Quornokol, a Pedagogical Instrument and Musical Work.
A study exploring rhythmic phrasing East and West
by
Alan Corne
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Music (Contemporary Practice)
School of Higher Education
Box Hill Institute
©. Copyright by Alan Corne 2016
Quornokol, a pedagogical instrument and musical work.
Alan Corne
Masters of Music (Contemporary Practice)
School of Higher Education
Box Hill Institute
2016
Abstract
For thousands of year’s music has played a pivotal role in human cultures, rhythm being a primordial means through which music is expressed. This study is an exploration into the source codes[1] or building blocks that commonly enable rhythmic phrasing[2] across musical traditions using pulse. It investigates this topic by making use of concepts and rhythmic devices used in the South Indian tradition of konnokol [3] and syncopation[4] as applied in the Western jazz[5] tradition. In order to catalogue all possible note groupings or source codes within subdivisions[6] from 8th to 36th notes, it explores the use of lingual musical language[7].
Having generated the source codes, through the use of a newly developed rhythmic musical language and a multidisciplinary research design, this study has innovated a pedagogical instrument to facilitate the learning of rhythmic phrasing utilising methodologies represented by two of the great rhythmic musical traditions in existence today: The Carnatic tradition of South India and the Western tradition of Jazz.
In turn this pedagogical instrument also functions as musical works encompassing a minimalist[8] aesthetic, the score of which becomes the basis for compositional elaboration, creating a musical portfolio in eight movements, one for each subdivision investigated. The compositional exploration and elaboration of the subdivisions utilises both methodologies East and West.
[1] ‘Source codes’ is the term I employ and created to describe all the possible rhythmic note groupings in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes that this study’s research has yielded.
[2] Rhythmic phrasing is the primal form, language and structure that any musical work making use of pulse utilizes as a communicative means. Even the most harmonically complex melodic work, exists as a rhythmic structure whether simple or complex prior to the inclusion or consideration of its tonality. Therefore, rhythmic phrasing is the first stamp that charactarises any musical work using pulse. I advocate that an in depth study of rhythmic phrasing is crucial for any aspiring musician whether they play a harmonic or non-harmonic (percussion) instrument.
[3] Konnokol is a rhythmic performative language utilised in the Carnatic classical music tradition of South India. It also functions as a pedagogical tool to learn South India’s three major hand drums: the mridangam, ghatam and kanjira.
[4] Syncopation is a musical device aiming at shifting or creating a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music, caused typically by emphasising the weaker beats in a musical phrase. Rag Time music is one of the first Western music genres to make extensive use of syncopation in the 20th century. In 4/4 time not stressing the quarter note pulse in a rhythmic phrase, or omitting quarter notes all together while utilizing other subdivisions will create syncopation which can also be referred to as “off beat”. Syncopation is one of the strong rhythmic characteristic utilised in many forms of jazz music, such as be-bop, big band and Trad jazz.
[5] Jazz is a music genre originating in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century with the integration of African based music and European harmony and form. It is characterized by a sense of swing and syncopation, and subsequently developed through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory virtuosic solos, melodic freedom and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.
[6] Subdivisions of the quarter note pulse are utilised by music traditions from all cultures globally to create rhythmic phrasing.
[7] In order to sing or count rhythm or pitch, different musical languages have been developed by various cultures. Some of these languages such as South Indian konnokol have become art forms unto themselves with a very specific musical aesthetic.
[8] In music, minimalism is a movement that began in the early 1960’s spearheaded by American composers such as La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. The movement encompassed a compositional orientation towards minimalism relating to the structures, arrangements and instrumentation utilised within the compositional aesthetic which defined the movement. Minimalist music often features repetition, harmonic stasis, gradual process, steady beat, static instrumentation, meta music, pure tuning and an audible structure (Gann, Potter, Siôn, p3-6, 2013).
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I dedicate this work to my late father culinary maestro Claude Corne, whose passion, dedication and commitment to excellence within his own artistic practice will forever remain an inspiration in my creative life. He had a strong head for numbers, in 2011 he spent two hours in my studio and I pitched him with my whole vision of creative and pedagogical work related to rhythmic phrasing, his response “Just do it!”, well dad, I think you’d be proud.
My good friend composer and percussionist Peter Kennard inspired the vision of utilising the academic pathway as a means of incarnating my creative and pedagogical ambitions. I would not have undertaken this journey without his support, it’s not over yet, but a big thank you goes out to you.
To my supervisor Doctor Lisa Young, for her considered, supportive and inspirational feedback, really investing herself in the process, I owe a big debt of gratitude. What are the odds that in a city of four million people, the institution within which I chose to undertake my Master’s Portfolio, would have a western jazz vocalist konnokol diva on its teaching staff, the universe conspired …
To my lifelong friend Simon O’Mallon who mentored, supported and gently guided the academic writing process, igniting the passion to make it as rhythmically and aesthetically lyrical as any musical composition. From the depths, thank you, your support is invaluable.
To my first teacher, late Sydney jazz drummer Barry Woods whose challenging but supportive schooling, connected me to an entire lineage of jazz musicians and put me on the path, “Dear Barry, do you hear the voices that you left behind?”
To my good friend and mentor; drummer, inventor and luthier Don Sleishman, whose passion, energy and creativity are infectious, and who is equally responsible through his design of drums and drumming hardware for guiding the course of my music evolution, as all the musicians that have inspired my musical journey. Your pedals are fundamental to my whole consideration of technique development on the drum set, and that consideration is inseparable from the musical inquiry it inspired. You weathered some heavy storms on your creative journey, which also inspired me to forge ahead when the seas got rough, therefore the impact you have had on my musical life is profound, thank you Don.
There is not enough space here to mention all the great musicians that have profoundly inspired me over the course of the last 40 years since I took up playing the drum set, but I want to acknowledge and express my gratitude to the primary drumming sources that have and continue to inspire me to keep growing. The time period since I seriously started listening to music could be divided into three 15 year sections, from 1970 till the present time. In the first period within the rock lineage are drummers Ian Paice, Mitch Mitchell and John Bonham, within jazz and fusion, Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Narada Michael Walden, Steve Gadd and Jack DeJohnette. In the second period, Dave Weckl, Terry Bozzio, Dennis Chambers and Vinnie Coliauta, in the last 15 years Virgil Donati, Trilock Gurtu and Ranjit Barot.
Table of Contents
Abstract
Acknowledgments
List of Media
Chapter 1
Quornokol, its evolution and development
Introduction and overview to this study
The Research Question
Methodology: The evolutionary process that led to the development of Quornokol
The aim of the study, realized through the Quornokol instrument
So, what is Quornokol, and how was it developed?
Implication, Significance and Reach
Conclusion
Chapter 2
The two musical languages utilised in the Quornokol pedagogical instrument
Konnokol from the classical South Indian Carnatic Tradition
Quornokol a new systematic rhythmic musical language
Quornokol, creating a new complete and systematic rhythmic language for the purposes of cataloguing all the source codes within subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes
The fundamental conceptual difference between South India’s and the West’s approach to rhythmic phrasing
Chapter 3
Quornokol, as a pedagogical instrument
The role and function of tonality in Quornokol
The reference to each subdivision through the bass part (Piano 1)
The organization of rhythmic phrasing as it relates to konnokol (Piano 2)
The organization of rhythmic phrasing as it relates to the source codes (Piano 3)
Using Quornokol as a pedagogical tool to internalise rhythmic phrasing
Conclusion
Chapter 4
Quornokol, eight piano works expressive of a minimalist compositional aesthetic, and their creative elaboration based on the score
Quornokol and its relationship to minimalism
Elaborating on the Quornokol piano pieces through eight minimalist works
References
Appendices
Appendix A: The enumeration of all source codes contained in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes utilising the Quornokol languague
Appendix B: The grouping organisation of Konnokol for subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes within the Quornokol instrument as they pertain to piano 3
Appendix C: Three central issues addressed in this study and the interview with John Riley
Appendix D: Further reflections based on Quornokol’s relationship to minimalism
Appendix E: Links to associated media content
Glossary of terms
List of Media
All associated media content can be accessed via the links below and in Appendix E.
Quornokol as a pedagogical instrument:
8th notes all three pianos. Piano 1 and 2 only. Piano 1 and 3 only.
12th notes all three pianos. Piano 1 and 2 only. Piano 1 and 3 only.
16th notes all three pianos. Piano 1 and 2 only. Piano 1 and 3 only.
20th notes all three pianos. Piano 1 and 2 only. Piano 1 and 3 only.
24th notes all three pianos. Piano 1 and 2 only. Piano 1 and 3 only.
28th notes all three pianos. Piano 1 and 2 only. Piano 1 and 3 only.
32nd notes all three pianos. Piano 1 and 2 only. Piano 1 and 3 only.
36th notes all three pianos. Piano 1 and 2 only. Piano 1 and 3 only.
MP3 Files: The Quornokol Pedagogical Piano Works 8th to 36th Notes.
Quornokol as a minimalist musical work:
First movement 8th notes.
Second movement 12th notes.
Third movement 16th notes.
Fourth movement 20th notes.
Fifth movement 24th notes.
Sixth movement 28th notes
Seventh movement 32nd notes.
Eighth movement 36th notes.
MP3 Files: The Quornokol Minimalist Piano Works in Eight Movements.
Creative elaboration based on the score:
Siren’s Call
Peaks and Valleys
Subcontinent Dreaming
Hassell Hustle 7-28
Voices
Marimba Mama
Listen to the Fives
Echoes of Being
Drifted
MP3 Files: The Master's Compositional Portfolio of Original Works based on The Quornokol Score.
Video presentation of:
Quornokol a pedagogical instrument and musical work. (It is recommended that this presentation of the entire Master’s thesis be viewed before commencing reading the thesis.)
MP4 Files: Video presentation of: Quornokol a pedagogical instrument and musical work.
Video presentation of: Quornokol as a pedagogical work ‘how it functions’.
MP4 Files: Video presentation of: Quornokol as a pedagogical work ‘how it functions’.
Chapter 1
Quornokol, its evolution and development.
Introduction and overview to this study.
Being a drummer percussionist for four decades, I started conceiving and considering in rudimentary terms the pedagogical instrument at the centre of this study in 1985. Over the years the consideration deepened, but only gained real traction since I began a Master’s degree in Contemporary Music Practice at Box Hill Institute in 2015.
Now the pedagogical instrument is complete. Having been given the nickname ‘The Quorn’ by one of my most influential teachers, and the fact that this pedagogical instrument makes use of two distinctive languages, the rhythmic language within the Indian Carnatic classical tradition konnokol, and the musical rhythmic language I developed in order to identify the source codes, it felt appropriate to name both my created language and the ensuing pedagogical instrument ‘Quornokol’.
The Research Question.
In order to understand and describe the evolutionary process that led to Quornokol, it is best to revisit the original research question and proposal.
“Utilising rhythmic phrasing methodologies and concepts from the Carnatic drumming tradition of South India, and Western syncopation, based on note groupings from 8th to 36th notes, can a musical work be created that will accomplish pedagogical processes and outcomes while being expressive of a creative musical aesthetic?”
At the time the research proposal was submitted, the aim was to create a musical work based on the source codes the research would generate and the established rhythmic phrasing approach of the Carnatic tradition, which would accomplish pedagogical processes and outcomes while also fulfilling a musical creative aesthetic.
Encouraged by my supervisor Lisa Young[9], once the Quornokol language and pedagogical instrument had been conceived and created, though the instrument did fulfill the required criteria of functioning as a creative work with a strong musical aesthetic associated with minimalism; I decided to use the score from each subdivision, to creatively elaborate and compositionally expand each section into minimalist musical movements, becoming parts for a greater unified compositional work.
[9] Lisa Young is well known to World and Jazz Music listeners as a creative vocal stylist and improviser, incorporating Indian and African elements in her work. A longtime student of maestro Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani in Chennai, India, Lisa specializes in konnokol – South Indian vocal percussion. She has studied South Indian music since 1994, both in Australia and in India. In 2010 she received the Monash-Pratt Post Graduate Award for her PhD Music Performance candidature at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. (From www.lisayoungmusic.com)
Methodology: The evolutionary process that led to the development of Quornokol.
In the topic of this study, subdivisions, musical language and source codes are the three issues that relate to the underlying structures of rhythm. These can be examined each in turn.
The subdivisions of the quarter note pulse[10] are the primary palette of colours with which musicians paint musical works onto the canvas of pulse and metric time[11]. Back in 1985, I observed that stylistic genres and traditions were built upon the source codes that make up each subdivision, however I initially became exclusively occupied with 12th and 16th notes.
