[UC-ODDMUSIC] microtonal composition study group meets tomorrow, Oct 29

[Andrew Heathwaite]

Hi friends,

Oddmusic's been hosting a "microtonal composition study group" on Thursdays this semester from 5:30pm to 7.  By "microtonal" I mean to refer to nonstandard practices of tuning - tuning systems other than our culture's unquestioned standard of 12-tone equal temperament.

We've given some time to studying alternative ways of dividing the musical octave.  We started with "macrotonal edos," scales which divide the octave into fewer than 12 equal parts - for instance, 7 parts or 10 parts.  We've touched only briefly on larger numbers (smaller divisions) such as 17, 22, or 31 equal parts (although I'd like to return to these).

We've also started a conversation about "just intonation" (or, more generally "rational intonation"), which arrives at pitch structures by taking whole number frequency ratios.  This produces uneven scales, which are in a way more complex than the equal scale we've grown up with (and other equal scales we might consider).  We began this conversation two sessions ago, and I'd like to return to it tomorrow.

Last session (two Thursdays ago), Ben, Snow Leopard, & Jacob all had pieces (or "not yet pieces") to share for discussion.  I was delighted when we gave time to careful talk about these pieces & their unique universes of pitch.

Tomorrow, we'll have another meeting, and I wanted to re-extend the invitation.  Previous experience in microtonality is not necessary or expected.  Interest in composing and talking about composing, is expected.  If this technical language sounds overwhelming, I promise you have my understanding.  Please don't let that stop you!  If you have an interest, I want to help you access this material.  So again, that's:

tomorrow!
Thursday, October 29!
from 5:30 to 7pm!

We meet in the Oddmusic Instrumentarium at the Independent Media Center: room 21A.

I propose that we spend time considering "consonance" and "dissonance," particularly through a lens of just intonation, but not only that lens.

See you there perhaps!

Send questions (really!) to Andrew, me!
gtrpkt at yahoo.com



      
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