blackjack and 12-equal

Well, I think I was mentioning that I was working on a piece for 12-
equal piano and Blackjack electronics.

I find no real problem combining them. It helps to have at least 4
notes in Blackjack, C,G,D,A that are precisely shared with the piano.

Aside from that, I can build "quasi just" versions of "regular" 12-
equal triads in the electronics that can mirror or "improve" the
piano statements.

Most importantly, I think that electronics *greatly* enhances the
tired piano timbre. It's that timbre that has been so overworked, in
my view. There is nothing so deadly as solo piano music, IMHO.

I admit there have been a few innovative masters of it, Messiaen, La
Monte Young... but think of all the completely deadly solo piano
music that there is out there. At least *I've* heard it; I don't
know about anybody else.

The "prepared piano" was one solution, but I can understand the
reluctance of some people to want a fine instrument "tampered"
or "tempered" with. I'm understanding that now later in life. When
I was young, I thought such people were just pussies... or rather
sissies.

In any case, some nice electronics livens things up, in my view,
PARTICULARLY if the electronics are microtonal. That really makes a
nice contrast to the "black and white" zebra cage of the tempered
piano box.

I'm coming to believe, though, that, at least in my own work, tuning
only accounts for about 30% of the significance. Of greater
significance, is contour, contrast, timbre... lots of things. Tuning
is much more than just a "seasoning" or "coloration," but it's less
than the core of what I'm doing, or so it seems.

Anyway, I will share some of this further down the road, and I hope
to participate more in the online forums again, saving the readers
from the tiresome (although true) excuses as to why I haven't been
able to be around as much of late...

Joseph Pehrson

> Most importantly, I think that electronics *greatly* enhances the
> tired piano timbre. It's that timbre that has been so overworked, in
> my view. There is nothing so deadly as solo piano music, IMHO.
>
> I admit there have been a few innovative masters of it, Messiaen, La
> Monte Young... but think of all the completely deadly solo piano
> music that there is out there. At least *I've* heard it; I don't
> know about anybody else.

Personally, I love the timbre of the piano, especially in baroque
music. But I find that the timbre is less important to me than perhaps
to you, I find that for instruments of similar envelope the same solo
piece will sound essentially the same to me. Sometimes I feel that a
different timbre accentuates the piece in some way, often for cultural
reasons more than aesthetic ones. (Distorted guitars are used for
different purposes by most than nylon guitars) For a monotimbral piece
(For some reason music with a wide range of timbres is hard for me to
listen to), I find that the emotional content is usually conveyed by
the pitches, durations, loudness etc. and the timbre serves more as
decoration, like using watercolors instead of oils.

--TRISTAN
(http://dreamingofeden.smackjeeves.com/)

I don't know... I think the difference between watercolors and oils is
pretty important. My music professor describes some music as durable,
and some as fragile. Some music, like Bach, conveys it's message very
effectively despite dramatic changes in instrumentation, tempo,
tuning, and the performer's interpertation. Obviously, all those
things matter, but you still get the meaning of the lines from their
duration, melodic motion, and pitch hierarchy of the piece. Other
music, Debussy and Mozart come to mind, where you really have to
perform it accurately to bring out the meaning of the lines, and I
feel instrumentation generally has a more substantial effect.

On 2/28/06, Rozencrantz the Sane <rozencrantz@...> wrote:
> > Most importantly, I think that electronics *greatly* enhances the
> > tired piano timbre. It's that timbre that has been so overworked, in
> > my view. There is nothing so deadly as solo piano music, IMHO.
> >
> > I admit there have been a few innovative masters of it, Messiaen, La
> > Monte Young... but think of all the completely deadly solo piano
> > music that there is out there. At least *I've* heard it; I don't
> > know about anybody else.
>
> Personally, I love the timbre of the piano, especially in baroque
> music. But I find that the timbre is less important to me than perhaps
> to you, I find that for instruments of similar envelope the same solo
> piece will sound essentially the same to me. Sometimes I feel that a
> different timbre accentuates the piece in some way, often for cultural
> reasons more than aesthetic ones. (Distorted guitars are used for
> different purposes by most than nylon guitars) For a monotimbral piece
> (For some reason music with a wide range of timbres is hard for me to
> listen to), I find that the emotional content is usually conveyed by
> the pitches, durations, loudness etc. and the timbre serves more as
> decoration, like using watercolors instead of oils.
>
> --TRISTAN
> (http://dreamingofeden.smackjeeves.com/)
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Cody Hallenbeck"
<codyhallenbeck@...> wrote:
>
> I don't know... I think the difference between watercolors and oils is
> pretty important. My music professor describes some music as durable,
> and some as fragile. Some music, like Bach, conveys it's message very
> effectively despite dramatic changes in instrumentation, tempo,
> tuning, and the performer's interpertation. Obviously, all those
> things matter, but you still get the meaning of the lines from their
> duration, melodic motion, and pitch hierarchy of the piece. Other
> music, Debussy and Mozart come to mind, where you really have to
> perform it accurately to bring out the meaning of the lines, and I
> feel instrumentation generally has a more substantial effect.

I agree about Bach, but at the same time, I can't stand non-original
instrument performances of his music in general, unless they are
played with a snappy light touch, as if informed by the clarity of the
authenticity movement.

I think most pop music is not transcribe-able; too much of it is
married to the particular timbres involved. This *can* be a good thing
in the right hands--not better or worse, but different.

Of course, the better electronic music is all about timbre, and the
idea of transcription is totally moot, old-fashioned, and utterly
transcended.

Stravinsky's orchestrations are very orchestra specific--listening to
'Le Sacre' on the piano makes that point clearly. It's like a
different piece entirely, although one recognizes the gestures, the
way the piano squashes the colors emphasises the dissonances even
more, to my ears.

-Aaron..