At that time, I utilised the source codes in these two subdivisions, both in a straightforward and elaborate way to teach my drum students. I created processes specific to applications on the drum set using the source codes in these subdivisions. In a Western context relative to musical styles and the grooves or rhythms inherent in those styles, one finds that 12th notes and 16th notes are the predominant two subdivisions utilised (since in a strictly rhythmic context 12th notes also contain the dotted 8th note subdivision, and 16th notes contain the 8th note subdivision).
For example, relative to rhythm section playing within a quartet comprising drums, bass, guitar and keyboards, all Blues, Jazz or Afro-Cuban music’s are based predominantly on the 12th note or triplet subdivision, while Funk, Country, R&B, Latin, Disco and Soul are based predominantly on the 16th notes subdivision. Some genres crossover and use both subdivisions such as Gospel, Reggae and Rock, while Pop as a music category can incorporate hybrids of all the genres already enumerated, and therefore makes use of both 12th notes and 16th notes subdivisions.
Over the following two decades I experienced the validation of my specific methodological approach in pedagogical terms making use of the source codes to teach rhythmic phrasing to both drum students and musicians in general in a workshop environment.
During this time, as my consideration about this pedagogical work deepened, having seen the benefits inherent in using the source codes to teach rhythmic phrasing, the number of subdivisions to be included also grew, by 2010 having established my digital home studio, I started the process of exploring the cataloguing of the source codes relative to all the subdivisions in the current study.
In a Western jazz context generally the most prominent subdivisions utilized are: 8th, 12th, 16th, 24th and 32nd notes[12], however in the Carnatic tradition in addition to these, 20th, 28th and 36th notes are also widely used.
The subdivisions of the quarter note pulse represent an infinite numeric scale, which has also been termed the rhythmic scale[13]. These subdivisions are the first eight within the rhythmic scale, and became the principal focus of the study.
In examining musical rhythmic languages, the konnokol of the Carnatic classical music of South India, provides the source of a well-defined and established millennial tradition.
Though primarily an oral tradition, the syllables of the konnokol language may vary slightly both in sound and written transcription, depending on the teaching lineage through which they are disseminated.
However, konnokol could not be used as a tool to extract the source codes from all subdivisions due to the way many subdivisions are symbolically represented. The konnokol language tends toward often repeating the same syllable, sound or name ‘Ta[14]’ within many subdivision’s language or symbolic representations. In order to successfully catalogue and extract all note groupings from any subdivision, one needs a language with different symbols to represent each note in the pattern. Therefore, I created a specific language to meet those symbolic requirements, for example 20th notes were written 1 O A E U[15].
[10] Subdivisions in the West generally refer to divisions of the quarter note pulse, which are infinite. A quarter note is simply a whole note that has been divided into four equal parts. If we take one of these quarter notes, we may further divide it by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 ad infinitum. The resulting number of notes will always be equal to the number we used to make the division, if 2 we get 2, 3 we get 3 etc. The term ‘subdivisions’ refer to the amount of notes resulting when we divide four quarter notes in a bar of 4/4 time, if we divide four quarter notes by two, we will get 4 x 2 equaling 8, therefore resulting in the 8th note subdivision. The same process applies when dividing a quarter note by 4, resulting in the 16th note subdivision, ad infinitum.
[11] Pulse in music refers to an oscillation that is repeated at exact intervals of time apart from one another. Therefore, a pulse creates the impression of a constant repetitive rhythm that is not speeding up or slowing down. In music the speed at which the pulse oscillates is called the ‘tempo’. Different musical movements can be created over pulses oscillating at different speeds or tempos. Metric time occurs when the pulses are given a defined way of being organized for musical purposes, such as in metric time signatures. In the time signature of 4/4 there are four pulses organized in each bar, and each of these is assigned a quarter of the time value of the ‘whole’ time available in the bar. That whole varies in length of time according to how fast the pulse or the ‘tempo’ has been deemed or set to travel at.
[12] There are generally two protocols utilized in order to name subdivisions in the English speaking world. The first derived from the UK, the second from the United States. In the UK specific names are given to each subdivision, such as quavers, semi quavers and demi semi quavers. While in the United States the numbers equaling the amount of notes in any subdivision in a bar of 4/4 time are utilized for three subdivisions. Therefore, since there are sixteen semi quavers in a bar of 4/4, according to the protocol from the US they are simply called 16th notes. I chose to use this system for its numeric efficiency and simple pragmatic representation. Thus the subdivisions from which the source codes have been extracted starting with quavers are: 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 24th, 28th, 32nd and 36th notes. However, even in the United States 12th notes tend to simply be called triplets, or eighth note triplets rather than using the numerical equivalent. Please refer to appendix C for further elaboration about how subdivisions are named and my proposal for a more systematic approach.
[13] Usually when we think of musical scales we think of a series of pitches organized in a pattern that one can ascend and descend. The same is true of the rhythmic scale, but instead of pitches, subdivisions are used, the rhythmic practitioner can sing, play or count going up and down the subdivisions, just as a singer would sing up and down a specific scale made up of a pattern of pitches.
[14] For example, with 20th notes the konnokol language is Ta Ti Ke Ta Tom, therefore having the syllable Ta repeated twice is not conducive to the cataloguing or extraction of all the note groupings within that subdivision. Though konnokol did not function effectively to catalogue the source codes within the relevant subdivisions, as a rhythmic language to sing, it is much more lyrical and aesthetically pleasing than Quornokol. It rolls off the tongue in a way that my language does not in aesthetic terms. However, I did not develop Quornokol for aesthetic musical purposes (though it can be sung). I developed it primarily in order to name, catalogue and facilitate counting all the source codes in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes. A secondary ambition was to create a unified, holistic language for the 8 subdivisions in question in order to address the apparent gap in the pedagogical literature, since in my research to date, I have not come across any kind of integrated language or Western counting system. Please refer to appendix C for further discussion about this issue.
[15] Pronounced: “one, oh, and, ee, uh”. In the Quornokol language, the first note irrespective of the subdivision, is always represented by a number while all the other notes are represented by letters. The grouping above represents counting with Quornokol in the subdivision of 20th notes in the time signature of 1/4. In time signatures which contain more than one quarter note pulse such as 3/4 or 4/4 time, in the Quornokol language the first note in any group representing any subdivision, sounds coincident with the quarter note pulse and is always represented by a number. Therefore, in a time signature containing more than one quarter note such as 3/4, with each subsequent quarter note the number moves up sequentially, in 3/4, 20th notes would be written and counted thus: 1OAEU 2OAEU 3OAEU. While counting, this enables the practitioner to keep track precisely of which quarter note pulse in the bar is being addressed. It differs from the konnokol language of the Carnatic tradition which does not use numbers within its language making use of syllables only, therefore in its system, in order to keep track of which beat is being addresses in a time signature or cycle, a pattern of hand claps and waves are used by members within an ensemble, to demonstrate precisely where the practitioner is in any given moment within the time cycle.
The aim of the study, realized through the Quornokol instrument.
This brings us to the source codes within each subdivision[16]. The pool of the source codes within subdivisions is empirical, finite and absolutely definable, it cannot be diminished or expanded, and it is mathematically objective and definable through The Euler mathematical formula[17].
By empirically identifying the patterned source codes that make up each subdivision; naming and cataloguing them, the study creates the means to analyze, interpret, understand and replicate the rhythmic structures of musical traditions using pulse.
Though the exploration of rhythmic structures to make them explicit is a worthy achievement, it is not in and of itself the purpose this study was engineered to realize.
My research and experience over decades lead me to conclude that as yet this specific exercise to define all source codes in the subdivisions considered, has not yet been rigorously explored by previous researchers[18].
The specific purpose and objective of this study as stated in the initial proposal was realized through the conception and creation of the Quornokol pedagogical instrument.
[16] The source codes represent all the ways one can extract groups of notes within a given subdivision relative to the numbers of notes in a group (Please note the order of the symbols representing the notes within each subdivision is immutable and cannot be changed, the order remaining constant is crucial to cataloguing the source codes in order to utilize them for musical and pedagogical purposes). For example, relative to 16th notes 1 E A U utilizing these four symbol grouped in this specific order yields 15 different possible configurations. Four groups of individual notes, six groups of 2 notes, four groups of 3 notes and one group of 4 notes. Taking the groups of 3 notes for example gives us the following configurations: 1EA, 1EU, 1AU, EAU, these groupings are 4 of the 15 possible note groupings existing within 16th notes. I termed the note groupings from subdivisions ’source codes’ since in their entirety, they represent all the available rhythmic configurations within any given subdivision.
[17] The Euler mathematical formula is a formula that can be utilized to work out all possible combinations existing of ordering symbols or things (like books on a shelf for example) from a predefined number. For instance, if one has four different books on a shelf, there are 24 possible patterns or orders that these books can be arranged in. Similarly, with 16th notes, there are 15 possible specific groupings that can be extracted from four 16th notes that make up one quarter note. Therefore, as this applies to this study, once I had created the language with its associated symbols for each subdivision, the Euler mathematical formulae could be employed to establish exactly how many groupings or ‘source codes’ existed for each subdivision, and what they were. For a complete enumeration of all source codes contained in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes, please refer to appendix A.
[18] This was corroborated with New York based educator, clinician and jazz drummer John Riley in my interview with him, which took place at Box Hill Institute on the 26th of August 2016. For further elaboration on three central issues pertaining to this study considered in this interview, the naming of subdivisions, musical language based on the Basic counting method and the cataloguing of all source codes in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes, please refer to appendix C.
John Riley is a globally recognized educator, clinician and jazz drummer who received a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz education from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music in jazz studies from Manhattan School of Music. He has been featured on approximately 100 LP's, collaborating with artist such as Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Milt Jackson, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, John Scofield, Quincy Jones, Bob Mintzer, Gary Peacock, Mike Stern, Joe Lovano, Franck Amsallem, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, John Patitucci, and Bob Berg. John Riley has published three tutorial drumming books and one tutorial DVD released through Alfred Publishing, he has also been featured on ten DVD releases with a variety of jazz artists. John Riley is on the faculty of The Manhattan School of Music, the State University of New York, and is an Artist in Residence at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Holland.
So, what is Quornokol, and how was it developed?
Having considered the core of this study for the past several years, I did so treating konnokol and Quornokol as two very separate languages and processes. But spontaneously, my immersion into the study proceeded a realisation by which to merge the two languages and processes together as a unified whole, a single process that would fulfill the demanded criteria.
It became clear to me how to create a musical work that would fulfill pedagogical processes utilising both approaches to rhythmic phrasing, while also functioning as an artistic creative musical piece.
The first approach based on the South Indian Carnatic tradition with its konnokol language, the second based on the source codes the study had generated through the Quornokol language, relating to the syncopated aesthetic of Western jazz.
Tonality was the underlying key. Tonality can be structured to reinforce rhythmic groupings, and so a work utilizing three pianos was conceived. Piano1 plays the bass part in the central audio channel and keeps the flow of a given subdivision going as the reference point.
Piano 2 plays a melodic line in the mid-register structured in the methodological style of rhythmic phrasing utilised in the South Indian Carnatic tradition, and is panned to the left of the stereo image. Piano 3 plays a melodic line in the high register enumerating all possible source codes of that specific subdivision over one bar phrases, and is panned to the right side of the stereo image.
The result enables the student to hear both rhythmic phrasing styles being played simultaneously. In order to focus on either, one just pans to the left or right of the stereo image, as the subdivision will always be referenced in the bass part of piano 1 in both channels supported by the click track.
The final aim is to develop the ability to count or sing, moving between these two approaches in real time, having become cognizant of the rhythm in any given moment from both traditions. In other words, the student will have developed an intimate understanding and knowledge of the subdivision in question, and how to phrase rhythmically in the two distinct methodological approaches, East or West.
Implication, Significance and Reach
Through this work there is the potential for both pedagogical and creative outcomes to become intertwined. The pedagogical process that is Quornokol, enables the practitioner to internalise musical language, becoming a context for creative output, while this creative output may become the basis to create processes for pedagogical purposes.
Quornokol as a process has profound implications for vocal or instrumental music students, but especially percussionists. It is an important tool because rhythmic phrasing is the primary musical phenomenon that underpins all music creation making use of pulse.
Since rhythmic phrasing is the primordial mechanism, script, or language used to enable musical expressiveness in music genres or traditions that use pulse, studying its source codes for creative or pedagogical purposes is of primary significance to all music students, composers, performers, producers and improvisers, as it powerfully enhances their musical creative potential and capabilities.
There is also a scope regarding music technology since Quornokol could be designed as an app for mobile devices and PC’s to facilitate the internalisation process and learning of rhythmic phrasing using all the note groupings in their Eastern context (konnokol) and all the source codes in their Western context (Quornokol/syncopation). Therefore, this study has potential relevance beyond its target audience entering the field of music technology.
