Searching for New Sound - Music Composition ideas

According to Helmholtz (2011), a musical note is due to the fundamental frequency and the quality of a musical sound is due to the presence of upper partials. For traditional western music, pitch perception is mainly fundamental, rather than the frequencies in the spectrum which Teodorescu-Ciocanea (2003) describes as a “note proper” tradition. The spectralism composers shifted the domain from absolute pitches, intervals and chords to the spectrum. Spectral music is a complex approach to timbre, Teodorescu-Ciocanea (2003) classified 9 tendencies and their possibilities in spectral music. To conclude the techniques, tuning the frequencies according to the harmonic series is the major approach; while working with noise, generated digitally and/or extended techniques on instruments, is a sort of timbral dissonance which dilutes the pitch perception of a musical sound. Teodorescu-Ciocanea describes inharmonicity as the combination of frequencies that are not integral multiples of the funda

In the world of music analysis and signal processing, the Fourier transform is a powerful tool for understanding the frequency content of a sound. One of the key components of the Fourier transform is the window function, which controls how long the computer "looks" at the signal in order to determine the frequencies present. In a perfect world, a longer observation time would provide better accuracy in identifying the frequencies present in a sound. However, in the real world, musical notes from instruments are not infinitely long and their sustain is not always perfectly flat and clear. As a result, the pitch of a note can fluctuate, which can lead to a noisy spectrum when analyzing the sound. To address this problem, different window functions have been developed to control the observation time and minimize the impact of pitch fluctuations on the analysis. In music analysis, this principle can be applied to the frequency and time domain of a sound. A commonly used window f

When the cluster is played in the low register, the harmonics of notes in the cluster interfere with each other. It creates a complex and muddy sound. The notes can be too close to each other and it can be hard to differentiate them, also the sound produced might be too dense and lack clarity. The low interval limits refer to the range of notes or pitches that are considered to be in the lower register of an instrument or voice. These limits are often established by composers and performers as a guide for creating and playing music in a specific range. For example, a composer may choose to avoid using certain intervals, such as a major third or minor second, below a certain pitch, D3 or E3 respectively, in order to produce a clear perception of an interval. The low interval limits are not hard rules, but more like guidelines, and can be broken depending on the creative intent. Some composers and performers may choose to use lower pitches and intervals in order to produce a specific eff

Recently, I received a commission from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, the alternative orchestra. The instrumentation is:     2 Piccolos 3 Flutes 1 Soprano saxophone 1 Alto saxophone 1 Tenor saxophone 1 Baritone saxophone 3 B-flat trumpets 5 Tubas 1 Piano 1 Harp 1 Guitar 1 Timpani 1 Tam-tam I had a short interview before the concert and helped me rethink the process of composing this piece Qs - Tell us a little about your piece? It is about noise. The clusters are the main material of the music. The cluster in the bass low register creates a muddy and gritty sound; while the cluster in the high register sounds piercing and edgy. Throughout the whole piece, I gradually add the cluster materials layer by layer until the breaking point everything’s messed up and ends with everyone being shaken. Qs -What attracted you to the sound of the Dung Chen? Dungchen is an instrument used in Tibetan Buddhism. It is a long trumpet, it is very long and puts one end on the ground on the ground. It is a

Microtone is a territory that people like to explore in between the semitone on the keyboard. The prefix "micro-" means small. So we need something to compare in order to say it is smaller. The 12-ET of an octave is a kind of default that we mostly agree with. Western music has a bigger say in music culture.  The definition of microtone from grove music dictionary, there are two major definitions of microtone, one is any musical interval or pitch difference distinctly smaller than a semitone; the other refers to music with intervals markedly different from the (logarithmic) 12th part of the octave and its multiples, including such scales with fewer than 12 pitches (Griffiths et al., 2001). The first definition I am fine with that. But the second definition, for scales with fewer than 12 pitches for example in some Asian tuning like gamelan, does not express the "micro-" idea compared to 12-ET. Calling it non-standard tuning or temperament is better and avoids confus

This blog article is a snippet of my article, for more info, please visit:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LGTcZN83AEFCCjSqfKJOCeIrQKVmdZ8BEUwbBSYOec4/edit?usp=sharing The partial pattern of most strings and wind instruments is in the pattern of harmonic series. In the harmonic series, the 2nd and 3rd partials combine in the ratio of a perfect fifth, 3/2. Stacking the fifth 12 times roughly returns to the original tone in octaves. The 12-ET is the tool to solve the Pythagorean comma. That is the background of why 12-ET fits normal instruments. The challenge right now is I need to build a partial pattern that fit 15-ET. Comparing 12-ET and 15-ET, intervals that line up with each other are major 3rd and octave. Current instruments with harmonic series partials sound really out of tune. The partials have to be rebuilt artificially.  The process of building the partial pattern First, calculate all the ratios of 15-ET. 15-ET 1 1.0473 1.0968 1.1487 1.2030 1.2599 1.3195 1.3819 1.4473 1.5