 | Consonance/Dissonance A short study: Comparison of rural, suburb and urban spaces in Wisconsin area. Sound+Video: Wilmer Ongsitco Chan |
 | I Loves You Porgy - modal version I did this version as a contrast to my first I Loves You Porgy post, which can be found at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKme90czc8o The first Porgy was done in the key of F major. This version was played in G major. I think the overtone series in G major is more open and more accommodative of this style. I recently had a conversation with Lot2Learn and Volvoxburger about different approaches to music theory and how it is applied in real time. This piece references that conversation. The first version was laid out using chord progressions to create arcs of tension and resolution. Consonance and dissonance are used to create this dynamic. There is a hierarchy of intervals that is used where some are considered harmonious, others are considered to be dissonant. In this version of Porgy, I did away with chords per se, and thought about the structure of the piece as a series of modes. Most of the modes have seven different notes. I do my best to only play notes within the mode (one of the 7 notes of the modal scale), and I try to make no value judgment as to which intervals are more or less harmonic . All intervals are treated as if they are equally pleasing to the ear. I didn't do this completely and I use a fair amount of major voicings, but I did try to move in that direction. I don't know if it will come across on the audio on youtube, but I made liberal use of the pedal, which is unusual for me. I am trying to stretch and emphasis the overtones of the piano as an effect. I try to repedal decisively between mode changes so it doesn't sound sloppy, but I let the pedal linger as long as I am in the same mode. All of this analysis flies out the window when I am playing, but I did think about it before and after I played the piece. |
 | Improvisation with Helmholtz' double siren Hermann von Helmholtz, in his famous book "On the Sensations of Tone", describes an experimental double siren that he used to investigate how the ear perceives beats, difference tones, and the consonance and dissonance of musical intervals. In May 2007, Martin Carlé restored the siren to operation and demonstrated it at the Workshop "Klang und Ton -- Fortschritte in der Erfüllung von Helmholtzens Vermächtnis", which took place at Humboldt University in Berlin. As the conference drew to a close, I wrapped up my talk and then ran my fingers across the beautifully crafted wood and brass instrument. Martin offered to let me play it -- how could I resist the lure of the siren's song! Here is the resulting improvisation... |
 | Death Cube K - Maggot Dream My personal favorite song of all time. It's just a masterpiece, with a weird blend of consonance and dissonance. Even the name's creepy. Pictures were all from Chicken Salad (a picture folder from bingeandgrab.com) except the last one, which I found on Google. From Death Cube K (Buckethead and Bill Laswell)'s album, Dreamatorium. I don't claim any rights or ownership to the song. It's all Death Cube K's work. |
 | ATONAL MUSIC "Time Reflections" Atonality has maximum dissonance. Pics go with the "eerie" sounds. Music with no tonal center, created by using the 12-tone technique originated by famous composer Arnold Schoenberg. There is no I,IV, V chords as found in world music. Rather 12 pitches with dissonant intervals from one to the next are used. One must use the order strictly. If chords are to be played you must group only the three, four etc., notes next to each other. You must avoid pleasing sounds, or consonance. If any one is interested I could do a vid explaining this in greater detail. I hope you will give it a listen to the end.(I have a unique sequence of photos toward the end.) I composed this back in 1988 while attending the University in Nevada Las Vegas. (I was 23 at that time) There I studied Atonality. I was surprised how ordered the system was. It kind of grew on me and it definitely gave off a new sound striving for dissonance rather than consonance in which the world culture is mainly steeped in. I wrote about five of these compositions about the same time in 1988. Please see the video describing Atonality in my favorites. The photos are by my friend Harv Kahn. When he lived in New York he took alot of different photos. I tried throwing together some "dissonant" looking photos. When Harv passed away he left me his many thousands of slides. For a few of his eye-pleasing Train pics go here:http://harvkahn.tripod.com Anyway I hope you can handle this music. If you can't I totally understand. If it is the least liked of all my vids, no problem. I would like to hear what your reaction is to Atonal music. SOme may find themselves coming back to this vid occassionally because it does evoke a human emotion(s) we all experience or see around us. Even a dark dismal dreary day thirsts for music to match it. Atonality can do it. Be open-minded to it. At first you might say, "What the heck?" But keep in mind the method in composing this is very ordered. It is not random at all. You have the 12 different notes lined up. You can play them backwards, inverted and so on as long as the order is not broken. If you composed a good tone row of pitches, this is the type of music you will get. |