As a minimalist composition, Quornokol could be of interest to both fans of the minimalist genre and composers. Due to the Quornokol score functioning as a blueprint or master key for further development, there is even greater scope to generate interest from both groups, my own compositional elaboration through a series of eight minimalist works exemplifies this.
For fans of the genre, the narrative behind how the Quornokol piano works transform into other more elaborate musical pieces could peak their curiosity and interest. This in turn could engage them to invest themselves at a deeper level in both the piano works and their compositional elaborations. For composers, especially those with an interest in minimalism, though the narrative of the piano works acting as the foundation for further works may prove interesting, to have access to the actual score for their own creative exploration and re-interpretation could be an engaging creative proposition.
Therefore, Quornokol, functioning both as a pedagogical instrument disseminated through a software based application, and, as a series of minimalist musical works, encompassing the piano works and their subsequent compositional elaborations, benefits a wide demographic of music practitioners and consumers, including professional and amateur musicians, music teachers, producers, composers, academics, music students and music consumers.
Conclusion.
There are strong justifications for this study, as it benefits its target audience and potentially reaches beyond that audience into the realm of music technology, while also making a significant contribution to the body of knowledge.
Through the use of numeric calculations music has been created, interpreted, theorized, and communicated pedagogically. In Plato’s time (428BC) the simplicity of musical tuning theory may account for its’ being the first physical science to become fully mathematised (Mc Clain, p-3, 1978).
While in southern India, the foundation of classical Carnatic music’s rhythmic structure is inseparable from mathematics (Sankaran, 1994). It is therefore appropriate that this study has made use of a multidisciplinary approach involving numeric calculations. In order to catalogue all the source codes or note groupings, The Euler mathematical formula was employed (Mastin, 2010).
Once the source codes were generated, an intuitive creative process was utilized to create Quornokol, and this engagement continued in order to compose the musical works that completed my Master’s research portfolio.
The compositional elaboration of the Quornokol piano works, makes use of varied compositional styles, instrumentation and orchestration to further explore the rhythmic structures and source rhythmic codes in their harmonic context.
The aim was to achieve an emotive and engaging minimalist musical aesthetic encompassing harmonic and melodic themes, improvisation, unison playing and multilayered sonic arrangements and textures. This creative process was also based on continued reflective practice, intuition and imagination (Vygotsky, 2004).
Chapter 2
The two musical languages utilised in the Quornokol pedagogical instrument.
Konnokol from the classical South Indian Carnatic Tradition.
The author’s phonetic Interpretation of South Indian konnokol Syllables[19]:
Konnokol for groups 1 to 9 or subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes:
1 =Ta = 1
2 =Ta Ka = 12
3 =Ta Ki Ta = 123
4 =Ta Ka Di Mi = 1234
5 =Ta Ti Ke Ta Tom = 12345
6 =Ta Ka Ta Ka Di Mi = 123456
7 =Ta Ki Ta Ta Ka Di Mi = 1234567
8 =Ta Ka Di Mi Ta Ka Ju Nu = 12345678
9 =Ta Ka Di Mi Ta Ta Ka Di Mi =123456789
[19] This is just one possible interpretation of how konnokol could be transcribed to a written language, interpreted to add up to certain numbers in a group, and also be sounded. For example, the group of 7 above is made up of 3 + 4, however it could be made up of 2 + 2 + 3 in which case it would be written
Ta Ka Ta Ka Ta Ki Ta. There are also equivalent phrases where notes are left out to create syncopation. The rest or gap may be represented by a coma or full stop. In addition, the language of another grouping could be interchanged, enabling a composition or varying subdivisions to be sung using just the syllables of one particular group. For example 6 could be written Ta Ti . Ke Ta Tom 7 could be written Ta . Ti . Ke Ta Tom and 9 written as Ta . Ti . Ke . Ta . Tom
Structuring konnokol in this way creates a compositional aesthetic which also streamlines the sound of the composition, it also makes it simple to remember. In the case above the syllables for a grouping of 5 have been utilized to represent either groups of 6, 7 and 9 or subdivisions of 24th, 28th and 36th notes.
Quornokol a new systematic rhythmic musical language.
I developed and innovated the Quornokol language in order to generate and catalogue all the source codes within subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes. The development of the Quornokol language and the cataloguing of the source codes within these eight subdivisions encapsulates the primary research element within this study. The source codes can be conceived of or defined as ‘rhythmic solfege[20]’
1 = 1 4th notes (Quarters)
2 = 1 A 8th notes (Duplets)
3 = 1 A U 12th notes (Triplets)
4 = 1 E A U 16th notes (Quadruplets)
5 = 1 O A E U 20th notes (Quintuplets)
6 = 1 I O A E U 24th notes (Sextuplets)
7 = 1 I O A E U C 28th notes (Septuplets)
8 = 1 I O E A U C J 32nd notes (Octuplets)
9 = 1 I O E A U C J T 36th notes (Nonuplets)
[20] The tradition of French solfege as: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do, and how it is used as a language to internalise pitch as it relates to melody through the use of scales can be emulated in the same way for rhythmic internalisation practice. The language I have written for each subdivision serves exactly that same purpose in a rhythmic context, therefore it is useful to make this correlation and think of the source codes in terms of rhythmic solfege.
Quornokol, creating a new complete and systematic rhythmic language for the purposes of cataloguing all the source codes within subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes.
Music of any tradition as an art form is passed down to an individual through an external source. Whether this source is some recorded media, a live solo or ensemble performance, or a movie soundtrack, the art of music is transmitted to us externally. Usually we hear it, internalise the sound and then experience an emotive response.
In some individuals, that response inspires them to become involved in the process of making music, and their musician’s journey begins. Before one can become a unique vehicle that channels music, one will mimic what came before, as Miles Davis[21] said: “sometimes you have to play a long time in order to be able to play like yourself [22] ”.
In many traditions or cultural contexts, this process of internalising takes place through the medium of a musical language. The musical transmission, or the emotive dimension of music, related to a specific tradition is given through a musical language learnt by constant repetition, generally disseminated by a teacher. In time the emotive dimension transmitted by the teacher or teachers, becomes part of the student’s musical vocabulary.
There is nothing more internal or immediate to us as conscious beings, than our own voice. The link between our consciousness and vocal expressiveness is so immediate we do not even witness the process that initiates it, or what occurs as it is happening; we simply speak, we sing, we know not how, it is a mystery.
One of my teachers once confided in me “if you can’t think your thoughts before you think them, what do you do to get them to happen?”
One’s voice works like that, we do not know how we speak or sing. However, our voice is the primary or root instrument that enables us to internalise musical processes.
Music is more than just the mechanics of producing sound however, it is to imbue that sound with a quality of feeling, which is also a mysterious process. Therefore, the work of internalisation is a crucial aspect of becoming a musician.
One must internalise the mechanics of producing sound to a profound degree, in order to enable those processes to become a transparent vehicle to our emotive, creative expressive being. This universal process of internalisation, making use of voice, is the most likely reason so many of the world’s greatest musical traditions have been passed down aurally for millennia[23].
Similarly, with this study, the issue of musical language was the key to the research problem which preceded the cataloguing of the source codes. But even more crucial was that the language should enable the process of internalisation to occur, once the source codes had been catalogued, irrespective of what pedagogical processes would be developed on their basis.
My previous experience with konnokol over a number of years, enabled intuitions of the type of feasible pedagogical processes that could be created with the konnokol language. Processes based on the orientation toward numeric calculations used, though not exclusively, in the Carnatic tradition[24]. The language of South Indian konnokol has been well documented in various texts (Young, 1998). Most of that literature tends towards expositions of the compositional aesthetics as they relate to the Carnatic tradition itself.
Having studied in South India under drumming Masters Subash Chandran and Ganesh Kumar, I had written on this subject, and created purely technical pedagogical processes using konnokol that stand outside of any traditional Carnatic compositional references (Corne, 2012).
The next stage was to resolve the issue of a musical language useful for generating the source codes, therefore I investigated the rhythmic languages already developed in a Western context.
There are currently four established Western counting systems or rhythmic languages:
- The Eastman system, which is highly complex and convoluted,
- The Kodaly method, a more simplistic method suited to children,
- The Basic method, which is not integrated for use with all the subdivisions under investigation (Richardson, 2008), and finally,
- The Takadimi system, a rhythm pedagogy which was also inadequate for the study’s purposes as it resembles more South Indian konnokol than a Western counting system (Hoffman, Pelto, White, 1996).
Therefore, relative to defining all possible note groupings, in order to generate the data, I created a very specific integrated language, drawing from and elaborating on The Basic method.
The Basic method evolved as a counting method for two subdivisions, 8th and 16th notes. In other words, 1 A and 1 E A U, which stands a long way from being a cohesive integrated language able to encompass the most primary subdivisions utilized in most of the world’s musical traditions at present.
However, since these two protocols are quite well known in the United States, Britain and Australia, it made sense to keep them and expand on them. Another useful protocol for good rhythmic writing in 4/4 time in western notation is, ‘keep beat 3 visible’. I applied this concept in creating the language, using the same symbol half way through any group representing each subdivision. The ‘A’ symbol fulfills that purpose and function in the Quornokol language.
Once the research for the Western language was completed and this new language had been established, there existed two languages with which to address the research question, the South Indian konnokol to be utilized and exemplified through a non-traditional methodology and the Quornokol language which enabled the cataloguing of all the potential note groupings within subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes.
These two languages have correlations within the literature, the konnokol in relation to its own classical Carnatic tradition, and the Quornokol language, through a secondary association with syncopation.
The cataloguing process of all possible note groupings using the Quornokol language provided the evidence that the data yielded would be full of syncopated units (appendix A). Syncopation became the link between the Quornokol language and the literature, as syncopation has been well documented both as theory and compositional analysis in the Western Jazz tradition (Seyer, Novick, Harmon, 1997).
[21] Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991), better known as Miles Davis was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, together with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, post-bop and jazz fusion.
[22] From a documentary on Miles Davis called ‘Miles Ahead: The Music of Miles Davis’ by Don Cheadle released in late 1986 which I saw in 1988. Some of the things Miles Davis said in that film have stayed with me all these years, since they had such an impact on me relative to what I was considering about music at the time.
[23] A point needs to be made here about the orientation I have adopted for two decades now, relative to being an educator and what my pedagogical ambitions leading to, and inclusive of this study represent all together. In order to play music, and specifically within certain stylistic genres or traditions, two things are required: 1) the mechanical facility to output what the style or tradition requires technically on ones chosen instrument, 2) the intuition, and emotive capacity to represent the tradition or stylistic genre from the ‘feeling dimension’. A brilliant technical musician, who does not emote through his or her playing will most likely not move an audience, where as an emotive musician not so technically accomplished can have a profound effect on an audience. The emotive quality in music can be transmitted to a student through their teacher, or other musicians steeped in their respective tradition. In musical and spiritual traditions this is called ‘transmission’. I am a strong advocate of this point of view, however in my function as an educator, what concerned me was to create the pedagogical means to enable students to develop a profound mechanical facility on their instrument, in order to be receptive to the transmitive sources of their chosen traditions or style of music. My pedagogical methodology encompasses a profound but general transmission relative to the feeling dimension as it relates to pulse in any tradition or stylistic music genre. I wanted to create processes that would cast a huge net on rhythmic traditions, by going to ‘the source’ from which they originate, and lead the student there in the shortest possible time frame. This is the vision and legacy I would pass on to my students, and therefore the motivation for this study.
[24] This mathematical orientation to rhythmic composition is also used in Western jazz, and fusion genres. As well as in progressive and alternative metal and rock genres, for example world famous progressive rock band ‘Tool’ write a lot of their music just using numbers.
The fundamental conceptual difference between South India’s and the West’s approach to rhythmic phrasing.
My passion as a drummer percussionist and my deep love of music is a process that has spanned over forty years. This process encapsulates two fundamental endeavors, one creative in nature, the other being that of the student and / or researcher.
When one is a student of any discipline for forty years, one’s reflective practice relative to that discipline moves to deeper and subtler details or specifics within an expanding sphere of consideration.
The primary concern to a drummer percussionist is rhythm, and my forty-year journey has been an exploration of the possibilities within the empirical musical universe and its’ interpretations, funneled and expressed through conceptual and creative mechanisms within different cultures and musical traditions across the world.
My research and study has led me to understand that there are four primary means or vehicles through which a practitioner may rhythmically phrase within a musical context. These four vehicles are used with varying degrees of significance depending on the cultural milieu that expresses itself through respective musical traditions or movements.
To greater and lesser degrees these four vehicles are utilised by all musical traditions, the predominant use of which can be a defining characteristic of a particular tradition.
