I have bigger plans still, but I'll go ahead and post this as part 2 of an ongoing series. Listen here or just download from here.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
...like any fool would do, maaaaa-dly...
Less than four hours later, here we are, back with more polytonal "Heart and Soul." I knew that once I'd thought of recording this using the "Shepard tone" principle, there'd be no turning back. However, I let the little pianist inside my computer play all the notes this time and then, as I once did with Bach's modulating canon, the recording was layered so that as the upper octave of melody is fading out, a new lower octave is fading in. (There's also always a more stable middle octave.) The result: after the tune has finished rising step-by-stop into all twelve keys (always above an unchanging 50's progression in C Major), we're back where we started. It helps that one commonly hears people play this with the melody doubled in octaves anyway, so the shifting isn't as noticable as it might be in other contexts.
I have bigger plans still, but I'll go ahead and post this as part 2 of an ongoing series. Listen here or just download from here.
I have bigger plans still, but I'll go ahead and post this as part 2 of an ongoing series. Listen here or just download from here.
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2 comments:
MM:
Nice.
Thought about why all of the keys sound "right"? I think it's because you now that it's a key. It's not just a mathematical formula that has concocted a series of randomly selected notes. It's organized. It's still "Body and Soul" and clearly identifiable as such. Each key "feels" different. When I hear some I think, "Hey, that's cool." Others leave me thinking, "I'm OK if he didn't play that one again." Different responses. But at least I know what I'm responding to. And in the end, you came back - the pull, the siren call, wanted to get back home and when you did, I hit pause. Centered, settled. Now I can happily put my head on my pillow in a few minutes.
Ravel understood this in "Bolero" when he used polytonality in one of the variations. It's so subtle you're not aware - at first - what's going on. Really masterful. Another composer did this in a nice way as well. Years ago (early 60s?), I recall hearing Andre Previn at a night club in London with the bebop trombonist JJ Johnson. I went to hear Previn but Johnson was an unexpected bonus. They played a set of Kurt Weill songs and announced they'd play "Mack the Knife." You could feel the room groan - "ANOTHER version of 'Mack the Knife' - do we really need to hear this?" - was the collective vibe in the room. Until they started to play. Turns out we DID need to hear it. Previn and the bass player (forget who it was) set down the intro in G flat and when Johnson came in, he played in C. After Johnson played through the tune once, they flipped keys. Later, the whole improv was in C until they flipped back in the coda to the bitonality. It was stunning. The room erupted. They DID say something new. Of course it wasn't new at all. But it was smart, clean, clear, neat and it resolved. And we all went humming the tune (in both keys) and slept well. Even after hearing "contemporary music."
Thanks for reminding me of that nice time long ago.
-Fusedule Tecil
After listening to this for awhile, my mind kept drifting to one of my favorite passages from "Billy the Kid," the celebration after Billy's capture. Not only are both bitonal, but each features simple harmonies and persistent dotted rhythms that buoyantly counter the off-kilter clashes. Even though computer-generated performance tends to get a bad rap, I also get a kick out of the absolutely unrelenting precision of the "L.H." It's a bit maddening . . .
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