AW.: Re: New retunings: Ives Unanswered revisited

I noticed John A. deLaubenfels mention of www.prs.net and took a look around.
I was surprised to find a midi sequence of _The Unanswered Question_, which
I downloaded and, strictly as an experiment, rendered into .WAV files in
extremely precise 12tet, pythagorean, and a 5-limit JI G major (with
WAVMaker). While there are considerable problems with the sequence, the
balance of dynamics especially, and it is really no substitute for the
spatial experience of a live performance, it is useful to get an idea of the
tonal ideas. To my ears, the strings were hands down best in JI and almost
unbearable in both 12tet and pythagorean -- the beating of the major thirds
made the texture too active (Ives was after the "silence of the druids").
The solo trumpet and the answering woodwind, on the other hand, were
attractively angular in pythagorean. I'll try a mixed version tomorrow.

Dan!
The funny thing about this is the "natural' inclination of strings to take
play toward Pythagorean and brass to play toward JI. Maybe some type of
subconscious role reversal of intonation.

DWolf77309@cs.com wrote:

> I noticed John A. deLaubenfels mention of www.prs.net and took a look around.
> I was surprised to find a midi sequence of _The Unanswered Question_, which
> I downloaded and, strictly as an experiment, rendered into .WAV files in
> extremely precise 12tet, pythagorean, and a 5-limit JI G major (with
> WAVMaker). While there are considerable problems with the sequence, the
> balance of dynamics especially, and it is really no substitute for the
> spatial experience of a live performance, it is useful to get an idea of the
> tonal ideas. To my ears, the strings were hands down best in JI and almost
> unbearable in both 12tet and pythagorean -- the beating of the major thirds
> made the texture too active (Ives was after the "silence of the druids").
> The solo trumpet and the answering woodwind, on the other hand, were
> attractively angular in pythagorean. I'll try a mixed version tomorrow.
>
>

-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island
http://www.anaphoria.com

Daniel is right to point out the balance problems he had with the midi
version of "Unanswered Question."

The actual dynamic of ppp - and with mutes - when tuned in Pythagorean give a
hue that makes the sound especially powerful. This is probably just not
possible to hear, making a preference for something else understandable.

In extended Pythagorean the strings shimmer with difference tones. Ives
writes in his essay "Some 'Quarter-Tone' Impressions" about Thoreau's
sensitive ears: "Perhaps he caught some of the composite resultants which
other ears don't catch. If he did, his inspiration from natural sounds
probably reached its zenith-for is not the simple resultant one of the most
wonderful and mysterious things in nature?"

The already perfect fifth-tuned strings are ideal for the Pythagorean
harmonies. Additionally, the chords are widely spaced by the composer so as
to make them more maleable, less offensive to sensitive ears.

Johnny Reinhard
AFMM