The four vehicles to create rhythmic phrasing are as follows:
- The use of subdivisions, where moving between different subdivisions is the primary method employed to create rhythmic phrasing.
- The use of syncopation whether in just one subdivision or multiple sequentially used subdivisions.
- The use of subdivisions, where the grouping of notes other than the grouping inherent to a particular subdivision are used to create rhythmic phrasing within that subdivision.
- The use of polyrhythms, which simply means many rhythms (though often complex in nature), but relates more specifically to uneven or apparently unrelated pulses being layered together evenly to enable resolution on beat one of any given cycle or bar.
Examples one and two represent the most common approach to rhythmic phrasing evidenced in musical traditions. Example three is used extensively in certain traditions, but more sporadically in others, as is also the case with example four.
Examples one, two and three represent the two approaches this study investigates. The first and second examples are completely common to all Western stylistic genres of music and also the South Indian Carnatic tradition. The third example represents the predominant feature of rhythmic phrasing within South Indian Carnatic music, while also appearing in certain Western jazz, fusion and popular sub genres.
In a Western context the use of the third example is viewed as advanced, both conceptually and technically, though it is becoming more visible in popular music, especially in sub genres such as progressive and instrumental metal [25].
Though African musical traditions make use of examples one, two and three, their predominant orientation toward utilising drumming ensembles has lent itself to a lot of polyrhythmic phrasing within their music, since the complexity of polyrhythms is facilitated when channeled through a percussion ensemble. (Anku, 2000).
Therefore, these first three examples are relevant to any instrumentalist, vocalist or percussionist, and are more predominantly used across more musical traditions, whereas polyrhythms do lend themselves more to ensemble playing and by comparison are used much less across many music traditions[26].
For this reason, this study focused on the two primary means of rhythmic phrasing represented in example one, two and three, leaving the subject of polyrhythms for future research. Focusing on these two primary means of rhythmic phrasing also enabled the study to remain manageable and achievable within the timeframe.
The elaboration and illustration of the two primary rhythmic phrasing approaches within this work provides a context that enabled me to identify my unique perspective within a creative and pedagogical framework.
Example three is a predominant tool used to phrase rhythmically within the South Indian Carnatic tradition, but in and of itself does not encompass the compositional aesthetics used within that tradition. It would be more accurate to describe it as a conceptual orientation to music itself, which the Indian mind gravitated towards. The South Indian konnokol language was the perfect vehicle, developed to express this conceptual orientation.
Likewise examples one and two which are the more predominant tools used to phrase rhythmically in the West have been a central focus of my musical process for a very long time.
My unique perspective focuses on the arrangement of source structural musical elements primarily for pedagogical purposes, and is reflected in the endeavour to catalogue all possible note groupings within subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes and create a language to accommodate that process. In so doing it also reflects my gravitation to the conceptual orientation to music itself, from the prior limitations of a Western musical education not inclusive of the conceptual orientation inherent within the Carnatic music of South India. This cross-cultural journey was significant.
Prior to coming in touch with the conceptual orientation that drives Carnatic’s music approach to rhythmic phrasing, I had already begun to conceptualize in the same terms represented by example three, and subsequently discovering konnokol facilitated and enabled me to understand, internalise and integrate this approach to rhythmic phrasing at a greater depth through its millennial established language.
The differences between both methodologies regarding rhythmic phrasing are as follows.
In the West, the predominant orientation is to move between subdivisions and make use of syncopation in a single or multiple subdivision, while the South Indian orientation is to use alternate groupings[27] within any given subdivision, irrespective of whether syncopation is used within those groupings.
[25] Progressive metal is a subgenre of ‘metal music’ incorporating elements from progressive rock. The earliest bands to fuse these two genres together were Dream Theater, Watchtower, Psychotic Waltz, Tool and Fates Warning. (Although some argue King Crimson were ahead of their time doing this with 21st Century Schizoid Man.) Keyboards/synths, and other instruments not seen as often in the metal genre are more commonly used in progressive metal. It's common for progressive metal acts to have very long song lengths with plenty of complex instrumental sections giving the musicians a lot of room to improvise. Odd-time signatures are also commonly employed and musical virtuosity is part of the aesthetic in this genre, which has led to ‘instrumental progressive metal’ becoming a sub- genre within the progressive metal movement.
[26] Though the term polyrhythm simply means ‘many rhythms’, in practical applications and therefore in its true definition it relates to complex rhythms superimposed on one another such as 5 over 4, or 7 over 3 or 9 over 5. In Western music the most common polyrhythm utilised would be 6 over 4 or 3 over 2, even in Western drumset playing as it relates to what has been called ‘independence or inter-dependence’ the occurrence of such complex rhythms does not often occur, even within jazz or jazz fusion genres. Of course there are always exceptions, drummers such as Elvin Jones wrote pieces based on polyrhythmic exploration, for the past decade Virgil Donati has written many works which feature polyrhythms both in his accompaniment and the composition itself, Horacio Hernandez makes use of polyrhythms in his Afro Cuban music style playing clavés with his left foot and complex Latin rhythms over the top. However, generally speaking though polyrhythms do occur in most musical traditions, they occur much less as a vehicle of phrasing rhythmically, then the first three examples already enumerated above.
[27] ‘Alternate groupings’ is a term I have created to describe the process common to the Carnatic tradition and some Western stylistic genres of rhythmic phrasing, where groups other than the one inherent to a particular subdivision are utilized to phrase rhythmically. For example, 16th notes are traditionally grouped in groups of fours, one bar in 4/4 time equals 4+4+4+4 however one could create ‘alternate phrasing’ by grouping these 16th notes as follows: 5+3+5+3 or again 4+3+4+5 or 6+7+3. Using what I call alternate phrasing can be used as a compositional tool, to create metric modulation, to create tension and release or create the illusion the tempo is speeding up or slowing down. It could be used to create what is called ‘a calculation’ by some Carnatic musicians, where an ensemble of drummers and harmonic players play a phrase in rhythmic unison, usually to resolve a cycle of improvisation. As I have described previously, this kind of rhythmic phrasing is second nature to Carnatic musicians, though not so common in the West. In the last two decades there has been an upward trend of growing awareness and utilisation of alternate phrasing amongst Western musicians.
Chapter 3
Quornokol, as a pedagogical instrument.
The role and function of tonality in Quornokol.
In order to reinforce the assimilation and understanding of all the issues that are elaborated upon in this paper relating to the Quornokol pedagogical instrument, it is recommended that the tutorial video available on the accompanying USB drive provided, be watched prior to reading any of the essays in this chapter.
Incorporating tonality in the Quornokol pedagogical instrument was the crucial link that enabled the unification of both languages as rhythmic phrasing methodologies, the konnokol as it relates to alternate groupings, and the Quornokol as it relates to syncopation.
This synthesis created a unified vehicle whereby my ambition to teach both Eastern and Western approaches to rhythmic phrasing could not only take place through one process, but a process which also built a bridge between both methodologies and rhythmic languages.
The entire conception of the Quornokol pedagogical instrument, though I had been reflecting on it for some time, came in a sudden moment of inspiration.
The key that unlocked the means of how to communicate both of these rhythmic approaches was tonality.
Tonality can be used in a profound and powerful way to reinforce the identity of a rhythmic group by adding identifiable patterns of tones from a given scale. The inspiration came as a sudden intuitive and complete vision, making use of three pianos.
When I sat down to create the Quornokol pedagogical instrument there was a little fine tuning involved, but, the entirety of how Quornokol would work with three pianos literally came to me in one moment.
Piano 1 would play the bass part to be heard in the central channel (both speakers) to act as a reference to the actual subdivision being considered and studied. Piano 2 in the left channel (left speaker) an octave up would play all the alternate groupings within that subdivision as they relate to the rhythmic phrasing methodology and language of konnokol, while piano 3 in the right channel (right speaker) a further octave up, would play all the syncopated groupings within that subdivision as they relate to the rhythmic phrasing methodology utilizing the source codes developed through the Quornokol language.
Having piano 2 and 3 panned to the left and right side of the stereo image respectively, means that one can always precisely hear each methodology represented by each piano individually and also as a unified whole, while also being given the choice to focus in on either methodology or counting method exclusively by panning left or right.
The subdivision represented in the bass part plays in both speakers, as it must always be heard since it represents the rhythmic group inherent to the subdivision being studied, while underpinning both methodologies and reinforcing the quarter note pulse.
In the recordings I made of the Quornokol instrument, in order to reinforce the quarter note pulse, I recorded a metronome click track which cannot be removed. However, in my conception of the Quornokol instrument to be developed as an application for mobile devices, the user would have the option of turning the click track or metronome on or off, as well as many other user options, both visual and auditory[28].
In all three instances, with all three pianos, in order to reinforce all the rhythmic groupings through tonality, a simple and predictable repeated melodic pattern based on how tones are arranged in a seven note scale[29] was utilized.
Numeric calculations have played a crucial role in music relative to both harmonic theory and rhythmic phrasing. In Western harmonic theory, tones are arranged and named in a scale following a simple sequential numeric pattern.
The first note in the scale is the key centre which defines the central tonality of a given piece, this note inherently resolves any harmonic tension[30], and as such is called the root note or tonic[31] and can be simply represented by the number ‘1’. All subsequent notes in the scale follow this numeric convention, so the second note is called the ‘2nd’, the third the ‘3rd’ continuing in this way till the seventh note is reached.
This series or pattern continues into the next octave[32], therefore relative to any root note or tonic, the root note or tonic in the next octave is simply called ‘the octave’ and since this would be the eighth note in the pattern, the subsequent note to the octave is called the ninth[33]. This is all that concerns us since both as groups or subdivision the study does not encompass anything beyond the number ‘9’.
The function of tonality in the Quornokol instrument is primarily to reinforce the identity of rhythmic groupings, therefore any scale can be used to fulfill that purpose.
[28] As well as examples of the Quornokol instrument with all three pianos with the panning assignment described above; In order to demonstrate some of the features conceived for Quornokol as an application for mobile devices, the media files also include mono recordings in each subdivision of the bass part or piano 1 playing with both the konnokol part or piano 2 and the Quornokol part or piano 3 separately. In all examples a click track has be included.
[29] A scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch in a sequential manner. Scales are often built on interval formulas.
[30] To move away from the tonic or root note in any key or scale creates musical tension, therefore that tension is released when one moves back to the tonic of the key or scale. This is especially relevant to the chords that are built on the varying degrees or notes of the scale, moving back to the’1’ chord built on the tonic of the scale will release all the tension created in a passage of music.
[31] The root or tonic note is the foundation tone or pitch that a scale is built from, it is the source from which the scale emanates through its interval structure.
[32] An octave is a musical interval with the distance of: 12 half steps in the chromatic scale. 7 or 8 notes in the diatonic scale. Two notes spaced one octave apart sound similar, despite one being higher in pitch. This is because the higher note’s frequency (its pattern of sound waves) is double the speed of the lower note, but that pattern is the same for both notes.
[33] In music the ninth refers to a note that is the 2nd note in the scale after the root or tonic but played an octave above.
I started with the most fundamental and simple scale, C major[34], however I did notice that aesthetically the minor sound, was more pleasing to the ear in the overall context of the Quornokol instrument, and as such I changed the scale to C Dorian mode[35].
In both piano 2 and 3 the melodic logic or pattern used to reinforce the rhythmic groupings is identical. This creates a uniformity to the entire Quornokol instrument, as well as reinforcing the aesthetic quality the instrument represents as a compositional piece related to minimalism.
This logic is utterly simple, following the sequential numeric pattern of the notes within the scale, for example:
Any rhythmic grouping comprised of one note only uses the root or tonic note of the scale.
A group comprised of two notes only uses the first two notes of the scale.
A group comprised of three notes uses the first three notes of the scale.
A group comprised of four notes uses the first four notes of the scale, and continues in this pattern until we reach rhythmic groupings comprising nine notes.
In piano 1 (the bass part), variations to the sequential running order of the notes in the scale have been made in all subdivisions. This was done firstly, to heighten the overall aesthetic sound value of the Quornokol instrument as a musical work in relation to minimalism, and secondly, for the ease of listening when utilising the instrument for pedagogical purposes.
The pattern order in all subdivisions for piano 1 is unique, however in subdivisions from 16th to 36th notes an identical pattern logic or series has been used with a group of four notes within each subdivision. Though these six subdivisions share this common four note ordered pattern within themselves, the overall pattern running sequence of the order of the notes in each of these subdivisions is unique. The entire Quornokol instrument was created using Ableton Live music software[36] and is structured to work over a 4/4-time signature.
