Trick or Treat?? [Blackwood]

After the little Halloween goblins and goblinesses finished parading
through our apartment complex, I had the opportunity to listen
carefully to Easley Blackwood's microtonal works on Cedille Records
90000 018.

Some might find these pieces a "trick," since many of the works
emulate traditional diatonicism, although in a "distorted" way, but
I, personally found them a "treat..."

Blackwood, quite frankly, writes like a composer with theory "on the
brain..." That's not necessarily bad, particularly in a case where
traditional diatonic forms have never before been exposed to new
tunings, new ETs.

Basically, for those few of you who have not heard his microtonal
etudes in the various ETs, he explores all the diatonic possibilities
of these tunings in a mathematical/theoretical way, trying to relate
as many of the "traditional" diatonic progressions as possible to the
new ETs.

This is not "creative new work" in the sense that, possibly, the work
of Harry Partch might be, but it's a different world and intent
entirely. Blackwood is more interested in bringing our past Western
music experiences to new ETs and structures, although he does
incorporate Eastern elements in scales that don't lend themselves so
readily to our traditional Western diatonic norms. (Let's say they
have all "bad" fifths and triads, so "waddayagonnadoo??" :)

The most fascinating part, for me, of his work is the deep
investigations of traditional theory and the application to the new
ETs revealed in his meticulous discoveries. It makes one wish to
take a theory course on this topic: the expansion and interpretation
of traditional functional diatonicism to new and foreign ETs. (That
is, if one could pass such a course with Blackwood :)

As part of this study, which was funded in the late 1970s by the
National Endowment for the Humanities (when they were still doing
such things) Blackwood developed notations for the various ETs,
although, admittedly, this must be seen as a kind of "academic"
exercise, since the works are all synthesized and very few people
outside of Blackwood, who knows them "inside-out" would perform them
anyway.

However, I'm very interested in what he does with that, and hope to
order the score directly from the composer (address was in the CD) as
well as the book _The Structure of Recognizable Diatonic Tunings_,
which I have been searching for several years now.

Joseph Pehrson

> From: "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@rcn.com>
> To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 8:03 PM
> Subject: [tuning] Trick or Treat?? [Blackwood]
>
>
> After the little Halloween goblins and goblinesses finished parading
> through our apartment complex, I had the opportunity to listen
> carefully to Easley Blackwood's microtonal works on Cedille Records
> 90000 018.
>
> Some might find these pieces a "trick," since many of the works
> emulate traditional diatonicism, although in a "distorted" way, but
> I, personally found them a "treat..."

i'll second that opinion, Joe. i love Blackwood's
_Microtonal Etudes_, and in fact, started making my
own MIDI version of the 16tET one several years ago.
Carl Lumma didn't like it as much as Blackwood's
version, and i think that's one reason why i stopped
working on it.

> The most fascinating part, for me, of his work is the deep
> investigations of traditional theory and the application to the new
> ETs revealed in his meticulous discoveries. It makes one wish to
> take a theory course on this topic: the expansion and interpretation
> of traditional functional diatonicism to new and foreign ETs. (That
> is, if one could pass such a course with Blackwood :)

there have been quite a few papers published in the
_Journal of Music Theory_ which are along the same
lines as Blackwood's work, and in fact several of
them continue where he left off.

actually, now that i have the entire available set
of back-issues of the _JMT_, i'm quite surprised at
how often they published papers on microtonality.

just a couple of hours ago, i grabbed one at random
of the shelf, and lo and behold, there was Ramon Fuller's
"A Study of Microtonal Equal Temperaments", _JMT_ v 35 # 1 & 2,
Spring/Fall 1991, p 211-237. Fuller frequently cites
Blackwood.

> As part of this study, which was funded in the late 1970s by the
> National Endowment for the Humanities (when they were still doing
> such things) Blackwood developed notations for the various ETs,
> although, admittedly, this must be seen as a kind of "academic"
> exercise, since the works are all synthesized and very few people
> outside of Blackwood, who knows them "inside-out" would perform them
> anyway.
>
> However, I'm very interested in what he does with that, and hope to
> order the score directly from the composer (address was in the CD) as
> well as the book _The Structure of Recognizable Diatonic Tunings_,
> which I have been searching for several years now.

