Verse:Hmøøh/Talma/Music

Talman music

The classical Etalocian musical tradition abstractly considers the space of possible musical intervals as approximating the intervals with rational frequency ratios. Prime factors commonly used in intervals, in addition to 3 and 5, also include 7, 11, 13 and higher limits. In modern times, there are broadly two approaches to this tuning, the choice of which is partly dictated by instrumentation and style: just intonation (possibly microtempered) and various equal temperaments.

Just intonation was initially an attractive choice as it was considered easy to tune and evaluate musicians on. Primes higher than 5 may have come from an early tradition of throat singing where having a deep voice and the ability to throat-sing higher harmonics (11-14) clearly was seen as a mark of masculinity. In summary, a major reason that this system of just intervals survived as a mainstay of Etalocian music was likely that maintaining it (without collapsing it to e.g. the common pentatonic scale) functioned as a status symbol.

Periodization

Here follows a crude periodization of Etalocian classical music:

• Throat-singing, natural horns, monochords lead to knowledge of higher harmonics; mainly overtone scales; mainly monophonic
• Tsăhong Tamdi's treatise Elements of Harmony is published ~> Partchian tonality diamonds;
• Johnstonian free JI
• (n,k)-anies, Euler-Fokker and other CPS's; constant structures; good equal temperaments (19-EDO, 22-EDO, 27-EDO, 31-EDO)
• Neoclassical period: Back to JI scales

Standardization

The Trician scientific unit for musical intervals is the vri, which is defined as the interval given by the frequency ratio exp(1/1728):1 ≈ 1.00187155617 cents. So it's in practice very similar in size to cents.

Some simple intervals in vri:

• 2/1 (octave) ≈ 1197.75832801 vri
• 3/2 (just perfect fifth) ≈ 700.643706813 vri
• 4/3 (just perfect fourth) ≈ 497.114621198 vri
• 5/4 (just major third) ≈ 385.592056672 vri
• 6/5 (just minor third) ≈ 315.051650141 vri
• 7/4 (harmonic seventh) ≈ 967.016081555 vri
• 11/8 ≈ 550.288047374 vri
• 13/8 ≈ 838.957505673 vri
• 81/80 (syntonic comma) ≈ 21.4661145576 vri

Standard pitch: 125 Hz; 120 Hz is used as "baroque pitch"

Temperament nomenclature

Modern music

There is somewhat less of a division between popular and art music than on Earth.

Some genres of popular music include:

• Lighter fare: simpler JI scales
  • Minimalism
• "Prog rock/metal": Many popular musicians borrow heavily from classical idioms such as: long, quasi-operatic song forms; use of classical JI tunings and harmony; complex rhythms, time signatures and tunings inspired by non-Etalocian music.
  • "Nerd music": often with sci-fi-themed lyrics; more "exotic" musically.
• "Baroque chiptune": a style inspired by old video games: Uses meantone temperament more often
• Film and video game music: Overlaps somewhat with modern classical music.

Modern art music:

• Partch-style "corporeal" musical dramas: These dramas are designed to be appreciated visually, narratively and emotionally as well as musically. Unlike in Western musicals or operas, the performers who play the instruments are also those who act out the parts.

Instruments

• penicillin = a wind instrument
• ditoren = a string instrument

(a lot of overlap with West Etalocian music)

• organs played with an isomorphic keyboard

Tuning systems

Modern composers often work with various equal temperaments. Some favorite equal temperaments are 10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, 27, 31, 41, 46, 53, 58, 72, 87. The most popular are 22 and 31.

Classical music

Instruments

Some common Talman instruments are given below with their Eevo names; they can be divided into continuous-pitch and fixed-pitch instruments.

Continuous-pitch

Free-pitch instruments are prized for their ability to play in any tuning; ngjeoms quartets and quintets are fertile ground for explorations of tuning systems.

• ðavr = a 4-stringed fiddle, used for the treble register
  • Tuning: 2:3:5:7, lowest string = 180 Hz
• ŋams = a 5-stringed bowed string instrument used for the treble and alto register
  • Tuning: 2:3:5:7:9, lowest string = 120 Hz
  • Desired features: should be loud as possible (while still being strong enough to support the strings)
  • softwood; arched plates; sound post; should be thicker than a viola and be played vertically
  • Electric ŋams for vegans
• ŋamsóm = a ŋamys that's a 2/1 lower
  • Tuning: 2:3:4:5:7:9, lowest string = 60 Hz
• txovích fretless steel guitar tuned to a hexany
• lazóf = a trombone; exists in many different pitch ranges, such as soprano, alto, tenor, and bass lazóf
• musical saw
• gyvúas = a slide bassoon
• iskól = a slide flute

Fixed-pitch

• sbwiþ = plucked string instrument with sympathetic strings
• jogóm = a zither
• teem = a reed instrument
• fewm = a drum
• sewvore = some multi-row autoharp thing controlled by a removable isomorphic keyboard (pieces are often written for two or more sewvore keyboards that are separated by a tuning offset so that the player has access to different octaves)
• atxagádal (Nurian aġġiakkātą [ædʒdʒækˈkaːtˠãː]) = pasta guitar-like instrument of Nurian origin, with a bridge to separate two rows of strings that are an octave apart. Common models have 21 strings (folk), 29 strings (classical) or 37 strings (deluxe).