The enumeration of the syncopated source code groupings within each subdivision represented by piano 3 are all structured over one bar phrases, while the enumeration of the alternate groupings within each subdivision represented by piano 2 are all structured over one or two bar phrases. The patterned variations of all subdivisions represented by piano 1 are also structured over one bar phrases.
[34] The C major scale consists of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. C major is one of the most common key signatures used in western music. The white keys of the piano from C to C correspond to the C major scale.
[35] The C minor scale used in the Quornokol instrument incorporates the flat third and the flat seven degrees of the scale. This selection of notes is also known as the ‘Dorian mode’.
[36] Ableton Live is a software music sequencer and digital audio workstation for OS X and Windows computer platforms.
The reference to each subdivision through the bass part (Piano 1).
In the Quornokol instrument, since subdivisions are further divisions of the quarter note pulse, irrespective of what subdivision we are dealing with, the first note initiating a rhythmic grouping within any subdivision will sound coincident with the quarter note pulse, and this is true of all subdivisions. Whatever number we have used to divide the quarter note pulse will define the number of beats created within the space represented by the length of time in each quarter note. Again numeric calculations play a crucial part in the creation of subdivisions, dividing the quarter note pulse by 2, then 3, then 4, then 5, ad infinitum will produce a number of notes of equal length within each quarter note pulse, equal to the number we have used to make the division.
The resulting number creates a group of notes in each subdivision’s case, which is inherent to how that subdivision is defined.
The following is an example using the 16th note subdivision. This subdivision contains four notes per quarter note pulse and therefore is thought of as being grouped in fours. It is possible to group four 16th notes as two groups of two, or as a group of three and one, however the quarter note pulse falls every fourth note with the 16th note subdivision, and this factor is what defines the subdivision, giving it its’ inherent rhythmic characteristic. The number of beats or notes that fall within each quarter note pulse remains the defining factor for any other subdivision.
Therefore, the function of piano 1 which plays the bass part is to act as a strong reference point to the subdivision being studied. It will reflect the number of notes grouped within the quarter note pulse inherent to each subdivision and use tonality to strongly reinforce this reference.
In order to achieve reinforcing this reference point, one can make the tonic or root note in the scale always sound coincident with the very beginning point of each quarter note pulse.
The ensuing repetitive melodic pattern of all the other notes within each quarter note will play four times in a bar of 4/4. As the repeated pattern could change with each subsequent bar, the tonic sounding coincident with each quarter note pulse will inherently reference the rhythmic grouping of that subdivision.
It is not absolutely essential that the tonic note sound coincident with the quarter note pulse, it could be another note from the scale. As long as the same note sounds coincident with the quarter note, and the ensuing pattern of notes remains the same for at least one bar, then the rhythmic reference to the subdivision will have been created and reinforced through the use of tonality. This is further evidence to the importance the quarter note plays in referencing and defining any subdivision.
When recording the Quornokol pedagogical instrument, it became apparent that the use of the same repetitive bar and note pattern in the bass part of piano 1 for a whole cycle of either piano 2 or 3 to play through, was laborious in its repetition.
In order to bring more movement and life to the bass part played by piano 1, therefore enlivening the overall experience, I experimented with the order of four of the notes in the scale within each subdivisions from 16th to 36th notes. There are twenty-four possible ways or patterns for arranging four notes relative to how they are ordered, resulting in twenty-four different bars for each of the aforementioned subdivisions in the bass part of piano 1.
For the 8th note subdivision I created a two bar melodic pattern, and for the 12th note subdivision I created a six bar pattern.
In the Ableton Live software, each bar or two bar section within each of pianos 1, 2 or 3’s midi[37] track is represented by a little box called a ‘clip’ which contains all the musical information. Once this musical information has been outputted or played via the sequencer[38] it moves on to the next clip.
When it comes to the end of the last clip, I programmed it to return and play the first clip, thereby creating a cycle. Each piano’s midi track with its specific series of clips for each subdivision, plays through its own cycle length due to having differing numbers of clips.
Each clip is one bar long for piano 1 and 3 across all subdivisions, while piano 2 contains clips of one bar length for subdivisions from 24th to 36th notes, and both one and two bar lengths for subdivisions from 8th to 20th notes.
Due to the differing lengths of cycles within each piano across all subdivisions, the cycle of each piano as it plays through its clips or bars in relationship to the other two pianos clips or bars, is always moving or being displaced with each subsequent cycle.
This demonstrates the Quornokol instrument itself is always alive as a learning process, as it does not stagnate over just one repetitive pattern[39].
For example, when considering 16th notes, piano 1 will take 24 bars to play through one cycle, piano 2 will take 14 bars to play through its cycle, while piano 3 will take 15 bars to play through its cycle. For piano 2 and 3 to meet back at their original starting point will require 210 bars. Subsequently for all three pianos to meet back at their original starting point would require 5,040 bars.
However, the three pianos are always perfectly in sync both rhythmically and harmonically, but the relationship of one particular bar or clip from one piano in any given cycle, is always shifting relative to a bar or clip from one of the other two pianos with each subsequent cycle, until the resolution point is reached and all three pianos return to their initial starting point.
[37] MIDI is short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors that allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another.
[38] An electromechanical system or computer software for controlling a sequence of events automatically. In this instance it could also be viewed as an electronic ‘Pianola’ that controls sound through midi.
[39] Please refer to appendix E for a link to a video which demonstrates in detail the displaced relationship of how the cycles operate in pianos 1, 2 and 3 in relationship to one another. Refer to appendix F for a full notated transcription of the Quornokol pedagogical instrument in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes.
The organization of rhythmic phrasing as it relates to konnokol (Piano 2).
We have already covered the methodology that is involved in creating alternate groupings to phrase rhythmically, and its relationship to the South Indian konnokol language of Carnatic music. We will now address the specific details of how these groups were arranged for each subdivision from 8th to 36th notes within the Quornokol pedagogical instrument.
Within each subdivision of rhythmically grouped notes I created patterns, utilizing groups made up of 1 to 9 notes. Each of these groupings followed the exact melodic pattern previously explained.
In the time signature of 4/4, each subdivision totals a different number of notes per bar. Starting from 8th notes, each subsequent subdivision will go up in increments of four notes, one extra note for each of the four quarter note pulses in a bar of 4/4 time.
In instances where the number of notes was not sufficient to establish a strong sense of repetition for a given group in just one bar, another bar was added to enable this repetition to take place. In order for the rhythmic modulation that is inherent when phrasing with alternate groups to be felt or experienced, it is necessary for this repetition to occur over at least four quarter note pulses (1 bar), while in some instances eight quarter note pulses are required (2 bars).
An effective way to highlight all the issues that relate to this particular method of rhythmic phrasing is to examine in detail with each subdivision the Quornokol instrument as it relates to piano 2.
Alternate groupings for 8th notes (one bar = 8 notes, two bars = 16 notes, three bars = 24 notes)
Groups of 1 = one bar = 11111111
Groups of 2 = one bar = 2 2 2 2
Groups of 3 = one bar = 3 3 2
Groups of 4 = one bar = 4 4
Groups of 5 = two bars = 5 5 5 1
Groups of 6 = two bars = 6 6 4
Groups of 7 = two bars = 7 7 2
Groups of 8 = two bars = 8 8
Groups of 9 = three bars = 9 9 6 (please note this is the only instance where 3 bars were needed to create repetition of a specific group)
The first issue to examine is that in the case where the number of notes in one or two bars cannot be divided evenly by the group number in question. Whatever notes are left over have been grouped together in order to facilitate continuity in the musical flow, by avoiding silences or gaps.
For instance, using groups of 7 as an example, two bars of 8th notes give us sixteen notes,
and as 2 x 7 = 14, I added a group of 2 to make up the difference to 16. This protocol has been used across all subdivisions when necessary.
The second issue relates to tonality. Harmonically, each group sequentially follows the order of the notes in the C minor scale. Using the groups of fives 5 5 5 1, as an example, in the instance where there is a single note left over at the end of a bar, following our established harmonic pattern, that single note would normally be sounded as a tonic or root note.
This tonic or root note would inevitably be followed by another tonic or root note, being sounded with the start of the next group (6) in the following bar.
To avoid the repetition of two tonic notes, in all cases where a single note needs to be added at the end of a bar, that tonic note has been replaced with the second note of the scale. This protocol has been employed across all subdivisions when necessary.
(For the grouping structure for all other subdivisions, please refer to Appendix B)
The organization of rhythmic phrasing as it relates to the source codes (Piano 3).
The source codes or building blocks as I have referred to them, were generated from the Quornokol language developed in this study. Each subdivision yielded rhythmic groupings that are quite syncopated. It was anticipated that this would be the result, because the process of generating the source codes is built upon subtracting from the totality of the grouping inherent to any subdivision. The removal of notes leaves silences or rests which lend themselves to creating syncopation.
Once the data from all the subdivisions had been generated other mathematical relationships came to light relative to the subdivisions themselves and the number of groupings within each subdivision. To highlight these mathematical relationships, let’s examine the total number of groupings or source codes generated for each subdivision.
For 8th notes 3 source codes were generated,
For 12th notes 7 source codes were generated,
For 16th notes 15 source codes,
For 20th notes 31 source codes,
For 24th notes 63 source codes,
For 28th notes 127 source codes,
For 32nd notes 255 source codes, and
for 36th notes 511 source codes were generated.
In looking at the numbers of source codes generated for each subdivision we observe that the number of source codes of any given subdivision is double the number of the previous subdivision +1. For example, the number of source codes within the 24th note subdivision, 63, is double 31+1, thirty-one being the total number of source codes within the 20th note subdivision. Continuing from there, 127 is double 63 + 1, 255 is double 127 + 1, 511 is double 255 + 1, this enables one to infer that this mathematical patterned relationship would continue were one to explore subdivisions beyond 36th notes.
Each source code was generated from a subdivision grouping as it relates to one quarter note pulse. Since the Quornokol pedagogical instrument was created over a 4/4-time signature, it is logical and pragmatic to repeat each source code 4 times within each bar, one source code rhythmic grouping for each quarter note in a bar of 4/4 time.
Therefore, as this relates to the Quornokol instrument for piano 3, within the cycle of clips or bars created for each subdivision, each source code will effectively translate to being one clip or one bar.
Looking at the numbers of source codes generated for each subdivision therefore translates to the number of bars in the cycle for that subdivision. As previously stated the same harmonic pattern was used for the groupings associated with the source codes for piano 3, as was used for the alternate groupings associated with the konnokol played by piano 2.
It becomes apparent that groupings of single notes will make use of the root or tonic note, groupings of two notes will make use of the first and second note in the C minor scale, groupings of three notes will make use of the first, second, and third notes of the scale, and continue in this pattern.
The premise of the Quornokol pedagogical instrument is based on learning to rhythmically phrase through both methodologies, and to learn and use both languages in order to remember and internalise the rhythmic phrasing for musical purposes.
However, when one looks at the large number of source codes available in some of the subdivisions, though it would be feasible to clap or sing the source codes with the aid of a chart, it seems unlikely one could commit them all to memory, especially for subdivisions of 28th notes, 32nd notes and 36th notes.
Nevertheless, the instrument does enable one to hear all the source codes, and on that basis extract a selection one finds musically strong in order to internalise them and enrich one’s rhythmic vocabulary within those subdivisions[40].
[40] It is also worthy to note that at a medium tempo, it takes one hour to go through one cycle of the source codes in the 36th notes subdivision. Therefore, in the application for mobile devices the pedagogical tool would enable one to specifically select the source codes one is interested in internalising in order to focus in on specific source codes for study purposes. This would be especially relevant for the 28th note, 32nd note and 36th notes subdivisions.
Using Quornokol as a pedagogical tool to internalise rhythmic phrasing.
My primary purpose for developing Quornokol is to aid musicians, composers, producers, improvisers, and other interested persons to develop a rhythmic vocabulary. Quornokol is a powerful tool enabling deep learning experiences for musicians, both professional and amateur, which they can engage with at their own pace. It can be used by beginners, intermediate or advanced rhythmic practitioners. Simply understanding this rhythmic vocabulary is not sufficient, one must work through repetition to internalise the rhythmic musical phrases.
As language is a powerful tool in bridging the external to the internal, Quornokol facilitates that process using two specific languages as previously stated. These being the traditional konnokol language of the Carnatic classical music tradition of South India, and the Quornokol language related to syncopation exemplified in the Western jazz tradition. The languages are used in conjunction with the external process of the Quornokol instrument, structured as rhythmic phrasing processes making use of tonality, played by three pianos.
In addition to singing or counting with these languages in unison with the Quornokol instrument, other tools should be used which do not make use of one’s voice, but still engage the body in order to internalise the rhythmic phrases.
