Akai recently released a USB version of their Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI) which I was able to purchase for under $200. I was fairly quickly able to get it running using QJackCtl and QSynth. But then I wanted to understand what was happening. That involved spelunking into the four subsystems that make up the title of this post.
Continue readingUsing musescore , I wrote out a handful of the Eight Tone Scales.
Here is what they sound like.
Of course, to really explore these, they would need to be rearranged. I’m most interested to hear how the various modes sound, and to see which work on top of the more common chords.
I’ve been trying to find a way to algorithmically generate sheet music. In looking into both Lilypond and ABC one thing is apparent: they are both based on the Major scale, which make s the notation weird. If you are only concerned about major scales.
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My calculations on Eight Tone Scales was way too manually intensive for me to trust that I got it right. I should check my work.
How many Eight Tone Scales are there? At first glance, this might seem like a simple CS GRE type question: there are 12 notes, so it would be 12 select 8 unordered. Not quite: Continue reading
Menotomy Menotomy They’re Marching Through Menotomy
The Village ‘tween the stream and rocky hill.
Before this day we may have called ourselves good English men
but afterwards we wonder if we will?
One of the tricks of Bebop is to extend the scale by one note so that there are 8 distinct tones ot be played in a measure, which, in 4/4 time, is divided into 8 eighth notes. For a major scale, you add the #5. When you do this, the down beat hits one of the main notes of the chord.
To Learn the Alphabet backwards, you need to have a mnemonic. The mnemonic for learning it forward is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We can use that same song to sing it backwards. Here is the grouping
ZYX
WV
UTS
RQP
ONM
LKJ
IHGF
EDCBA
Now I’ve said my my Z to A
Think I’ll go outside and play
Hers how the phrases of the original map to the backwards
ABCDÂ -> ZYX
EFG->WV
HIJK->UTS
LMNOP->RQP
QRS->ONM
TUV->LKJ
WX->IHGF
YZ->EDCBA
Don’t be surprised that some of the phrases are longer or shorter than you sing in the orignial, They don’t even have to match the number of syllables. In many cases, you either drop the last note of the phrase, or double up on nodes.  For instance, the note where you sing ‘D’ does not have an analogue in the backwards one, as it is really a grace note between the BC phrase and the EFG phrase.
Lead Sheet for As You Wish
This is my take on the Princess Bride as a Musical. I’ve written it as a light Opera: all scenes will be sung. I have melody lines and chords for most songs. I’ll post each number individually.
Act One, Scene One:
As you Wish
(Narrator)
Buttercup was a beauty
With but two things to enjoy
Going horseback riding
And tormenting her Farm Boy.
Buttercup: Farm boy I require
More wood for the Fire
And then my horses saddle you will polish
Give it such a sheen
My face can be seen
And all you say is simply “As you wish.â€
As the seasons pass
I more gently ask
Farmboy, would you please fetch me that dish.
And as I watch your eyes
I begin to realize
There may be something in that “As you wish.â€
As you wish is all you say
But your eyes give you away
And my last bit of resistance seem to vanish
While you silently subserve
I can finally observe
What you really mean when you say “As you wish.â€
This trip you must take
You’re fortune for to make
“I’ll always come for youâ€, I hear you say
And though you say its so
I ask you how you know
“True love doesn’t happen every day.â€
“As you wish†I hear you say
As I watch you sail away
The horizon makes your vessel vanish
Once your gone I will abide
Know that I will hold inside
The echo of you saying “As you wish.â€
Pirates Roberts took your ship
No survivors left of it
Condemning me to live on in anguish
For my love has passed away
I will never hear you say
Your quiet phase of loving
“As you wish.â€