Re: New music in 15 edo

> I think of this as a little study in dissonance. It can be found at my
> blog [164]http://danielthompson.blogspot.com/

> I welcome your comments and suggestions as I'm pretty new to making
> music with a computer. Thanks.

Dear Daniel,

Please let me thank you warmly for the mp3, which I was able to find
and download with the Lynx browser starting at your blog. I'm not sure
about "music players" on a Web site, but once I had the file
downloaded on my text-based Linux system I could play it without any
problem using madplay, for example.

What I'd call this is not so much "dissonant" (a reaction already voiced
here) as very much xentonal in the Setharean sense -- that is, in a way
analogous to the music of Bill Sethares. Your tone and style are your own;
maybe I'd say that Sethares tends to be at least as much upbeat as offbeat
in his pieces, while yours is a bit more bluesy or downbeat -- as
advertised. This is, of course, a generalization, since Sethares has quite
a range of expression and I might guess that you do also.

At least to my ears, dissonance and ambiguity can be rather different
things, although overlapping -- and as suggested by Aaron's recent
response to one of my pieces, having fairly usual vertical harmonies
with unusual melodic steps or shifts could have a "different" effect
somewhat like of using less usual interval sizes for vertical
sonorities (as judged by a given style).

Your tuning-timbre match is very effective, and the mp3 comments
somehow reinforce the musical impression of "something new and
strange." There's a profound and looming quality to the piece, a
certain mystery maybe not exactly "luminous" in a usual way, but
captivating.

To decide how this fits in with a general 15-EDO situation, I'd need
to have a better sense of the tuning and hear other pieces in it.

What I can say is that your bell sounds fit the tuning well, and
indeed convey mystery and ambiguity. We could get into more of a
discussion about the possible meanings of "dissonance" and related
phenomena, but I wanted first and foremost to thank you for this
memorable creation.

Peace and love,

Margo Schulter
mschulter@...

I'm sorry that this response is kind of late in coming, but I wanted
to thank Margo Schulter and every one else who listened to and
commented on my piece in 15 edo. It was gratifying to get responses
from others who are far more experienced with microtonal music than I
am. I found it especially interesting to hear how dissonant or not
dissonant it sounded to others.

I was pleased that Margo Schulter brought up the subjects of
dissonance and ambiguity. I am very interested in these subjects and
would be pleased to hear other people's comments, either here or at a
different discussion. I have great respect for justly tuned intervals
and those who make music with them, but I find myself increasingly
drawn to temperaments with various degrees of dissonance. I am
excited when this results in ambiguity and multiple possible
interpretations of the same musical material. I don't usually like
music that sounds dissonant, but I think it's really cool when
dissonance can be made to sound nice or even pretty.

Thanks again,
Daniel Thompson
http://danielthompson.blogspot.com

>
> Dear Daniel,
>
> Please let me thank you warmly for the mp3, which I was able to find
> and download with the Lynx browser starting at your blog. I'm not
sure
> about "music players" on a Web site, but once I had the file
> downloaded on my text-based Linux system I could play it without any
> problem using madplay, for example.
>
> What I'd call this is not so much "dissonant" (a reaction already
voiced
> here) as very much xentonal in the Setharean sense -- that is, in a
way
> analogous to the music of Bill Sethares. Your tone and style are
your own;
> maybe I'd say that Sethares tends to be at least as much upbeat as
offbeat
> in his pieces, while yours is a bit more bluesy or downbeat -- as
> advertised. This is, of course, a generalization, since Sethares
has quite
> a range of expression and I might guess that you do also.
>
> At least to my ears, dissonance and ambiguity can be rather
different
> things, although overlapping -- and as suggested by Aaron's recent
> response to one of my pieces, having fairly usual vertical harmonies
> with unusual melodic steps or shifts could have a "different" effect
> somewhat like of using less usual interval sizes for vertical
> sonorities (as judged by a given style).
>
> Your tuning-timbre match is very effective, and the mp3 comments
> somehow reinforce the musical impression of "something new and
> strange." There's a profound and looming quality to the piece, a
> certain mystery maybe not exactly "luminous" in a usual way, but
> captivating.
>
> To decide how this fits in with a general 15-EDO situation, I'd need
> to have a better sense of the tuning and hear other pieces in it.
>
> What I can say is that your bell sounds fit the tuning well, and
> indeed convey mystery and ambiguity. We could get into more of a
> discussion about the possible meanings of "dissonance" and related
> phenomena, but I wanted first and foremost to thank you for this
> memorable creation.
>
> Peace and love,
>
> Margo Schulter
> mschulter@...
>