source file: mills2.txt


Subject: Multituning Composition

From: Gary Morrison <71670.2576@CompuServe.COM>

I was thinking about Brian M's comment about the reservations I mentioned
about composing several tunings at the same time:  In short, that the pitch
relationships between the notes can become very difficult to predict.  Brian
mentioned in particular that Ivor Darreg would called that concern a
pseudoproblem.  

   Well, first of all, he's right about that in particular:  Ivor Darreg would
almost certainly have used that exact word to describe those reservations.  

   But I think that they would be better characterized as a limitation of
certain traditional compositional methods that I use.  In particular the method
wherein you train your ears well enough to be able to hear written music in your
head, conjure up a composition in your head, write down what you hear, and then
get it all performed.  

   Neither Ivor nor Brian usually work/ed that way.  Although both have done
plenty of carefully preplanned methodical composition, the bulk of their music
is improvisational in nature.  There's nothing wrong with that of course.
Preplanned composition and improvised composition each have their strengths,
preplanned compositions usually being more complex and in-depth, improvised
composition being more free and spontaneous, and often more exciting.  

   But my stated concerns strike me as certainly true though:  Predicting the
specific character of a chord whose notes are chosen from two or more tuning
schemes can be a complex proposition, and that certainly does make composing in
your head a bit complicated.  But Brian mentioned some useful suggestions for
getting around them.