Techniques of Polytempic Polymicrotonal Composition, part II
Preliminary Considerations
Dividing the Whole Note into Non-standard Parts
Many ideas under consideration for a compositional system for Polytempic Polymicrotonal music are not wholly new. I have been influenced by many composers, theorists, and authors of works that are common fodder in the more arcane areas of music theory. Henry Cowell comes to mind. Amazingly, much of Cowell's work still remains unused and unexplored. Something as simple as fifth notes, or pentuplets, up to today, 2025-26, really should be standard rhythmic practice, just as triplets are. But, they are not. Nevertheless, the division of the whole note into parts other than the binary divisor 2 should be in common use now. Anyone should be able to play pentuplets, septuplets, and nonuplets, as nonuplets are essentially a nested rhythm of three sets of triplets...So, not quite complex nested rhythms, but not merely duple rhythms based on the number 2. Human limitations, of course, limit tempo and speed for these rhythms.
[I suppose what I am trying to get at is the issue of what ought to be expected of a performer prior to performing polytempic polymicrotonal music.]
Dividing the Whole Tone into Non-standard Parts
By now, many players are familiar with quartertones and just intonation. Familiar in a way that perhaps providing fingerings for microtonal pitches for these systems is no longer necessary. Filling a score with a plethora of fingerings looks impressive, but it actually clutters up the music and is entirely ridiculous to flood a complete score with fingerings. In fact, I am not much of a microtonal symbols person. The horizontal rhythmic spacing becomes expanded and its flow destroyed by too many preceding semaphores of microtonal pitch. I believe the legend is where all pitch information should be discussed and resolved, in the simplest way possible, so that the horizontal scansion of rhythm and the flow of meter are preserved. The best solution is to put cents, in numbers, above the notes not included in the legend.
If a piece of music is largely 12-tone equal temperament, I think a few microtonal pitches with fingerings are appropriate, but not if the entire language of the music is in a different tuning. It is in this regard that I indelicately state that the performer ought to be adept at whatever tuning is specified. In the future, I hope that more players will be well-versed in multiple tunings. However, for now, this presents a problem, which is why I think that the fewer systems used for Polytempic Polymicrotonality, the better it will be for performances.
I therefore suggest limiting tuning systems to just a few groups: Just-intonation, Quarter, Third, Sixth, and Eighth tones, and Bohlen-Pierce. Pythagorean-based meantone temperaments, too, since they are common historical tunings. I hope I'm not being overly sententious. The Scala files of tunings now have over 5000 different tunings, which are ideally suited for computer music precision, but this vast wealth of tunings will, unfortunately, remain math assignments with signature names. I do believe these tunings will be used more widely in the future.
Musical Ethics
I put it to you: should it be the composer's job to educate the player on the tuning, or should players known for microtonal skills be sought? If we live in an age of neo-liberalism, which is all about the bottom line, then grants will probably NOT include money for tuning lessons.
Your suggestion of limiting to a few groups is wise. These need to be inculcated gradually. The role of the composer can certainly involve education. The number of quality musicians that have a grasp of microtonal systems is growing, yet they are much more amenable when the composer has made the process of learning a particular tuning as straightforward as possible. Each instrument has certain propensities and quirks that inhibit or allow a tuning to be realised simply. A conversation with each musician and a willingness to provide whatever tools the player needs goes a long way to getting the desired result. Sometimes a audio file is enough. Cents with each note are enough for some. Both of those for others. Obviously, as composers, we have to have a basic understanding of the technical limitations of each voice, instrument. Our skill can often get a musician over a hurdle or two.
ReplyDeleteComplexity of rhythm and pitch in the one piece is not necessarily a game breaker, but adequate time must be allowed for the player to feel they can do a good job.
Can you, Dr Dixon, describe your experiences with Skullin a Coldie? How did you deal with the pitch and rhythmic demands in that piece? How can I help further?
DeleteCarlton Vickers once told me to add hertz information to the legend, rather than cents for the notes. CPS was more helpful, he said.
DeleteI agree that there should be a detailed discussion of the tuning in the preface materials for a written piece of music, and that the use of extra microtonal accidentals, impedes the scanning of the notation when reading and playing the music. Typically, I think notating to the nearest quarter tone plus or minus a cents designation works best. I find Carlton Vickers suggestion interesting, it makes me think that he is using a frequency counter to tune. If so there is some merit to the suggestion, otherwise not so much.
ReplyDeletePerhaps a frequency detector first, and then a cents tuner second. I always include a tuning legend. As for fingerings, it is ridiculous to add them to the score, and if every note in the piece is microtonal, I suppose I could append a fingering chart for flute, or whatever, but these materials are also free on the internet. If a composer just has a couple of quartertones in their piece, then fingerings and charts would be expected, as the piece is geared towards non-microtonal performers.
DeleteHey Peter!
ReplyDeleteI also like the idea of categorizing tuning systems into a few groups. In my limited experience writing PTPM music, I’ve found that sticking to the groups you mentioned above tends to yield the most success. For tunings outside of those, I’ve primarily employed them in fixed media sections.
Also, I’m not opposed to including notation directly on the score in addition to a legend. In most cases, I’ve found that performers prefer having that information embedded in the score rather than relying solely on a separate legend. At for the sake of contradicting myself, I do like Joel's suggestion of notating to the nearest quarter tone and adding plus or minus cents designation.
I've done that. I have used the cents above notes system for years. My scores show this. I also began re-assigning standard accidentals for microtones, since there are @36 different standard accidentals left over from the meantone age. I posted a link to my scores on another blog.
Deletebtw, when can I see your thesis?
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