tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Sep 09 11:06:34 1997

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Re: music scale (was Re: yu-bIm-'egh

HIqIm!

>Date: Sun, 7 Sep 1997 23:12:54 -0400 ()
>From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
>Subject: music scale (was Re: yu-bIm-'egh 

wa'DIch: charghwI': chut 'u' DawemlaHbe' 
(first: you cannot change the law of the universe)

(*sigh* giving up Hol translation due too many musical expression)

Second: this thread may be a little off-topic. But I think it's
interesting, so please make suggestions how/where to proceed with it
if not here.

Okay: with simple instruments (esp. wind instruments) you can only
produce the natural harmonics/tonal scale (voc?). This is
written as

base frequency		musical			note
	1x 		(base)			_C
	2x 		octave			C
	3x 		octave + quint		G
	4x 		double octave		c
	5x 		octave^2 + big terz	e
	6x 		octave^2 + quint	g
	7x 		octave^2 + small sept	bb	(a little lower)
	8x		triple octave		c'
	9x		octave^3 + big second	d'
	10x		octave^3 + big terz	e'
        11x		octave^3 + quart	fis'	(a little lower)
	12x		octave^3 + quint	g'
	13x		octave^3 + sext		a'	(a little lower)
	14x		octave^3 + small sept	bb'	(a little lower)
	15x		octave^3 + big sept	h'
	16x		quadruple octave	c''

I think the klingon scale should be producable with a natural tone
instrument. 

So let's start to fit that into the theories...

>What if Klingons took this tripling of a base frequency as the 
>full range of any musical instrument, be it voice, chuS 'ugh, or 
>whatever. Different instruments would have different base 
>frequencies, but all instruments would be limited to a scale of 
>that breadth.

napbej (That would be a very simple solution.) But it does not explain
how to write harmonic voices... 
But that could explain the atonality of the pice heard of "Akuth and
Melota" in TNG) ...

>              There is a nine note scale for each instrument 
>spanning from a base frequency to triple that frequency.

We'll see on that later.

>Now, walk up to a piano. Ignore all the white keys. Start at any

Hmpf. QaQbe' (not good). You totally base upon a tempered (voc?) scale
found in western music. Sure, that simplifies the "translation" onto
normal instruments, but IMHO lacks style, so I woul like to try a
different approach later this text.

>So, my proposal has two parts: The Klingon scale is based upon 
>the tripling of frequency instead of the doubling of it, and the 
>scale does not repeat in different nontaves. The scale is simply 
>complete.
**snipp**
>Klingon music can contain a wide range of frequencies because 
>different instruments and different voices begin at different 
>base frequencies. This would make for famous performance groups
>because the music written for each singer has its scale written 
>for the base frequency for that person's voice. If a different 
>group wants to sing the same music, they have to find singers 
>with the same relative dispersion of base frequencies as the 
>original performers. There is no absolute pitch in Klingon music 
>in the way that our orchestrated pieces are written in piano 
>clef, though we do have our own equivalents.

taQ (Weird)...
Really.
But I like it.

>Klingon music would be an extention of this. Every instrument 
>would have its own key signature. Every voice would have its own 
>key signature. Complex harmonies and unusual dissonances would 
>occur as each voice stays within a very consonant pentatonic 
>scale across a nine note range. It would be polytonic music 
>based upon melodies strictly adhering to pentatonic scales.

Except for the pentatonic scales that is a great idea. 

Maybe we could think of a different scale system, based upon the
natural tone series. Assume the musical system was developed with only
access to natural tone instruments.

One idea: the notes grouped into packs of three as follows:

For "whole" instruments:

freq	1  2  3   4  5  6   7   8   9    10  11  12   13  14  15   16
note	_C C  G   c  e  g   bb  c'  d'   e'  fs' g'   a'  bb' h'   c'' 
pack	AAAAAAA   BBBBBBB   CCCCCCCCCC   DDDDDDDDDD   EEEEEEEEEE   FFF

For "half" instruments (which are unable to reproduce the base freq.):

freq	1   2  3  4   5  6  7    8   9   10   11  12  13   14  15  16
note	_C  C  G  c   e  g  bb   c'  d'  e'   fs' g'  a'   bb' h'  c'' 
pack	    aaaaaaa   bbbbbbbb   cccccccccc   dddddddddd   eeeeeeeeee


So we have 4 scales, resulting from four for each instrument type.
Choose one position for the packs, then you have the scales

1.) 	whole	low	_C  c   bb   e'   a'   c''	= half 	high
2.) 	whole	middle	C   e   c'   fis' bb'		= half	low
3.)	whole	high	G   g   d'   g'   h'		= half	middle
4.) 	everything - use all tones from your instrument

For the 1.) scale:  
	whole low: without c''
	half high: without _C
	
For the 4.) scale:  
	half: without _C

If you assume that all instruments should have their lowest note based
on one chosen scale of the lowest instrument in the orchestra, then
one can still develop quite strange music (using only the natural tone
scale for each instrument). One advantage is that conventional terran
music instruments can be used.

Some ideas about the scales:

Scale 3.) : the "Plain" scale - somewhat biased towards terran major
	    and with many quint and octave parallels (my music teacher
	    will kill me for that).

Scale 1.) : the "Tragic" scale - somewhat biased towards terran minor

Scale 2.) : the "Battle" scale - tends towards quite many disharmonics
	    over a massive base (without definitive minor/major bias)

Scale 4.) : the "Free" scale - (sic!)

I will try the one or other piece based upon this theory in the next
weeks. Be afraid (I am)!

>I can see a Klingon chorus tuning up now. The lowest pitched 
>voice sings his scale slowly. Each other singer tries to sing 
>each note, waiting to start until the lowest singer gets high 
>enough for their lowest note. That will be their starting pitch. 
>Once that singer has hit the top of his scale, if there are any 
>singers who can't sing yet, the last singer to come in, sings 
>his scale for the remainders to find their lowest pitch.

That applies in a similar matter for above scales and music.

>relative range to other players. And then, again, a Klingon 
>accordian orchestra doesn't worry all that much about pitch, 
>anyway, right?

Great! So there isn't much mocking about a Pythagorean Koma or not as
exact tuning of terran instruments!

Comments?

Qapla'
   yabHuj
    
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