RE: Randy WInchester's remarkable collec

I'd love a copy! Also how can I get a copy of Darreg's collection? I can't
get enough of my Blackwood CD, but variety would be nice! I'm looking
forward to the re-release of Beauty in the Beast.

P.S. After constant exposure to Blackwood's CD, I am left with the
impression that melodic acceptability is more important than harmonic
acceptability. The diatonic scales in 19 and 17 are equally acceptable to my
ears, though possessing very different characters. The level of harmonic
tension is very high in 17 and very low in 19 (except for dominant seventh
chords), but that does not seem to affect the melodic beauty. The diatonic
passages in his 15- and 22- note pieces have failed to capture my interest
-- they just sound out-of-tune, despite the good triads and dominant
sevenths. Blackwood himself comments on the unsettling effect of a
succession of two different-sized whole tones in his PNM article. Where the
purity of the 19-note triads comes naturally as a result of the scale, the
same quality in 22 has a slimy effect: the impression is that the individual
voices sacrifice their integrity in order to blend. Additionally, the
dominant-to-tonic progression is unsettling in 22 -- perhaps this is because
the dominant seventh is so pure, it does not want to resolve (an analogous
situation would be a triad progressing to an open fifth in 19tet). I greatly
enjoy the 14-note piece, particularly the pentatonic scales based on 7tet,
which sound effective whether harmonized in consonant perfect fourths or in
dissonant neutral thirds. I even like the 16-note piece, where I think the
fact that the main scale has only two step-sizes is a big plus for
projecting the melody. However, I don't like the 21-note piece, which sounds
like a lousy performance of a lousy baroque suite. The unique modulational
possibilities of 21tet are intellectually interesting but do nothing for me
musically. I think pentatonic scales based on 7tet would be the way to go in
21tet, where chromatic passages would be based on groups of 3 notes.


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