Pehrson "Consonantics" online

Sorry I've been a bit behind in my list reading, but one of the
things I was doing was finishing up my "Consonantics" for two cellos
in the 21-note "Blackjack" scale.

This piece is written for the cellist duo from the Ukraine, Vadim and
Olga Larchikov. They actually *welcome* microtonal music, which is
exceptional for string players... :) and specifically *asked* for a
microtonal piece.

This is the duo that performed last year on Johnny Reinhard's AFMM
series.

I've posted this piece up on my "Tuning Lab" site, rather than my
composition site on SoundClick since it really is just a MIDI demo.

I note there has been a lot of discussion on MakeMicroMusic recently
about making wonderful demos for performers. However, I really don't
think it makes all that much difference to them, based upon my
experiences. They really just want to go and play the piece
themselves, so they're only listening to get an idea of it...

So, if you're demanding wonderful cello sounds, you won't hear them,
since is still my old MIDI system with TX81Zs. I'm hoping to upgrade
to a software synth and soundfonts fairly soon, but, in the meantime,
this is a usable demo. Oh... there are no *dynamics* in it, either,
but who needs them, anyway... :) The "Blackjack" pitches are pretty
accurate, though, with the tuning-table-based synths; I think moreso
than with pitch bend approaches...

Anyway, here is the piece:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/5/tuninglabmusic.htm

I'm happy to hear any criticism, the good, bad or ugly.

Thanks!

Joseph Pehrson

On Saturday 16 October 2004 08:53 pm, Joseph Pehrson wrote:

> So, if you're demanding wonderful cello sounds, you won't hear them,
> since is still my old MIDI system with TX81Zs. I'm hoping to upgrade
> to a software synth and soundfonts fairly soon, but, in the meantime,
> this is a usable demo. Oh... there are no *dynamics* in it, either,
> but who needs them, anyway... :)

Well......to my taste, with this particular patch, the *lack* of dynamics
makes it tough going, although I can imagine that a thrilling performance
could be gotten from this, because from what I tell, the piece itself is good.
It really starts cooking at about 6 minutes, when that groove thing starts
happening, and I came in and out of focus/interest towards the beginning.
Again that could have been the bad cello timbre, too. ;)

Question....is there something funny going on with the off timing at about
6'29"-6'30" or thereabouts? It sounds unsynchronized.

Nice work, Joseph.

Cheers,
Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.akjmusic.com
http://www.dividebypi.com

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Aaron K. Johnson"

/makemicromusic/topicId_7889.html#7891

<akjmicro@c...> wrote:
> On Saturday 16 October 2004 08:53 pm, Joseph Pehrson wrote:
>
> > So, if you're demanding wonderful cello sounds, you won't hear
them,
> > since is still my old MIDI system with TX81Zs. I'm hoping to
upgrade
> > to a software synth and soundfonts fairly soon, but, in the
meantime,
> > this is a usable demo. Oh... there are no *dynamics* in it,
either,
> > but who needs them, anyway... :)
>
> Well......to my taste, with this particular patch, the *lack* of
dynamics
> makes it tough going, although I can imagine that a thrilling
performance
> could be gotten from this, because from what I tell, the piece
itself is good.
> It really starts cooking at about 6 minutes, when that groove thing
starts
> happening, and I came in and out of focus/interest towards the
beginning.
> Again that could have been the bad cello timbre, too. ;)
>
> Question....is there something funny going on with the off timing
at about
> 6'29"-6'30" or thereabouts? It sounds unsynchronized.
>
> Nice work, Joseph.
>
> Cheers,
> Aaron Krister Johnson
> http://www.akjmusic.com
> http://www.dividebypi.com

***Hi Aaron!

Thanks for listening and for your comments. Well, the timbre thing
will be improved when my new computer arrives. Now I'm told it will
be in a couple of weeks... :) (a friend who does this... don't
ask...:)

I think it's pretty hard to argue in favor of a less realistic
timbre... so I won't bother, but I think the phrasing and bowing is
probably what you're missing in the first section which makes it less
appealing than it should be. Ideally, this should be followed with
the score, which isn't ready yet...

(It will be in the new Saggital-Wilson notation of 72-tET)

Glad you like the "wild" section. I thought maybe I was going a bit
overboard with that, but everybody seems to like it, even the
American microtonal composer John Eaton, who was over here visiting
the other night (he *also* did find the cello patches rather
cloying...)

Yes, this is mostly just an improvisation which was later notated.
You know, that was a very interesting process. Did you ever try to
actually notate what is essentially an *aural* experience? I guess
it would be a little like Messiaen writing down birdsong, or
transcribing African natives or such like... It actually isn't that
easy. I found I got "better" at it by the end of the piece, so I
went back and "fixed" the first few minutes. But, yes, any
discrepancies in the aural score were "fixed" or maybe "notationally
quantised" in the written version...

Thanks again for the commentary!

Joseph

P.S. I apologize to everybody for writing so many messages, but I was
two months behind on this list, and this is a "happening" place these
days... I'll try to keep more "up-to-date..."

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Daniel Wolf <djwolf1@a...>

/makemicromusic/topicId_unknown.html#7892

wrote:
> Joseph Pehrson wrote:
>
> > The "Blackjack" pitches are pretty
> > accurate, though, with the tuning-table-based synths; I think
moreso
> > than with pitch bend approaches...
>
>
> Don't count on the Soundfonts being more accurate -- when they are
based
> on samples of acoustic instruments, the intonation can be wildly
and
> erratically off. At least pitch bends applied to synthesized
sounds
> will be consistant and off by a known amount.

***Got it. Well, this was just MIDI, but thanks for the soundfont
warning...

JP