Clapping is a powerful tool, whether this is applied to keeping a pulse, or a clavés or an actual musical rhythmic phrase, and is an effective process utilised when engaging with the Quornokol instrument.
Movement is also a strong tool to internalise external processes, especially related to pulse; one can move from side to side, from the right foot to the left foot or vice versa.
It is also common practice for musicians to make use of foot tapping to relate to and feel the pulse, which then leaves one’s hands and voice free to sing and clap.
An example is where one could keep the pulse by moving from the right to left foot, while clapping a clavés related to a subdivision, and singing rhythmic phrases over the top of both activities. This is a powerful way to internalise rhythmic structures, processes and phrases without using any specific musical instrument.
The deepest and most effective use of this rhythmic tool in order to internalise its rhythmic repertoire, will be served by learning both the languages contained in the Quornokol pedagogical instrument. Once these have been learnt and strongly committed to memory, one can begin to explore each subdivision relative to both methodologies represented. In the left channel one uses the konnokol language to sing along with the grouping structures over the subdivision being studied while keeping the pulse by clapping, and in the right channel one would sing or count the Quornokol language while clapping the rhythmic phrase. In this instance foot tapping would be recommended to keep a steady pulse.
Whichever subdivision is being studied, a strong reference through the bass part played by piano 1 in both channels or speakers will be heard, singing along with the bass part with either language will support a strong internal sense of the groupings inherent to any subdivision being studied. It is recommended the practitioner make extensive use of both, konnokol and Quornokol.
When beginning interacting with the Quornokol instrument both amateurs and even accomplished musicians may not be truly familiar with the sound of 5, 7 and 9, or subdivisions of 20th, 28th and 36th notes.
The Quornokol instrument, as an application for mobile devices, would allow isolating the bass part, to be heard on its own so as to familiarise oneself with any subdivision one is unsure of.
Where a practitioner is conversant with all eight subdivisions and has learnt both languages relating to the Quornokol instrument, there are four basic processes they may engage to internalise rhythmic phrasing, irrespective of which subdivision is being studied.
The first and most obvious approach is just to listen deeply without interacting with the instrument, one could listen to any combinations of the piano parts. If one is really attentive in the listening, my experience with the instrument is that the rhythmic patterns will begin to imprint themselves in the mind, which will greatly aid the internalisation process when one starts actively interacting with the Quornokol instrument.
The second approach is to pan the audio of the Quornokol instrument to the right channel, and sing or count while clapping along one bar at a time, with all the syncopated phrases of the Quornokol language, doing so at a comfortable tempo while tapping all quarter note pulses with one’s foot.
The third is to pan the audio of the Quornokol instrument to the left channel, and sing or count with all the one or two bar konnokol or alternate phrasing phrases. This is done while clapping all quarter note pulses at a comfortable tempo.
The fourth is to leave the audio panned to the centre of the Quornokol instrument whereby both methodologies will play in each speaker respectively. The konnokol in the left speaker, the Quornokol in the right speaker, spending some time just listening and feeling where both rhythmic phrases are in relationship to the quarter note pulse in any given present time moment.
When the practitioner feels confident of this ability, they can then practice step one and two as a unified process moving from one to the other in real time. Being able to do this means the practitioner has internalised both rhythmic methodologies to a significant degree.
There is a further process available to intermediate and advanced rhythmic practitioners primarily for use with the alternate phrasing or konnokol rhythmic phrasing.
This involves singing or counting the alternate groupings, but rather than simply clapping quarter note pulses, one would clap clavés structured for use with each subdivision.[41]
The claps and waves are associated with the South Indian Carnatic classical tradition of thalum[42] or time signatures, in whatever subdivision one is working with.
The ability to demonstrate this practice with any given subdivision would represent a significant and profound degree of having internalised the rhythmic phrases within that subdivision.
[41] Based on the claps and waves associated with the rhythmic konnokol tradition of South India, I have developed a series of what I would describe as ‘clavés’ to use in conjunction with subdivisions from 12th to 36th notes in order to reference more than just the quarter note pulse within those subdivisions.
[42] Thalum refers to the rhythmic cycles of time or time signatures used in the Carnatic tradition of South India.
Conclusion
The Quornokol instrument functions as a blueprint within both methodological approaches East and West to internalise the building blocks or structural elements within each approach, the alternate groupings predominantly used in the Carnatic tradition and the source codes predominantly used as syncopation within the Western Jazz tradition.
The Quornokol instrument imparts to the practitioner the foundation of both these methodologies arranged as processes to internalise the structural elements or possibilities of each approach in order to gain a profound understanding of what these source elements are, how they function within established musical traditions and stylistic genres, and to enable rhythmic phrasing for creative musical endevours. The Quornokol instrument achieves this within subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes.
Therefore, the source structural elements in both approaches are specifically arranged in order to pass on to the practitioner an understanding based on which, a musical facility and rhythmic repertoire may be developed only limited by the user’s imagination.
The creative dimension resulting from interacting with the Quornokol instrument will only truly blossom, once the student or practitioner has truly understood the implications of having a catalogue of all the source codes, and all the alternate note groupings for each of the subdivisions investigated.
There is not the space here to elaborate on the possible ways one could explore and employ the source codes and alternate groupings as the basis for creative work, or to cite examples referencing the use of the source codes and alternate groupings within traditional musical sources. The creative elaboration of musical works relating to minimalism in this study is just one of many possible contexts that could be investigated making use of the structural rhythmic elements explored at the heart of this thesis.
Chapter 4
Quornokol, eight piano works expressive of a minimalist compositional aesthetic, and their creative elaboration based on the score.
Quornokol and its relationship to minimalism.
As a musical movement minimalism is just barely eighty years old, yet it encompasses a vast body of work about which much has been written. Generally, the movement is credited to have originated in New York in the 1960’s with composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley and La Monte Young (Potter, 2000), however, its roots can be traced back to works from composers in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, as well as the 60’s such as Henry Cowell[43], Colin McPhee[44], Dennis Johnson[45] and John Cage[46] (Burt, 2016).
The term minimalism was associated with visual artists prior to being associated with musical works. Michael Nyman[47] is generally accredited as being the first writer to use the term ‘minimalism’ to describe musical works (Nyman, 1999). While the movement of experimental composers and their associated performances sometimes referred to as the New York Hypnotic School was thriving in all sorts of small venues and lofts in New York City (Johnson, 1989), similar explorations were also taking place in San Francisco, in the UK and other European countries.
[43] Henry Dixon Cowell (1897 – 1965) was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario.
[44] Colin McPhee (1900 – 1964) was a Canadian composer and musicologist. He is primarily known for being the first Western composer to make an ethno musicological study of Bali, and for the quality of that work. His work therefore his significant in introducing the gamelan orchestral sound of Indonesia to the Western world, with the subsequent influence this would have on minimalist composers such as Steve Reich.
[45] Dennis Johnson born in Los Angeles in 1938 was one of Young’s college friends at UCLA; they met in 1957 when Young heard him practicing Webern’s Variations for piano. Along with their friend Terry Jennings, Young and Johnson were the original minimalists, composing austerely slow and static music years before Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Johnson’s four hour long piano composition ‘November’ which he wrote in 1958 was re-recorded in July 2012 and released in March 2013.
[46] John Milton Cage (1912 – 1992) was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher, and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electro acoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century.
[47] Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for numerous film scores, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's film The Piano. He has written six concerti, four string quartets, and many other chamber works, many for his Michael Nyman Band. He is also a performing pianist. Nyman prefers to write opera rather than other forms of music. He is the author of the book ‘Experimental Music: Cage and beyond’.
It is therefore not realistic to credit a specific individual or group of individuals from a specific geographical region as responsible for the birth of this new musical movement, as one is able to positively credit the birth of a musical movement such as bebop jazz to specific individual musicians playing in clubs on fifty-second Street in New York City in the late 1940’s, like Charlie Parker[48] for instance.
Rather the movement originates within the context of waves of experimental music manifesting coincidentally in many different locations all over the globe. This experimental music was deeply intertwined with the visual arts, and expressed often as mixed media or multimedia performances[49]. As this music grew and evolved certain aesthetic qualities within it became recognisably identifiable as minimalist. This category became an umbrella or label with which to identify at specific times of the movements historical evolution, certain composers and their relative works (Beirens, 2013).
[48] Charles "Charlie" Parker, Jr. (1920 – 1955), also known as Yardbird and Bird, was an American jazz sax player and composer. Parker was a highly influential jazz soloist and a leading figure in the development of bebop, credited by some to have pioneered the style. Parker was a blazingly fast virtuoso, and he introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. His tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber.
[49] Many of the experimental performances taking place in the 60’s could be described as ‘multimedia happenings’. Since much of experimental music’s repertoire originated within an artistic community made up not only of musicians but visual artists, choreographers and dancers. Some of these artists may have been involved in multiple disciples, such as singer, instrumentalist, composer, choreographer and dancer Meredith Monk; therefore, a wide range of elements from various disciplines might be incorporated into a performance. The resulting works therefore may include various medias, such as music, slide projections, graphic art, film, video, dance, electronic installations and light shows.
In the second edition of Michael Nyman book “Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond” a foreword was added written by Brian Eno, it highlights many issues and gives us insight into the evolution of the minimalist movement from the perspective of an artist who lived through that time:
“… music should be something more than that which could be contained in concert halls or on records, that it must somehow extend itself into our lives.
The body of work that resulted from this conviction was pursued vigorously in both England and America, and seemed to find a home for itself in the oddest of places. By and large, the music colleges were not at all interested, whereas the art colleges with their interest in happenings, pop and performance were soaking it up.
Many of the most interesting experimental composers and performers in England Cornelius Cardew, Gavin Bryars, Howard Skempton, John Tilbury and for a time, Christian Wolff earned a crust teaching art students…
The stuff that we were interested in was so explicitly anti-academic that it often even claimed to have been written for non-musicians. It made a point of being more concerned with how things were made, what processes had been employed to compose or perform them than with what they finally sounded like. It was a music, we used to say, of process rather than product. In retrospect, it has to be admitted, this gave rise to some extremely conceptual music whose enjoyment required an act of faith (or, at least, surrender) beyond that normally expected of the casual listener…
We were interested in two extreme ends of the musical continuum. On the one hand, we applauded the idea of music as a highly physical, sensual entity, music free of narrative and literary structures, free to be pure sonic experience. On the other, we supported the idea of music as a highly intellectual, spiritual experience, effectively a place where we could exercise and test philosophical propositions or encapsulate intriguing game-like procedures.
Both these edges had, of course, always been implicit in music, but experimental music really focused on them often to the exclusion of everything that lay between, which was at that time almost all other music. At the sensual end, there was La Monte Young with his endless single-note pieces, Terry Riley and Charlemagne Palestine with their tonal repetitions (both ideas unpopular with the avant-garde), Steve Reich and Philip Glass with their visceral, cyclic works. At the 'spiritual' end, there was Christian Wolff, Cornelius Cardew and the Scratch Orchestra, Gavin Bryars and the English 'school' often producing music that was almost soundless, something to think about.
In the middle, and over it all, there was John Cage, whose great book Silence had really got the whole ball rolling. So if this was 'experimental music', what was the experiment? Perhaps it was the continual re-asking of the question 'what also could music be?', the attempt to discover what makes us able to experience something as music. And from it, we concluded that music didn't have to have rhythms, melodies, harmonies, structures, even notes, that it didn't have to involve instruments, musicians and special venues. It was accepted that music was not something intrinsic to certain arrangements of things, to certain ways of organizing sounds but was actually a process of apprehending that we, as listeners, could choose to conduct.
It moved the site of music from 'out there' to 'in here'. If there is a lasting message from experimental music, it's this: music is something your mind does. That was a revolutionary proposition, and it still is.” (Eno, 1999)
Minimalism has been heralded by some commentators as one of the greatest development within the evolution of Western classical music in the twentieth century. It is therefore not appropriate or even feasible to undertake a vast exploration of the subject within the confines of the focus of this particular study. In this thesis, minimalism will be explored as it relates to very specific areas of the study, such as the Quornokol piano works and the creative compositional elaborations based on their score.
The relevance of the relationship of the Quornokol piano works to minimalism evolved over a period of eighteen months during the course of the research. Though certain identifiable markers relating to minimalism were perceived earlier in its development relative to the Quornokol pedagogical instrument; the orientation towards attempting to answer the research question through the work fulfilling a compositional aesthetic, was initially foreseen to take place by elaborating on the Quornokol pedagogical instruments with a series of compositions utilising both the syncopated source codes and the alternate rhythmic groupings in a jazz and jazz fusion context.
