For Annika I: Morning Prelude (ogg, mp3)

Hello, Aaron and all, and here are ogg and mp3 versions of a
piece for guess who, _For Annika I: Morning Prelude_.

<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.ogg>
<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.mp3>

By the way, this is an instance where the ogg was considerably
more compact than the mp3 for some reason. I requested an average
bitrate of 192 kb/s for both, and somehow oggenc chose a rate
that turned out rather lower than this. They both sound fine to
me, but maybe others will hear distinctions.

Please enjoy!

Peace and love,

Margo

P.S. While this piece is dedicated to Annika, I would also like to make
it in honor of Alberto Rojo, whose _Decaphonic Guitar_ played an important
role.

Nice piece Margo!
I'm glad my sounds were useful.
Alberto

On 8/4/06, Margo Schulter <mschulter@...> wrote:
>
> Hello, Aaron and all, and here are ogg and mp3 versions of a
> piece for guess who, _For Annika I: Morning Prelude_.
>
> <http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.ogg<http://www.bestII.com/%7Emschulter/ForAnnika_I.ogg>
> >
> <http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.mp3<http://www.bestII.com/%7Emschulter/ForAnnika_I.mp3>
> >
>
> By the way, this is an instance where the ogg was considerably
> more compact than the mp3 for some reason. I requested an average
> bitrate of 192 kb/s for both, and somehow oggenc chose a rate
> that turned out rather lower than this. They both sound fine to
> me, but maybe others will hear distinctions.
>
> Please enjoy!
>
> Peace and love,
>
> Margo
>
> P.S. While this piece is dedicated to Annika, I would also like to make
> it in honor of Alberto Rojo, whose _Decaphonic Guitar_ played an important
> role.
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Margo and all,

How sweet of you to dedicate a piece to 'babysmush'! Please accept
my apologies for the delayed response--I wrote a response on
Saturday while in connecticut, but it was rejected because my
account had been bouncing (I'm getting that problem alot with Yahoo
these days for whatever reason).

I will listen this morning; we just got back last night....I'm
excited to hear this!

Best,
Aaron.

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Margo Schulter
<mschulter@...> wrote:
>
> Hello, Aaron and all, and here are ogg and mp3 versions of a
> piece for guess who, _For Annika I: Morning Prelude_.
>
> <http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.ogg>
> <http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.mp3>
>
> By the way, this is an instance where the ogg was considerably
> more compact than the mp3 for some reason. I requested an average
> bitrate of 192 kb/s for both, and somehow oggenc chose a rate
> that turned out rather lower than this. They both sound fine to
> me, but maybe others will hear distinctions.
>
> Please enjoy!
>
> Peace and love,
>
> Margo
>
> P.S. While this piece is dedicated to Annika, I would also like to
make
> it in honor of Alberto Rojo, whose _Decaphonic Guitar_ played an
important
> role.
>

Margo,

I just heard this, and enjoyed it very much, thank you! Now when
Annika wakes up I'll have to play it for her! ;)

Would you care to share with us some details of the ingredients?

All best,
Aaron

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Margo Schulter
<mschulter@...> wrote:
>
> Hello, Aaron and all, and here are ogg and mp3 versions of a
> piece for guess who, _For Annika I: Morning Prelude_.
>
> <http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.ogg>
> <http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.mp3>
>
> By the way, this is an instance where the ogg was considerably
> more compact than the mp3 for some reason. I requested an average
> bitrate of 192 kb/s for both, and somehow oggenc chose a rate
> that turned out rather lower than this. They both sound fine to
> me, but maybe others will hear distinctions.
>
> Please enjoy!
>
> Peace and love,
>
> Margo
>
> P.S. While this piece is dedicated to Annika, I would also like to
make
> it in honor of Alberto Rojo, whose _Decaphonic Guitar_ played an
important
> role.
>

Hello, Aaron and Alberto and all.

Thank you both for your feedback on my piece for Annika. Aaron,
your question about the "ingredients" gives me an opportunity to
explain how your piece, Alberto, is connected to this one:

<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.ogg>
<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/ForAnnika_I.mp3>

Here's the scale for the piece, which like many medieval European
pieces uses both B-natural and Bb as regular steps:

240
Bb
G A B C D E F G
0 180 420 480 720 900 960 1200

This is in 20-EDO, with a whole-tone equal to either 240 cents or
180 cents, and a regular semitone equal to 60 cents -- a very
pleasant and efficient size. A small tone plus a large one makes
a usual major third of 420 cents, quite close to a just 14:11.

One fun thing about this scale is that in addition to usual minor
thirds like A-C or E-G at 300 cents, we have "quasi-thirds" like
D-F at 240 cents -- the same size as a large major second! These
are at once a bit "surprising" and musically effective, as in
this common two-voice figure moving from fifth to third to unison:

G F E
C D E

One trick for this piece was choosing a timbre that might be
pleasing to Annika: I decided on a "Puff Pipes" timbre that at
once reminds me a bit of a portative or positive organ and gives
a smoother quality to the 720-cent fifths of 20-EDO.

Thank you, Aaron and Alberto, for your encouraging feedback --
and I guess we'll have to see how Annika likes it.

Peace and love,

Margo