Gurdjieff Scale, Post 1

John,

Regarding the 'seven-toned scale of sound' described by Gurdjieff in his
writing--this is quite difficult reading--perhaps out of context will make
very little sense. But with careful reading there is perhaps enough
information to begin work on Gurdjieff 's ideas. There is nothing
concrete in these writings to exactly describe a scale which could be
defined by cents or ratios but the impetus to seek a deeper understand of
cosmic knowledge through music is provided-- more than noodling around
with sound, music is or could be the study of cosmic law. I will have to
break down the quote into several posts as the reference is rather long.
This is from Gurdjieff's, "Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson", E. P.
Dutton & Co., 1964. (pp 847-870)

"And as regards the 'seven-toned scale of sound' which had reached them
from the ancient Chinese beings, then you must be informed about this as
detailedly as possible, because first of all, thanks to this information,
you will better understand about the
laws of vibrations in which all the peculiarities of the sacred
Heptaparaparshinokh can be constated and cognized; and secondly, because,
among those things intentionally reproduced by those same three-brained
beings of yours, who have taken your fancy, for daily use in their general
existence, I brought home from there also one 'sound-producing instrument'
named there 'piano' on which the vibration-engendering 'strings' were
placed which could be arranged just as on the Dzendvokh, that is the
second spe cial part of the famous experimental apparatus Alla-attapan,
which was created by the great twin brothers and on which, when we return
on to our dear Karatas, I shall be able to explain to you by
demonstration, what is called, the 'successiveness-of-the-p
rocesses-of-the-mutual-blending-of-vibrations.' Thanks to these practical
explanations of mine you will more easily be able to represent to yourself
and approximately to cognize just how and in which successiveness in our
great Megalocosmos the process o f the Most Great Trogoautoegocrat
proceeds and in which way the large and small cosmic concentrations arise.

"Relating about how such a fragment of 'practical result' from the ancient
true knowledge survived and automatically reached down to your
contemporary favorites, I shall first elucidate to you with more accuracy
about this same definite law of vibrations
which was first formulated by the great brothers as the
'seven-gravity-center-vibrations-of-sound.'

"I have already said that in the beginning, while that totality of true
information or that fragment of 'genuine knowledge' was handed down from
the beings of one generation to the beings of subsequent generations only
through the genuine initiates there,
it not only underwent a change in the entirety of the exact sense put
into it, but it even began, thanks to other genuine learned beings among
their followers of subsequent generations, to be 'detailized' and became
accessible then to the perception of e ven ordinary three-brained
terrestrial beings.

"Among these followers a century and a half after the sacred Rascooarno of
the saint-brothers, there was a certain genuine learned being,
King-Too-Toz by name, who, on the basis of the principles of the
construction of the middle part of the apparatus All a-attapan named
Dzendvokh, propounded a very detailed theory under the name 'evolution and
involution of vibrations,' and for the confirmation of this theory of his
made a special elucidatory apparatus which he called 'Lav-Merz-Nokh' and
which, by the way , later became widely known among almost all the learned
beings of our Great Megalocosmos.

"The said apparatus Lav-Merz-Nokh, like the middle part of the
Alla-attapan, consisted of a very strong frame with a great many strings
stretched on it made from the intestines and tail-hairs of various
quadruped beings there. One end of each string was fixed to one edge of
this frame, and the other to pegs inserted into another edge.

"These pegs were inserted in such a way that they could be freely turned
in their what are called 'peg holes' and the strings fixed on to them
could at will be tightened or loosened as much as was necessary for the
required number of vibrations.

"Of the great number of strings on the Lav-Merz-Nokh, forty-nine were
colored white and the totality of vibrations, that is to say, the definite
sound obtained from the vibrations of each one of them was called a whole
'center-of-gravity-of-the-octave,' w hich definite sound corresponded to
that which your favorites now call a 'whole note.'

"Each seven strings of these 'gravity-center-sounds' or whole notes were
then and are still called an 'octave.'

"In this way there were stretched on the apparatus Lav-Merz-Nokh seven
octaves of whole notes the totality of the general consonance of which
gave what is called the 'sacred Hanziano,' that is, just what the two
great brothers suspected and which happened
almost exactly to coincide with what, as I already said, they then named
'Nirioonossian-World-Sound.'

"Each such an octave of strings on the Lav-Merz-Nokh gave that totality of
vibrations which according to the calculations of the great twin-brothers
correspond to the totality of the vibrations of all those cosmic
substances which, issuing from seven sepa rate independent sources,
compose one of the seven-centers-of-gravity of the 'fundamental
common-cosmic Ansapalnian-octave.'

"Each white string on the Lav-Merz-Nokh was tuned separately by the
Chinese learned being King-Too-Toz in such a way that it gave that average
number of vibrations which according to the calculations of the great
brothers ought also to be in substances wh ich are one of the
seven-centers-of-gravity of the given whole totality of substances, which
in turn is one of the seven centers of gravity of the fundamental cosmic
octave of substances.