Prior to this shift in orientation towards minimalism, I had conceived that I would write a small essay as an appendix about how the Quornokol pedagogical instrument resonated with a minimalistic musical aesthetic. The bulk of the writing yet to be undertaken at that time, would be based on the compositional elaboration of the instrument founded on pieces channeling my jazz and jazz fusion roots. However, engaging the preliminary research on the minimalist movement inspired me to take a different approach to the creative elaboration; this was due to the discovery that the Quornokol instrument did not just resonate with minimalism, but as a composition embodies an authentic and fully expressive minimalist aesthetic[50].
Leonard Meyer[51] referred to the aesthetic which defines the minimalist movement in 1994 by describing minimalist music thus: “Because there is little sense of goal-directed motion, minimal music does not seem to move from one place to another. Within any musical segment there may be some sense of direction, but frequently the segments fail to lead to or imply one another. They simply follow one another (Meyer, 1994)”.
In the introduction of “The Ashgate Research Companion to Minimalist and Postminimalist Music” some attempts to define minimalism are made. The authors suggest nine different categories through which minimalist music may be observed or defined, though acknowledging, “that no single technical criterion for minimalist music will suffice”, they however suggest based on stereotypes of the early music of Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Terry Riley’s piece in C, that “minimalism is repetitive music, in which melodic or rhythmic figures are incessantly repeated, often with some gradual change taking place, like lengthening or phase shifting”. This very simplistic definition can be broadened via an exploration of each of the nine categories mentioned above.
Harmonic Stasis
In numerous well documented minimalist works, the minimalists felt a fascination with reduction to a small number of pitches either a single chord, sine tone installations, a few pitches, or a single scale.
Repetition
A stuck in the groove feeling of repeated melodic or rhythmic figures is the most stereotypical aspect of minimalist music as most listeners think of it, though it should be noted that prolonged exact repetition without some gradual or terraced transformation is extremely rare.
Gradual Process
The possibility of gradual process, as constituting a new and fascinating perceptual challenge for listeners, was basic to early minimalism; in fact, for a while in the 1960’s and 1970’s ’Process Music’ was a common and overlapping term, inclusive of composers who might not be considered minimalist. The three most common types of process were as follows:
Additive process, in which most commonly and especially associated with composer Phillip Glass, a work would start with a basic repeated pattern and add or subtract notes to lengthen or shorten it,
Phase shifting, in which two identical phrases would be played at the same time but at slightly different tempos so as to go out of phase with each other,
Permutational process, in which a melodic progression would gradually change via some systematic transformation that precluded exact repetition.
Steady Beat
One could say that in general minimalism was associated with the motoric quaver note beat, although given the tendency of composers such as Young and Niblock to rely on drones with no beat at all, it might be more accurate to say that minimalism was characterised by a lack of rhythmic differentiation.
Static Instrumentation
Due to the logistics of early minimalist performance practice, the style originated in small, composer-led ensembles, which were often founded on the rather ritualistic concept of everyone playing all the time, often with the instrumentation left somewhat open. Minimalist ensembles hardly ever display the classical European paradigm of the painter’s palette in which each instrument adds its dash of colour when needed.
This aspect began to change once minimalism moved into the orchestral sphere, the implications being that this orientation to begin with may have been determined more by the economics of minimalist performance rather than any permanent aesthetic goal.
Metamusic
The unintended acoustic details that arise as a side-effect of strictly carried out processes. These include soft melodies created by the overtones of played notes, or the overtone phenomena buzzing above the slowly glissandoing drones, and even the changing overtone patterns heard while walking through a sine tone installation.
Pure Tuning
It is noteworthy that minimalism started in the musics of Young, Tony Conrad and The Theatre of Eternal Music, as a slowed-down exploration of pure frequency ratios, resonant intervals outside the 12-pitch piano scale. Once common in what we could call hard-core minimalism, this feature has fallen by the wayside in better-known parts of the repertoire.
Audible Structure
One thing shared by many classical minimalist works was that their structure was on the surface and easily audible, that you could tell just from listening, often just from the first audition, what the overall process was.
The singers counting of beats in ‘Einstein on the Beach’ was iconic. Reich’s early writings in particular, emphasised that part of minimalism’s early mystique was to have no secrets, to hold the musics structure right in the audience’s face and have that be listened to.
(Gann, Potter, Siôn, p3-6, 2013)
If these definitions encompasse some fundamental characteristics of minimalism, then Quornokol as a compositional work absolutely falls under the category of minimalist music. With the exception of ‘Pure Tuning’ it embodies the characteristics of all other eight categories enumerated in The Ashgate Research Companion’s introduction, while also falling under Leonard Meyer’s description and definition for minimalist music.
Through my research about minimalism, exploring both the written word and audio and video recordings, I also formulated and developed my own conceptual and intuitive definition of what minimalism is and how it relates to the Quornokol piano works.
There are so many aesthetic minimalistic qualities within the Quornokol piano pieces. Below are just some of my observations and reasons for perceiving and defining the Quornokol works as being minimalist:
They are based on one single instrument,
Each movement deals with only one specific subdivision at any time,
They make use of constant repetition both rhythmically and harmonically,
There are no dynamic shift leading to a climatic conclusion in any of the works,
The works are process driven, not based on narrative,
Though each movement is written in a different subdivision, all eight movements are written following the same specific conceptual logic, and mathematical and numeric conceptual templates,
The movements have a trance like quality based on their repetitive nature which draws the listener into the sound.
Maybe this last description is the most relevant, especially in subdivisions which take a long time to play one cycle of all the source codes. One may get lost in the sound, but not so much the actual sound of the piano, though its timbral qualities are relevant, but more specifically the sound of the rhythm channeled through and as the piano, further reinforced by the same harmonic structure repeated in each movement.
The piano is just a means to communicate something deeper, something behind the sound, it’s rhythmic, pulsating movement.
Therefore, another instrument or voice could replace the piano and fulfill the same purpose, this instrumental interchangeable possibility also resonates with my minimalist conceptions.
All of the qualities I have just described express singularity, or, the minimal, and as such they are in keeping with minimalism in its core sensitivity or aesthetic values, which according to my intuitive understanding, eradicates the potential distraction of excessive emotion in the listener, by stripping down colours, dynamics, and narrative in the music.
Minimalism forces the listener to move towards a great singular focus, that paradoxically reveals great multiplicity. In that sense it is very much in keeping with the tradition of classical Indian music, which when not involved in extreme flourishes and technical elaborations, uses the sound to bring the listener to an inclusive and deeply inward turned experience. Like the drone of a tambura[52] which reveals a multi-verse of sonic dimensions, yet to a superficial ear, may appear to be only expressive of a single tone.
Though generally disseminated in a very secular context, minimalism may well represent and embody an experimental westernized aesthetic formulation of what is sacred about sound.
Minimalism originates in the West, yet some minimalist music may not be aesthetically pleasing to the western ear. It may challenge its assumptions of tonality, harmony, rhythm, melody, and the fundamental expectations about the function and role music should fulfill based on a western classical heritage. It is for each person to decide for him or herself whether minimalistic expression can engage them in this inward process, potentially revealing the sacred nature of sound.
It brings into question whether one is willing to give the focus, attention and participation required and necessary to open and receive what minimalism offers, which at its best can impart an experience of music as the conduit for a transcendent medium.
Indeed, the Quornokol instrument may not engage some people as a compositional work, and while I find it very engaging (though this could be seen as bias since it is my own work), this may have caused me to become doubtful as to its validity as the bearer of an authentic musical movement.
For this reason, I initially felt the composition to only merit mere ‘resonance’ with the established school of minimalism, making it only worthy of a small essay.
In that sense, discovering the works deep association with minimalism, gave it strong foundations, validity, and deep links to tradition, on the basis of which I was able to champion Quornokol as a composition of merit, casting off self-doubt.
In the postmodern art period of the late 60’s and 70’s, a whole host of compositional musical works were performed and recorded, some of which involved multimedia. These contemporary works came under the heading of new or experimental music; some may have been more defined by a minimalist aesthetic than others.
Therefore, at times the lines may have blurred relative to what category any particular piece might fall under, or as to what defined any category to begin with. This new movement was so prolific that the definitions kept evolving in the following decade, with some composers feeling that minimalism as a category or definition had become to constricting or limiting to accurately depict their creative portfolios.
From its austere beginnings, minimalism kept evolving, for some of its founders such as Steve Reich, Terry Riley and La Monte Young it encompassed elements from other traditions, including aspects of jazz, gamelan and Indian classical music[53], elements which found their way into these artist compositional work. Within the minimalist pantheon over five decades’ subcategories and other stylistic subgenres of minimalistic music developed, characteristics of which were also adopted into mainstream popular music, such as rock, hip hop and electronica.
By the 1980s, the momentum of the original minimalist movement was slowing down, especially in the more experimental reductionist and austere forms within which the movement originally began. A whole new generation of young composers was emerging, though they may not have demonstrated a great interest in continuing the very specific narrative of the minimalist movement, they however had been greatly influenced by it. Therefore, the subsequent period in the following decade, and the composing style that emerged during this time has been referred to as ‘post-minimalism’ (Gann, 2016).
Some of John Adams works exemplifies this, such as his opera ‘Nixon in China[54]’ which still has its roots in minimalism, while also expanding beyond its borders.
In my own case, I have been a fan of composer Brian Eno’s work for decades, he has functioned as a minimalist composer, however, I always thought of his particular music works and albums as ‘ambient[55]’ and have only recently clearly made the connection to him as a minimalist. The same could be said of Jon Hassell who I have also followed for three decades, much of his music can be deemed minimalist, though he tended to think of it in terms of world music. He called it ‘Fourth World[56]’ music since it mixed influences from traditional Indian classical music and third world tribal cultures with first world western timbres created via technological means. He also collaborated with Eno, so here is an example of two minimalist composer I was strongly influenced by without ever making a clear conscious association to them as minimalists, defining or categorizing their music under another label.
As a consequence of realising the Quornokol piano pieces were minimalist, the research question in the study was wholly and fully addressed:
Firstly, by the Quornokol instrument functioning as a pedagogical tool, and secondly, through the Quornokol piano works strong compositional and aesthetic relationship to minimalism.
This new clarity resulted in creating a strong narrative cohesion within the study, and inspired creative exploration relative to the compositional elaboration of the Quornokol piano works.
The piano notated transcriptions of the Quornokol instrument not only function in demonstrating its pedagogy, but also became a blue print functioning as the basis for further elaborations or interpretations of minimalist works.
The Quornokol score functions as a master key from which other composers or performers can reinterpret the blueprint of the score, for both compositional and performative outcomes.
My creative output based on the Quornokol piano works in eight movements, one for each of the subdivisions investigated in the study; is a demonstration of that very fact, a compositional exploration to further elaborate the potential of the piano works, based on a score which can be re-interpreted[57].
The Quornokol piano works make a strong statement in their pedagogical function, but also in their minimalist compositional dimension which is not merely passive, used for listening or performing, but dynamic; functioning as the basis for re-enlivening a whole host of creative possibilities and outcomes through reinterpretation both as composition and performance.
Having already written five musical works in a jazz fusion genre at the time of fully cognizing the depth of the implications and relevance of the Quornokol works minimalist character; subsequent re-writing was inevitable.
The exploration and cohesiveness brought to my entire portfolio with this new direction towards minimalism released a great wave of clarity, energy, confidence and creativity.
This is part of the potential voyage of self-discovery that practice led research and research based practice may sometimes engender. This creative and reflective journey was as significant as it was unexpected. It has initiated a process of both creative and pedagogical investigation, the ripples of which will no doubt continue to inspire me for the rest of my creative life.
Elaborating on the Quornokol piano pieces through eight minimalist works.
The Quornokol score functions as a master key or blueprint to facilitate further compositional investigation and elaboration; each of the first eight pieces below are based on one movement of its minimalist piano works representing a specific subdivision from 8th to 36th notes (though not organised in that specific sequential order).
Once it became clear that the creative compositional elaboration of the Quornokol piano pieces would be based on a minimalist musical aesthetic, I sat down and conceived in rudimentary terms, of a conceptual instrumental form and arrangement for each subdivision through which the Quornokol score would translate to a musical work.
While I sat down at my computer and started the compositional and recording process for each piece, I was also actively researching minimalism from audio and video sources on the Internet. As a result, one piece is directly related to a video recording I found of a minimalist work by Steve Reich.
I composed the work ‘Marimba Mama’ inspired by, and in direct response to Steve Reich’s piece ‘Drumming[58]’, specifically part two of that piece which is written for marimba and voices.
In some instances, the conceptual and thematic visions I had for musical works in specific subdivisions reinterpreting the Quornokol score worked exactly as I had planned.