Blackwood's ET notations are really weird. i must admit
that it's been several years since i looked at the score
and listened to the pieces ... i'll have to give them a
go again now and see if i like his notations any better
now than i did then.

-monz
"all roads lead to n^0"

--- In tuning@y..., "monz" <monz@a...> wrote:

> Blackwood's ET notations are really weird. i must admit
> that it's been several years since i looked at the score
> and listened to the pieces ... i'll have to give them a
> go again now and see if i like his notations any better
> now than i did then.

i have the score, in case anyone's interested . . . the notation for
16-equal, for example, is based on the idea of preserving 12-equal's
notation of the diminished 7th chord . . . which makes other things
really weird.

i think my favorite pieces are the 17-tone and 16-tone; my least
favorite are the 22-tone (yuck!!) and 21-tone (good piece but *so*
out-of-tune!) . . .

[monz wrote...]
>i'll second that opinion, Joe. i love Blackwood's
>_Microtonal Etudes_, and in fact, started making my
>own MIDI version of the 16tET one several years ago.
>Carl Lumma didn't like it as much as Blackwood's
>version, and i think that's one reason why i stopped
>working on it.

Gee, I don't remember that!

[joe wrote...]
>As part of this study, which was funded in the late 1970s by the
>National Endowment for the Humanities (when they were still doing
>such things) Blackwood developed notations for the various ETs,
>although, admittedly, this must be seen as a kind of "academic"
>exercise, since the works are all synthesized and very few people
>outside of Blackwood, who knows them "inside-out" would perform
>them anyway.

Geez, Joe P., why would you say that? There's a guitar
performance on that disc.

I would have thought Blackwood's notation would be right down your
alley, since it keeps the seven nominals you seem to demand.
Blackwood also enforces diatonic spellings, so enharmonic tricks
are readily apparent at the score. This results in accidental
stackup, which I consider bad mojo... ...also B.'s choice of signs
is a bit odd at times -- the 15-tET accidental itself looks like a
note, and the arrow is big and hard on the eye.

Can Sims' notation preserve diatonic spellings?

>However, I'm very interested in what he does with that, and hope
>to order the score directly from the composer (address was in
>the CD) as well as the book _The Structure of Recognizable
>Diatonic Tunings_, which I have been searching for several years
>now.

The score is well worth getting, but the book is out of print.
NYC library has it, though non-check-outable.

>Blackwood's ET notations are really weird. i must admit
>that it's been several years since i looked at the score
>and listened to the pieces ... i'll have to give them a
>go again now and see if i like his notations any better
>now than i did then.

Blackwood took the total opposite approach I would have taken.
You (Joe P.) seem to fall somewhere in-between.

>This is not "creative new work" in the sense that, possibly, the
>work of Harry Partch might be, but it's a different world and
>intent entirely. Blackwood is more interested in bringing our
>past Western music experiences to new ETs and structures . . .

Hrm, I really disagree. I don't think Blackwood is 1/4th the
composer Partch was, but I make such judgements totally ignoring
style and approach. Also tuning has very little to say about
style, so I don't look at Blackwood's work as taking European
diatonic practice into a new frontier, I just look at it as music.
Blackwood is far too 'French' for my taste, but I like it anyway,
because I think it's outstanding music.

-Carl

>i think my favorite pieces are the 17-tone and 16-tone; my least
>favorite are the 22-tone (yuck!!) and 21-tone (good piece but
>*so* out-of-tune!) . . .

I dig the 22-tone piece -- what don't you like about it?
The 15-tone works are definitely the best in my book.

-Carl

--- In tuning@y..., "Carl Lumma" <clumma@y...> wrote:
> >i think my favorite pieces are the 17-tone and 16-tone; my least
> >favorite are the 22-tone (yuck!!) and 21-tone (good piece but
> >*so* out-of-tune!) . . .
>
> I dig the 22-tone piece -- what don't you like about it?

everything. especially the tuning.