"On the Lav-Merz-Nokh, each octave as well as each whole note of the
octave had names of their own. And, namely, the highest octave of the
strings was called 'Arachiaplnish,'

The second highest 'Erkrordiapan'
The third highest 'Erordiapan'
The fourth highest 'Chorortdipan'
The fifth highest 'Piandjiapan'
The sixth highest 'Vetserordiapan'
The seventh highest 'Okhterordiapan'

"And the 'gravity-center-strings' themselves were painted white and were
called the same in all octaves, but with the addition of the name of the
given octave itself. And, namely, these whole notes were called thus:

The first highest 'Adashtanas'
The second highest 'Evotanas'
The third highest 'Govorktanis'
The fourth highest 'Maikitanis'
The fifth highest 'Midotanis'
The sixth highest 'Lookotanis'
The seventh highest'Sonitanis'

"The contemporary beings of the Earth now call these same whole notes:
'do,' 'si,' 'la,' 'sol,' 'fa,' 'mi,' 're.'

"By the way, my boy, in order that the greatness of these two saints,
brothers, should be still more evident to you, I draw your attention to
the fact that the calculations made by them and the qualitativeness
established by these calculations of what is called the
'vivifyingness-of-the-vibrations' of sound which corresponded according to
their suppositions with the vivifyingness of cosmic sources of substances,
appeared to coincide almost exactly with reality.

"This merit of theirs was all the greater, because as terrestrial beings
they had no true information about this and were able to make correct
suppositions and almost accurate calculations of many objective cosmic
truths exclusively only thanks to their o wn conscious labors and
intentional sufferings.

"Further, on this Lav-Merz-Nokh in each octave between these white strings
or whole notes, this learned being King-Too-Toz strung in certain places
five further strings, but this time painted black.

"These black strings however he named 'Demisakhsakhsa,' which according to
the terminology of the beings of the Earth corresponded to what they call
'half notes,' and these 'half-note strings' on the Lav-Merz-Nokh were not
strung between those whole notes
between which, according to the indications of the saints Choon-Kil-Tez
and Coon-Tro-Pel, there is according to the sacred Heptaparaparshinookh no
possibility of the independence of the evolution and involution of the
vibrations of sound, and these place s they were the first to call 'gaps.'
And in the given places of the octave where these gaps ought to be, this
learned being King-Too-Toz strung special strings between the whole notes
made of the tail-hairs of beings called there 'horse.'

"These hair strings gave vibrations which were not always the same and
King-Too-Toz named these vibrations 'chaotic.'

"The number of the vibrations obtained from these hair strings depended
not on the stretching of them, as in the case of the other strings, but on
other causes; chiefly on three causes ensuing from surrounding cosmic
results,namely: on the action of the v ibrations dispersed around them
obtained from other strings of the Lav-Merz-Nokh; on the state of what is
called the 'temperature of the atmosphere' at the given moment; and on the
radiations of the beings present nearby without distinction of brain syste
m.

"On this Lav-Merz-Nokh between these white, black, and hair strings there
were also strung in each octave fourteen strings also from 'twisted
intestines,' which were painted red and called 'Keesookesschoor,' and if
contemporary beings of the Earth were to
use these strings they would call them 'quarter notes.'

"In addition to this, all those 'quarter note strings' which were
stretched on either side of the hair strings were fitted in such a way
that the vibrations issuing from them could at any moment be changed as
desired by means of tightening or loosening th ese strings and thus the
vibrations they produced could be regulated and by ear blended with the
frequently changing vibrations obtained from the hair strings.

"And this was so done because thanks to the frequently changing vibrations
of the hair strings, the qualitativeness of which, I already said,
depending on the temperature of the atmosphere, on the radiations of the
beings present nearby, and on many other
causes, the vibrations of there 'red strings' acquired such a property
that if they did not blend with the vibrations of the hair strings the
vibrations issuing from them would act on the beings present very
'cacophonically-harmfully,' even to their poss ible total destruction.

"With the frequent changing however of the stretching of the red strings
and with the blending of their vibrations with the general vibrations
issuing from the Lav-Merz-Nokh, their harmlessness was obtained, that is
to say, owing to this, the general vibr ations issuing from the
Lav-Merz-Nokh became for the beings who heard them what is called
'Harmoniously flowing' and not harmfully acting.

"And so, my boy, this apparatus, Lav-Merz-Nokh, and also the detailed
theory of this ancient conscientious learned being King-Too-Toz suffered
the same fate as the incomparable apparatus Alla-attaoan and the whole
totality of true information cognized by the brothers.

"Owing to the continuing and even increasing formation in the sense of
quantity of certain of your favorites of the mentioned new type with the
said inherency of cunning wiseacring, all this totality of information was
from that time on altered and its ge nuine sense and significance
gradually forgotten.

...if there is interest I will continue in another post.

Bruce Kanzelmeyer


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