such as this I can only relate to the tools I
work with, and that includes instruments of the symphonic orchestra -
plus other assorted wwd's and percussion. ( saxes. congas, drum set,
etc.) My time is spent listening and writing music for todays musicians
and audience. I appreciate all the historical references here, although
I deal primarily with musicians and students of music, on a
here-and-now situation.

Hi, Soren, and please let me explain that my viewpoint is also conditioned
by my improvisation and composition as well as historical analysis; and
frankly acknowledge that your dealing with a symphonic orchestra is out of
my experience. Generally I tend to compose for "any apt consort of voices
and or instruments" (or a solo keyboard rendition of the same), with from
two to four parts and lots left to the discretion of the performers.

Anyway, my point is that in speaking about "musical inertia" or "gravity,"
we are not just talking historical theory: we are talking tangible
realities that we experience in everyday musicmaking. What I'm trying to
suggest is just that style can play a great role in influencing these
realities -- and in the diverse world of European-oriented tunings and
styles as well as in other world musical cultures.

For example, when I speak of "the striving of the major sixth to expand to
the octave, and the major third to the fifth," that isn't just theory or
quaint history, any more than when you or someone else speaks of the
"gravity" of the dominant toward the tonic. We are talking about
historical practice and theory that still influence our musicmaking.

It would be impossible to satisfy all the minute discrepencies of
musical cultures, in one discussion. I prefer to dwell on music which
surrounds me and is interesting to me. One does not have time in life
to evaluate all the past, and move forward also.

Actually, as someone maybe a bit historically inclined, I'm also inclined
to seek from history new or modified directions to move in. Recently on
rec.music.early I was involved in a thread on HOP (Historically Oblique
Performance) which approaches composition or improvisation as a kind of
alternative history, an exploration of what _might_ have happened, but
_is_ happening now.

I would suggest that to understand where the overtone series is
relevant in todays music ( and where my head is at) , you should
listen,look at, and study the scores of Oliver Nelson, Thad Jones, and
Bob Brookmeyer, not to mention Edgard Varese, and G.Legeti.,
Stravinsky, and others.

These writers use conventional instruments tuned in a conventional way
(Western), but arrive at unconventional sounds and soundscapes for
which the overtone series has a great bearing upon! Whether clusters,
orchestration techniques, tesitura, register, amplification (or lack
of) are used, the writer is very aware of the harmonic overtone series
and acoustics, as regards the outcome of his or her music.

Some time ago I saw a discussion of how Schoenberg, for example, argued
that 12-note equal temperament could actually be taken as a representation
of various complex integer ratios.

Anyway, what I suspect is happening is that we may be drawing on somewhat
different centuries or styles in making new music -- and that is part of
the diversity of the group.

Respectfully submitted,
Soren


Most appreciatively,

Margo
mschulter@xxxxxxxxxx
.

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