Tim @ #359: I'm not Marilee, but I am a professional music theorist. Jay Rahn, another theorist, famously tried to come up with a universal music theory* and ended up concluding that all music used pitch and rhythm. Before you start to point out all of the previous comments about unpitched percussion or rap, I assure you I read them. And I would point out in turn that an "unpitched" percussion instrument actually consists of a combination of inharmonic partials, thus a series of pitches that don't fit our concept of 12tet octave space, but nonetheless are pitch sets. Likewise spoken words have more pitches than sung words, because the speaker is not constraining him/herself to a diatonic, modal, or chromatic pitch space. These pitches can be notated with various ideosyncratic graph's, like Berio's Sequenza III or Cage's Aria, though very difficult to exactly reproduce. I agree with you about timbre being an important part of rap, though I also regard it as an important part of every other type of music. Thus I would add timbre to Jay Rahn's universals of music. Various musickers** may not be consciously controlling for pitch, or for rhythm, or for timbre, but those elements are still present.
However, universal music theory is rather boring, since there is so much more that can be described or interpreted when the specific culture and genre is considered. For rap and pop, besides the timbral sophistications already mentioned, there are also the microfluctuations in pitch and rhythm to be considered. Listen to a Frank Sinatra song, and try to sing along exactly with him. You will be close, but to sing in the exact same rhythm is quite a challenge. Notating it exactly is also a major challenge. Likewise consider the difference in beat placement between Little Richard's version of Tutti Frutti and Pat Boone's (ignoring the timbral differences).
Every type of music has its own complexities, and that is my joy in discovering those complexities.
*I disagree with Marilee that there is only one music theory. College music theory is only one type, usually fixated on harmonic theory of Western Common Practice music. Even expanding to the idea of notation, that is still dependent upon 12tet octave pitch space, which is not universal.
**To borrow Small's term for anyone who makes music by listening, performing, or composing.
I thought everyone here would be interested in the academic Call for Papers I just received, Music in the Whedonverse:
"From bands at The Bronze in Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Angel singing karaoke at Caritas to the traditional-style fiddling and guitar playing in Firefly, music is an integral part of Joss Whedon's universes. This collection seeks essays from both established and emerging scholars on the uses of and contributions made by music in the Whedonverse. Discipline-specific and interdisciplinary views are encouraged to address issues of power, relationships, identity, gender, communication, religion, multiculturalism, sanity and madness, and other topics present in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Serenity. Topics might include, but are not limited to:
* Music and performance
* Gender/identity/race and music (including traditional identity topics as well as those of non-human characters)
* Genre representations
* Scoring for action sequences
* Music and communication
* Musical characterization
* Music and camp
* Music and transformation
* Character vocality
* The use of silence and music in unique ways
* Levels and mixing of diegesis and non-diegesis
The deadline for submissions is August 15, 2008. The collection will be published by Scarecrow Press with an anticipated publication date in 2009.
Essays should be between 7,000 and 9,000 words and follow Chicago Manual of Style format. Only electronic submissions sent in a .doc
(Word) formats will be accepted. Authors are encouraged to include photographs, but will be responsible for acquiring all materials and
permission for use. Please send a cover letter including the title of the essay, an abstract of not more than 200 words, an author c.v, and
author biography of not more than 100 words along with the complete blind essay (author's name should not appear) to Kendra Preston Leonard at caennen_at_gmail.com."
Not to rain on the parade of squids, but how does a first-time author qualify to be a member of SWFA?
Quibbling aside, the squid ends up being a metaphor for the grasping materialism encouraged by the economic class system.
Per the question above about gods in Potterverse, Harry has a godfather, and is named a godfather. This is treated as a big deal. Granted, it could be a naming convention borrowed from the Muggles, but it seems to suggest a religious intent. Likewise the dead who don't stick around to be ghosts "move on" as Dumbledore says in the Matrix scene.
Greg London, can you give an example of true peril? To me false peril would be finding out that it was all a dream or a hallucination or a Star Trek Hologram Room with the safeties on. And more importantly in terms of reading for the characters, did they feel they were in peril while facing the basilisk or the spiders? I would say "yes," and therefore it was true peril.
You had me so confused, thinking I had clicked on the wrong blog in my Bloglines feed. I would expect this post from one of my 90 classical music blog feeds, rather than here. What's next, Kyle Gann writing about science fiction?
Seriously, very interesting. I shall be sending my classical music readers to this post.
Composer (and former Village Voice music critic) Kyle Gann has had similar problems and came to the same conclusion as TNH.
Merry Christmas! My wife had to drive in to Indianapolis this morning to be a chalice bearer, so the kids and I are waiting until she returns to open the non-Santa gifts. I'm blogging, listening to the Christ Church Cathedral Men and Boy's Choir singing Old English Christmas Carols, and watching the cats wrestle while the kids play a computer game.
#18: You should listen to Berio's Folk Songs Suite, a song cycle for soprano and chamber ensemble. A great recording of this is Dawn Upshaw, on the Ayre CD. The other half of this CD is a very interesting song cycle by Golijov.
#16: yes, my wife and I ate several anniversary and birthday dinners there, and caught the double feature once (one of the movies was "Wag the Dog"). I haven't been there since 1999, so I also don't know if they still do that. I loved their blueberry soup.
Besides the famous garbage plate at Nick Tahou's, Rochester (NY) has the Highland Diner. There are many small diners, but the Highland Diner has some unusual diner fare, including an awesome sweet cream cheese topping for the belgian waffles.
I think people should not be punished for publically admitting that they were wrong. I do agree that such people should be in a probationary period of sceptical review, but I don't think they should be shunned. Shunning is reserved for those "experts" that still haven't admitted that they were wrong.
More opera:
Don't let the gypsy girl out of jail, no matter how hot she is.
Don't get involved with painters, it never ends well.
Foreswearing love can make the whole world end.
Foreign soldiers are always married, affairs always end in death, and you should never trust a queen who sings a lot of high notes.
If you find green-n-yeller eels in the woods, they are probably not eels. You should not eat them, or else you will get very sick and your mother will make fun of you.
I heard a story on NPR that the US government was upset with Panix for refusing to turn over customer lists, or something like that. Is anyone here familiar with that story? I hate to feel paranoid.
Xopher,
We music theorists are very much the geek. In fact, we used to joke that a requirement for getting into the Eastman theory program was a thorough knowledge of Trek trivia. Two of the department servers were named after Trek characters, and I admit to having a little thrill that my daughter's initials are KES.
But I will say that I've never heard the connection with that specific episode before.
Xopher, your Picardy third mnemonic was so good, I had to include it on my blog. (With proper citation, of course!)
Nice catch on the anxiety of influence snark. That itself made my day.
Out of curiosity, how was A Wrinkle in Time received critically when it came out?
As one of the bloggers accused of misreading Teresa's earlier post, I point to Dora's comment above. In the first post, Teresa stated that Gunn had a point, meaning that the university was somewhat at fault. This is a defense, whether or not Teresa means to characterize it that way.
I would also add another point, related to Chad's excellent comment. Professors, instructors, and TAs are not hired to be detectives or law enforcers. We are hired to impart our knowledge about specific disciplines and the general concept of learning to the students. Because we give grades that have a certain material value, we do our best to ensure fairness, but our first concern should always be in the content we deliver and the the way we deliver it. If we spend more time checking for plagiarism, we have to spend less time in other areas, such as giving comments to students, planning lessons, and doing our own research. Which is more important?
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 3 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2006 | 5 |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 2004 | 4 |
Total: 20 comments. View all these comments on a single page.
The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Scott Spiegelberg:
Show all comments by Scott Spiegelberg.