Tuning to temperaments was done with reference instruments or monochords before the invention of modern electronics.

Some fixed-pitch tunings:

• 1/1 21/20 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 10/7 3/2
• 441/440 tempered out: 1/1 21/20 11/10 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 11/8 10/7 3/2
• hexanic: 1/1 21/20 35/32 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 48/35 10/7 3/2
• major: 1/1 25/24 7/6 6/5 5/4 7/5 35/24 3/2
• minor: 1/1 25/24 15/14 6/5 5/4 9/7 75/56 3/2
• augmented: 1/1 15/14 7/6 5/4 9/7 35/24 3/2

Pasta guitar tunings:

• the folk model: 1/1 11/10 6/5 5/4 11/8 3/2 or 1/1 25/24 7/6 5/4 7/5
• the 29 string model: 1/1 21/20 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 10/7 3/2 or 1/1 25/24 7/6 6/5 5/4 7/5 35/24 3/2
• the 37 string model: 1/1 21/20 35/32 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 48/35 10/7 3/2 or 1/1 25/24 15/14 7/6 6/5 5/4 9/7 7/5 35/24 3/2

Music and vegetarianism

Copper strings and hoof glue were vegetarian substitutes for gut strings and hide glue.

Tuning systems

Classical music:

• Older music: Partchian 11- 13- limit
• Free JI like Johnston's string quartets
• Dekanies, eikosanies and other scales that maximize the number of consonant chords per note
• Constant structures that contain desirable scales (like Erv Wilson)
• "Commas" (small intervals) are not necessarily something to be avoided, but to be judiciously worked with.
• Historically well-temperaments were also used.

Popular music prefers "simpler" just scales:

• 6:7:8:9:10:11:12
• 5-/7-odd limit diamonds
• Small CS's

Melodic theory

I don't know how they would divide up the space of intervals melodically.

• They might consider intervals that are sufficiently close to be melodically the same. Thus the interval space is covered by overlapping sets of melodic roles. So what are these melodic roles?

Musical genres and forms

Here are some genres and forms that may be found in both classical and popular music.

Art songs

Art songs, which emerged during the Romantic period, often have chamber accompaniment. Lyrics may be short poems dealing with nature and idyllic settings; love; mystical themes; short dialogues; or humor. However, some art songs are longer and feature multi-part narratives.

Musical theater

Musical theater was traditionally based on myths or works of literature, and was developed greatly during the Romantic period. Modern works often use literature/musical ideas from other cultures or contemporary works.

Cantatas

Cantatas were often written for special occasions or holidays, such as bwrjadreeg (Talman winter solstice).

Instrumental music

Instrumental music comes in various musical forms like in Western classical music.

Dance music

[TODO: the dances] Some dances are in rhythms such as 5, 7, 10, or 25 beats per measure (but no with higher prime factors).

Notation

Scale-neutral JI notation:

1. Notes are written on a staff similar to our staff but the scale is 8:9:10:11:12:13:14:15:16, not the diatonic scale
2. Accidentals indicate various small intervals
3. Shift of fundamental: Let (x,t) be a tuple of the form (level on staff, time). When you draw a point (x1, t1) and another point (x2, t2) after that, and connect them with a curved line, then x1 and x2 are "identified" and the fundamental shifts accordingly (from time t2 on).

Notable works and figures

Early

• (the Partch) Tsăhong Tamdi - composer, physicist and mathematician who wrote Elements of Harmony, which has the first known mention of harmonic series; the just ratios generated by a given set of primes
• Early Windermere composers (responsible for staff directions in Windermere)

Classical

• Hădech Nușach: composer, well known for his string quartets

Romantic

• (the Wilson) Etsoj Jopah
• Inthar Tăhus: composer who put the seal of approval on Jopah's ideas. He came up with some of his own CS's as well.
• (roughly the Smith) Rhooc Askuucis: arrived at equal temperaments by equalizing all intervals in Jopah's and Tăhus's CS's.

Modern art music

• "Tolkien of music" (inventing musical cultures for conworlds) here.
• Segin Þwhgad: composer of film music, musical dramas and fictional music
  • Some sci-fi-themed corporeal musical drama (named after an in-world character): based on the work of the pseudonymous author Þoogast P. Nosaŋve.

Clofabian music

Clofabo-Dodellian music features inharmonic quasi-equal tunings of e.g. 5, 7, 9, 13, 14 notes per octave.