Bill Wesley's "Array" system at Tonescape group

Yesterday i helped Bill Wesley install Tonescape
on his computer, and finally got a really good
representation of his Array System in a Tonescape
.tuning file.

I posted to The Yahoo Tonescape Den Haag group's
File section, the tuning and a couple of "pieces"
which illustrate two aspects of the Array System.
You have to be a member of the group to access the
files, but posts can be read by anyone, and i suspect
that some folks here might be interested.

/tonescape_denhaag/topicId_unknown.html#44

If you do download and install Tonescape and become
a member of the Den Haag group, you can expect me
to be posting many more examples of "pieces" which
illustrate other fascinating aspects of Bill's
tuning theories, and also some actual compositions
by him.

You can get some pertinent info from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Array_system

-monz
http://tonalsoft.com
Tonescape microtonal music software

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "monz" <monz@...> wrote:

> I posted to The Yahoo Tonescape Den Haag group's
> File section, the tuning and a couple of "pieces"
> which illustrate two aspects of the Array System.
> You have to be a member of the group to access the
> files, but posts can be read by anyone, and i suspect
> that some folks here might be interested.
>
> /tonescape_denhaag/topicId_unknown.html#44
>
> <snip>
>
> You can get some pertinent info from Wikipedia:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Array_system

In fact, i'd be interested in discussion of what Bill's
Array System and Bosanquet's generalized keyboard design
do and do not have in common. (It's been several years
since i've thought about Bosanquet.)

So if you are familiar Bosanquet's design and you do
play around with the Tonescape files, please feel free
to report back to this list for comparisons with Bosanquet.

-monz
http://tonalsoft.com
Tonescape microtonal music software

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "monz" <monz@...> wrote:
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "monz" <monz@> wrote:
>
> > I posted to The Yahoo Tonescape Den Haag group's
> > File section, the tuning and a couple of "pieces"
> > which illustrate two aspects of the Array System.
> > You have to be a member of the group to access the
> > files, but posts can be read by anyone, and i suspect
> > that some folks here might be interested.
> >
> > /tonescape_denhaag/topicId_unknown.html#44
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > You can get some pertinent info from Wikipedia:
> >
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Array_system
>
>
> In fact, i'd be interested in discussion of what Bill's
> Array System and Bosanquet's generalized keyboard design
> do and do not have in common. (It's been several years
> since i've thought about Bosanquet.)
>

It's more like Wicki's than Bosanquet's

http://www.concertina.com/gaskins/wicki/index.htm
http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC08644073&id=CiwDAAAAQAAJ

Clark

http://www.thearraymbira.com

Wow, this is absolutely amazing! I can't believe i haven't heard of
this instrument before! Wonderful.... they really got something new here.

Good work, dude. Bill Wesley is freakin' amazing.

-Carl

> Yesterday i helped Bill Wesley install Tonescape
> on his computer, and finally got a really good
> representation of his Array System in a Tonescape
> .tuning file.
>
> I posted to The Yahoo Tonescape Den Haag group's
> File section, the tuning and a couple of "pieces"
> which illustrate two aspects of the Array System.
> You have to be a member of the group to access the
> files, but posts can be read by anyone, and i suspect
> that some folks here might be interested.
>
> /tonescape_denhaag/topicId_unknown.html#44
>
> If you do download and install Tonescape and become
> a member of the Den Haag group, you can expect me
> to be posting many more examples of "pieces" which
> illustrate other fascinating aspects of Bill's
> tuning theories, and also some actual compositions
> by him.
>
> You can get some pertinent info from Wikipedia:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Array_system
>
> -monz
> http://tonalsoft.com
> Tonescape microtonal music software

> > I posted to The Yahoo Tonescape Den Haag group's
> > File section, the tuning and a couple of "pieces"
> > which illustrate two aspects of the Array System.
> > You have to be a member of the group to access the
> > files, but posts can be read by anyone, and i suspect
> > that some folks here might be interested.
> >
> > /tonescape_denhaag/topicId_unknown.html#44
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > You can get some pertinent info from Wikipedia:
> >
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Array_system
>
> In fact, i'd be interested in discussion of what Bill's
> Array System and Bosanquet's generalized keyboard design
> do and do not have in common. (It's been several years
> since i've thought about Bosanquet.)
>
> So if you are familiar Bosanquet's design and you do
> play around with the Tonescape files, please feel free
> to report back to this list for comparisons with Bosanquet.

They're both isomorphic layouts. Or transpositionally
invariant, or whatever you want to call it. From what I
understand, Bill tunes fifths pure, while Bosanquet
advocated 53-ET (there ain't a whole lot of difference
anyway).

Bosaquet's layout preserves the left-right pitch axis
of the Halberstadt keyboard. Bill's layout does not.

Layouts like Bill's (or that of the new AXiS keyboard
recently discussed on MMM) make some sense in that they
assign the least distance on the keyboard to the most
fundamental consonances (octaves and fifths).

From a player's point of view, scales are really
natural on the Halberstadteque layouts, while angular
melodies are just as likely as scales on the other
layouts. So you don't have to work as hard to play
bebop or North German toccatas :).

-Carl

Hi Mats,

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Mats Öljare <oljare@...> wrote:

> http://www.thearraymbira.com
>
> Wow, this is absolutely amazing! I can't believe i haven't
> heard of this instrument before! Wonderful.... they really
> got something new here.

Carl agreed with you a few messages later, and it's true:
Bill Wesley *is* freakin' amazing!

The Array Mbira is not his only instrument, and as
gorgeous as it sounds, it may not be the best one either.
Like Partch, Bill has created and built an entire ensemble
of his own instruments, all of them designed according to
the Array System. Some of the other ones i know about:

. Array MIDI Controller - exactly what it sounds like:
an electronic keyboard but with buttons arranged according
to the Array System instead of a regular keyboard;

. Fret Array - like a 10-string electric guitar
played on your lap, using tapping technique ... it's
never been easier to sound like Jimi Hendrix;

. Prong Array - a set of metal prongs which tap against
a metal stud when you pluck them ... this instrument is
really a trip, because it goes down so low that you can
hear pitch become rhythm;

. Nail Violin - just a bunch of nails hammered
into a soundbox, but what an amazing sound ... my
second-favorite of his instruments;

. Rasp Array - a bunch of rasps (heavy metal files),
played by scraping two curved brass tubes across them
... my absolute favorite and a real mind-blower.

The Rasp Array is simply unbelievable. Most people
dismiss it because it's so weird, but if you're in
the right frame of mind and *really* listen to it, wow.
When Bill first demonstrated it to me, i got stoned
and then closed my eyes, and for 20 minutes i could
swear that i was listening to a painstakingly composed
piece of complex and highly contrapuntal synthesized
music ... and it was all just Bill improvising.
It was an experience that i will never forget.

We have some of Bill's mp3s on our website -
one of them includes the Nail Violin:

http://tonalsoft.com/downloads/free-music.aspx

-monz
http://tonalsoft.com
Tonescape microtonal music software