 | Worst Song Evaaaar I decided to be a smart ass, and try to put together quite possibly the worst song ever created. Deep philosophical musical explanation: This song contains several elements not commonly seen in western music. It contains minor seconds, tritones, diminished chords, and is very atonal. It lacks consonance, therefore giving an eerie feeling, as if it were to be used in a horror movie. The chordal dissonance generates a feeling of unease, and unsettled emotion. Therefore, the musicality, if you can even argue that there is any, is practically non-existent. The dissonance leads up to a picardy third (which means it ended in a major chord) therefore resolving the tension that the picardy third had built up. The reason for creating this song was in opposition of what we commonly associate with "good music." It goes into epistemology, specifically the coherence theory. The reason why our perception of consonance is the way it is, is because of our prior knowledge. In western culture, we are used to a certain sound, and therefore, consider that to have a good sound. However, in other cultures, it is less unusual to see diminished chords and minor seconds used, and in those cultures, this is considered to sound good. The coherence theory would state that because we have heard the sounds our whole lives, that is what we will like, and what we will consider to have better consonance (or, the good-soundingness of a song.) This piece rebels against what we know, it rebels against what we have hear in music. In fact, the tritones, also nicknamed "devil's tritones", were banned in music during medieval and Renaissance times by the catholic church. This is because it was associated with satanic and a symbolism of evil in music. Though it is typically avoided, some composers have been able to incorporate it into songs well. Also, I had used much higher frequencies than typically used in music, ranging up to 18500 Hz, which is usually not audible to those whose ages are older than their mid-twenties. In conclusion, MUAHUAHUAHAUAHAUHAUAHUA WOOOOOO MAUHUAHAUAHUAHAUAH WEEEEEEEE MHAUHAUAUAHUA. I mean, um...this song completely tests every aspect of what we would like to consider "music", and therefore pushes the study of music theory to new heights. If only I put this much effort into my schoolwork... "I did it for the lolz." |
 | You Taught My Heart to Sing This song and "My One and Only Love" were submitted together, because in my mind, they they are linked. I am taking a bit of a detour in what I am posting to YouTube. There seems to be some interest out there in the whole arpeggio thing, so I recorded "You Taught My Heart to Sing", which makes the arpeggios the focus of the piece. I got the idea from McCoy Tyner, who does this piece filled with brilliant runs on his Revelations album. This version has a more formal, classical vibe than his. I don't improvise, In fact I don't stray from the melody. This is more of an arranged piece. I think it points to the limitations of runs, i.e. it is hard to do anything harmonically complex in this style. Runs can get repetitive, so I try to vary them. Some are played straight. Others are played like waves, I vary the velocity and the dynamics to give this effect. It is an attempt to give the piece an organic feel and not sound like an electronic arpeggiator. I embraced the simple harmonics and made this all about consonance. There is hardly a dissonant note to be found. I think it gives it a purity that is compelling to me. I don't do this kind of thing often, because a little goes a long way. Please watch "My One and Only Love" to contrast. It is as simple as I could get it, harmonically consonant and follows classical arc's in phrasing and dynamics. These two pieces are bookends- very similar and opposite at the same time. Thank you for watching. |
 | Crashing Piano (Piano Piece in f minor) A short fun piece. I used a time signature that I haven't used before... it is pretty interesting. |
 | Pierre Verdier - Christus är mitt lijf Pierre Verdier Psalm: Christus är mitt lijf (funeral music?) / Life to me is Christ, and to die is gain - composed probably about 1693. Soprano: Susanne Rydén Bass: Mats Persson Orchestra: Corona Artis Conductor: Hans Davidsson The composition is characterized by concentration and simplicity, but contains rhetorical and expressive elements which were not usual in the new french style. The opening contemplative sinfonia ends with a chain of unresolved dissonances which are most certainly intended to symbolize transitoriness and death. The text is sung by a soprano and a bass, and can be likened to a hymn, accompanied by two violins and basso continuo. The contrast between life / death has its equivalent in the contasrt between bass and soprano, dissonance and consonance, C minor and C major. The gravity and drama of the text is accentuated by frequent modulations, changes in register, and pauses which are followed by long sequences where the essence of the text is repeated and underscored by the instruments imitating the vocal parts. |
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