> The 15-tone works are definitely the best in my book.

the ending of the 19-tone piece (not the fanfare) might be my
favorite moment on the whole CD.

--- In tuning@y..., "Carl Lumma" <clumma@y...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_40453.html#40469

>
> [joe wrote...]
> >As part of this study, which was funded in the late 1970s by the
> >National Endowment for the Humanities (when they were still doing
> >such things) Blackwood developed notations for the various ETs,
> >although, admittedly, this must be seen as a kind of "academic"
> >exercise, since the works are all synthesized and very few people
> >outside of Blackwood, who knows them "inside-out" would perform
> >them anyway.
>
> Geez, Joe P., why would you say that? There's a guitar
> performance on that disc.
>

***I was just talking about all his different notations for the
_Microtonal Etudes..._ but, admittedly, I haven't seen the notations,
except for a *very* short excerpt in the Gardner Reed book, so I
don't know what to think as yet.

> I would have thought Blackwood's notation would be right down your
> alley, since it keeps the seven nominals you seem to demand.
> Blackwood also enforces diatonic spellings, so enharmonic tricks
> are readily apparent at the score. This results in accidental
> stackup, which I consider bad mojo... ...also B.'s choice of signs
> is a bit odd at times -- the 15-tET accidental itself looks like a
> note, and the arrow is big and hard on the eye.
>
> Can Sims' notation preserve diatonic spellings?
>

***Well, I don't believe he ever *tries* to describe any different
tunings with it other than 72-tET...

> >However, I'm very interested in what he does with that, and hope
> >to order the score directly from the composer (address was in
> >the CD) as well as the book _The Structure of Recognizable
> >Diatonic Tunings_, which I have been searching for several years
> >now.
>
> The score is well worth getting, but the book is out of print.
> NYC library has it, though non-check-outable.
>
> >Blackwood's ET notations are really weird. i must admit
> >that it's been several years since i looked at the score
> >and listened to the pieces ... i'll have to give them a
> >go again now and see if i like his notations any better
> >now than i did then.
>
> Blackwood took the total opposite approach I would have taken.
> You (Joe P.) seem to fall somewhere in-between.
>
> >This is not "creative new work" in the sense that, possibly, the
> >work of Harry Partch might be, but it's a different world and
> >intent entirely. Blackwood is more interested in bringing our
> >past Western music experiences to new ETs and structures . . .
>
> Hrm, I really disagree. I don't think Blackwood is 1/4th the
> composer Partch was, but I make such judgements totally ignoring
> style and approach. Also tuning has very little to say about
> style, so I don't look at Blackwood's work as taking European
> diatonic practice into a new frontier, I just look at it as music.
> Blackwood is far too 'French' for my taste, but I like it anyway,
> because I think it's outstanding music.
>
> -Carl

***Well, it seemed quite a bit of work in the _Microtonal Etudes_
particularly in the more "consonant" ETs was derivative of various
earlier Western diatonic styles, Bach comes to mind in particular.

As I mentioned, when the tunings veered away from our traditional
diatonic possibilities they tended to sound "less Western..." but in
several of them common practice Western music was heard, as practiced
several centuries ago...

J. Pehrson

> From: "Carl Lumma" <clumma@yahoo.com>
> To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Friday, November 01, 2002 12:19 PM
> Subject: [tuning] Re: Trick or Treat?? [Blackwood]
>
>
> [monz wrote...]
> >i'll second that opinion, Joe. i love Blackwood's
> >_Microtonal Etudes_, and in fact, started making my
> >own MIDI version of the 16tET one several years ago.
> >Carl Lumma didn't like it as much as Blackwood's
> >version, and i think that's one reason why i stopped
> >working on it.
>
> Gee, I don't remember that!

it was when i came to visit you in Pennsylvania.
i played what i had done of the beginning of it,
and made a comment about how i liked my version a
lot more than Blackwood's, and you disagreed, saying
that his version had a nice swing to it that mine didn't.

-monz