This was the case for the pieces ‘Voices’ in 16th notes and Siren’s Call in 8th notes. While in other cases, I swapped and exchanged a number of conceptual ideas for various works. In yet other instances as the composing process began, spontaneity and intuition led me in completely different directions then I had first envisaged.
The Quornokol piano works are made up of three separate instrumental sections each expressed through a piano voice:
The bass part which references the subdivision from any given movement,
The middle part which plays through a specific numeric arrangement of alternate groupings for each subdivision,
Finally, what could be viewed as the melodic part, represented by an enumeration of all the catalogued rhythmic source codes within each subdivision.
In the elaboration of each of these original works what remains constant relative to how the Quornokol score has been interpreted, is the function, and general specific content of each part within the Quornokol piano works.
In some instances however, not the entirety of each part has been utilized in a specific work, while in others, the specific part may have been duplicated and assigned to different instrumental voices. The structural arrangement of bars within each of these three parts within the score is completely interchangeable. Some of the more obvious areas for elaboration or point of difference between the piano works and the original works are:
tempo, instrumentation, dynamics, harmony, melody and improvisation.
Once I had written and recorded each original piece, an interesting discovery occurred relative to my research of minimalist composers and their work. I found very strong and direct correlations between structural elements within the works I had composed and works written by celebrated minimalist composers such as Philip Glass and John Adams, whose works I was unfamiliar with[59].
In each of the works below there is a strong correlation or reference either to a specific composer and their work, or a musical tradition that is generally understood as being compatible with, or containing elements expressive of a minimalist aesthetic.
The composers referenced in this body of work are: Steve Reich, Brian Eno, John Adams, Philip Glass, Jon Hassell and La Monte Young.
The musical traditions that are referenced are the North Indian classical Hindustani tradition, the jazz tradition, specifically how it may apply to ballads in 3/4 time (waltzes), and the tradition of Gamelan.
With the exception of ‘Drifted’ all the minimal works below are structured on the fundamental idea of re-interpreting each of the three parts in the Quornokol piano works. All the Quornokol piano works were created in Ableton Live digital software using its sequencer, therefore the MIDI information with which each piano track was created in each subdivision, is an exact representation of the written score of the Quornokol piano works, included in appendix F of this paper. Effectively, this created a MIDI template within the sequencer for each subdivision, which could be duplicated, edited, or assigned to different sounds, which I was able to use fully or in part, for seven of the nine pieces in the portfolio.
Each work makes use of the fundamental structure and arrangement of the bass part, the middle part representing the alternate groupings, and the higher or melodic part made up of all the source codes in each subdivision. This is the fundamental arrangement which has been adopted in each work, however the re-interpretation of each of these parts in each work differs drastically. In all works the bass part and melodic part tend to be assigned to one or more instruments playing the same musical line, whereas the middle part may be rearranged to play different lines by different instruments simultaneously or in sequence.
The relationship and reference to minimalism of each of the nine original pieces in the portfolio is examined in more detail below.
Title: Siren’s Call
Subdivision: 8th notes
Tempo: 3 bpm
Duration: 25:44
Instrumentation: Synth pads, Bansuri, Breath
In wanting to create a piece reminiscent of some of Brian Eno’s work which he released through his Ambient label, and since the conception for the piece was to use electronic layers mixed with processed acoustic sound samples, the 8th note subdivision seemed most appropriate for this purpose.
I slowed the piece down almost to a standstill and decided to keep the instrumentation very simple, making use of a very rich synth pad made up of four layers, the sound of which oscillates between these layers timbral textures (Eno, 2016).
Overlaid over the top is a play between two bansuri flutes to which a lot of audio processing has been added. One flute repeats the three source codes in the 8th note subdivision repeatedly, while the other plays the alternate groupings which in some parts have been radically stripped back. The harmonic pattern of notes has also been altered in various places, in order to create the ambient aesthetic of the piece. The added texture of the breath sound is triggered via audio delay from one of the bansuri flutes to further add to the textural dimension of this work.
The aesthetic of many of Brian Eno’s ambient works was to keep the overall sound quite low in volume, in order to draw the listener in. Eno conceived of this particular aesthetic while recovering at home after having been hit by a car, a friend of his came and brought an LP, she started playing this record on the stereo and then left, however the volume was quite low, and only one speaker was working, it was also raining. Eno was powerless to get up from his bed to remedy the situation, he noticed that the low volume of the music blended in with the rain and other sounds in the room and created the impression of a completely different soundscape then the actual music playing on the record, this is what inspired him to create the ‘ambient’ sound (Hewett, 2016). When one is not absolutely certain of what one is hearing, one’s imagination may take over filling in the gaps, this is precisely my intention with this particular work, as Eno said earlier to “shift the site of music from 'out there' to 'in here'… music is something your mind does” (Eno, 1999).
Title: Peaks and Valleys
Subdivision: 24th notes
Tempo: 15 bpm
Duration: 43:50
Instrumentation: Electric Bass, Double Bass, Synth Bass, Electric Piano, Acoustic Piano, Synths, Cello, Violin, Viola, String Ensemble, Voice, Trumpet, Oud, Kora, Sarangi, Thunder Drums
Due to the strong dynamic emotive orientation of this piece it may be more accurate to think of it as being postminimalist then strictly minimalist. This work is orchestral in nature, but it does precisely mirror the Quornokol piano works in all its three parts both rhythmically and harmonically, though these have been greatly elaborated upon instrumentally. The central idea behind this work was to create a slowly expanding climbing dynamic curve starting almost from silence, which would play through one cycle of all the source codes ending in a climactic finale, before starting to descend dynamically for another cycle of all the source codes ending in silence.
The combination of the slow tempo, the slow and gradual dynamic shift of the entire orchestra, the orchestration of instruments slowly and gradually entering the mix, combined with the repetitive unveiling of all sixty-three source codes, serves to create an overwhelming sense of tension. Even though the context of this work is full of multiplicity, (twenty different instruments in different octaves, all moving and evolving slowly as part of a great whole), that multiplicity is moving within the simple singularity, of up, and down. From that perspective, coupled with its slow moving repetitive nature this work could be perceived as being strictly minimalist, even though some of its qualities are not in keeping with the genre.
This work has an operatic dimension reminiscent of John Adams’s opera ‘Nixon in China’. I observed rhythmic and harmonic similarities and correlations in the score in ‘Act 1 Scene 1’ relative to the Quornokol score, where John Adams has used long chordal harmonic changes in the bottom register and sequentially ascending lines in groups of 4, 6 and 8 notes an octave higher, while a syncopated melody is first played instrumentally, then sung in the high register (Adams, 2014, 2016). This is a mirror image of the rhythmic structure, and in part the ascending melodic structure taking place in the Quornokol instrument.
Though there is a lot of harmonic movement in the opera’s first scene, it is thematically based repeating over the same form. “Adams is forging a wholly new musical language for the 1980’s with his ability to harness harmonic variety and expressive choral writing to the essentially slow-moving pulse-rate of minimalism” (Kenyon, 2016), this description from a review in the Guardian charactarises Adam as a post minimalist composer.
Title: Subcontinent Dreaming
Subdivision: 12th notes
Tempo: 70 bpm
Duration: 19:38
Instrumentation: Santoor and Resonating Strings, Large Frame Drum, Crotales, Hand Drum Percussion Set, Bowed Gong, Cross Stick
This work is inspired by elements within the classical Indian traditions which relate to minimalism. La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Jon Hassell all travelled together to India to study with Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath. In 1970 he came to New York City where he spent the rest of his life, establishing his school in the Kirana Gharana lineage[60], La Monte Young subsequently became the executor of his estate. In my research I came across a recording of La Monte Young singing an Indian style alap accompanied by a single tambura, there was something unique in his approach to the sound which I cannot fully describe, expressing a departure from all the Indian singers I have heard. I could only surmise that this quality in his singing reflected a musical aesthetic deeply influenced by the experimental music of his time. Similarly, in my piece though there are many apparently Indian elements they are funneled through a westernised musical aesthetic, not tempered by a strict Indian training and lineage.
This work was created through two methods, the first making use of sequenced parts, the second by playing live on my Roland Handsonic electronic percussion pad[61]. Two parts were played through the sequencer, and two parts were played live on the percussion pad.
I created a hybrid Indian classical instrument using santoor sounds and resonating strings as they may apply and be played on a traditional sitar. These resonating strings were also layered dynamically in relation to each other and a gourd drum head (all virtually of course). The second part which I played live was triggering the sounds of a big frame drum.
The first sequenced part emulates the bass part of the Quornokol piano, though played on crotales (finger cymbals) over an eight bar pattern, the second sequenced part plays all the patterns of alternate groupings from the Quornokol score for the 12th note subdivision utilising a variety of different percussion instruments.
These two parts were used as the foundation layer over which I played the lead hybrid santoor instrument live in one take, after which I overdubbed the big frame drum, which I also played live.
The big frame drum plays steady 12th notes or triplets as a rhythmic accompaniment to the solo line.
The lead line was also created playing a steady flow of 12th notes all the way through broken up between the santoor sounds and resonating string sounds, utilising both rhythmic phrasing methodologies, as they apply to alternate groupings, mainly groups of 2 or 4, and the syncopation of the source codes.
Title: Hassell Hustle 7-28
Subdivision: 28th notes
Tempo: 46 bpm
Duration: 12:31
Instrumentation: Bass, Synth Pad, Processed Trumpet, Hand Claps, Udu, Large Frame Drum, Small Frame Drum Set
This work as the title suggests, is inspired by and dedicated to Jon Hassell. It utilises all three sequencer parts from the Quornokol piano works, though significant changes have been made. However, the bass part does function as the bassline, the alternate groupings have been assigned to the small frame drum set, but, the group of selected source codes are functioning not as a melodic line, but as a rhythmic line played by a large frame drum.
In addition to these, the piece makes use of four tracks recorded live, a rhythmic track using the handsonic percussion pad where I played an African Udu (clay drum), a hand clap track playing a clavés pattern in seven, a second hand clap track playing all the alternate groupings in unison with the small frame drum set, and a lead melodic trumpet track played on my midi keyboard utilising both rhythmic methodologies.
Jon Hassell’s improvisational aesthetic was greatly influenced by his study of Indian music. Especially the particular vocal style of his teacher Pandit Pran Nath, which emphasized precise intonation and the gradual exposition of tone and mood. Hassell’s study of Indian ragas gave him the facility to play micro-tonally on an open trumpet. Mixed with his use of electronics, Hassell’s approach was more textural and minimal, than lyrical and technical (Hassell, 1977).
The eight original albums he released between 1977 and 1987 two of which he collaborated on with Brian Eno (with the exception of a few tracks from the LP ‘Earthquake Island’ released in 1978), were minimalist works incorporating influences from world and jazz musics, with strong electronic elements, which Hassell used primarily to alter the timbral qualities of his trumpet. These three elements world, jazz, and electronics were so iconic to his aesthetic sound, that it is easy to see how the ‘world music label’ in describing his work overshadowed the minimalist dimension of his music.
It would be unrealistic to try and emulate Jon Hassell’s microtonal textural playing style and trumpet sound by playing a midi keyboard. I have taken inspiration by creating a trumpet voice recognisable as an actual trumpet, and processing that sound to express other textural possibilities, while employing other devices, techniques and textures within the overall composition, which, taken as a whole, are reminiscent and expressive of the aesthetic which Jon Hassell emotively imparted to me through his music.
Title: Voices
Subdivision: 16th notes
Tempo: 60 bpm
Duration: 9:11
Instrumentation: Voice
This work draws inspiration from Philip Glass’s opera ‘Einstein on the Beach ’from the section ‘Knee Play 1’ after the prologue, where the choir counts the rhythmic and harmonic changes: 1 2 3 4_1 2 3 4 5 6_1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 though subsequently the ‘1’ is left out of each grouping in an evolving pattern (Glass, 2016).
I have not transcribed the work, because it is based on a harmonic and melodic structure, whereas my piece is not, representing a complete departure aesthetically from Philip Glass’s work. I just found the counting of numbers in Glass’s opera to sound so strong, that it inspired me to experiment with just vocal counting, enumerating the Quornokol piano works in their three parts, the bass part, alternate phrasing groupings vocalised as konnokol, and the syncopated source codes vocalised through the Quornokol language.
I simply took the idea of using the Quornokol rhythmic structure in terms of the languages utilized in conjunction with the Quornokol pedagogical instrument, and I experimented with all sorts of textural vocal sounds to create an aesthetic, using devices such as panning, dynamics, call and answer, while attempting to eliminate all reference to tonality in the vocal sound.
Title: Marimba Mama
Subdivision: 32nd notes
Tempo: 40 bpm
Duration: 25:37
Instrumentation: Marimba
This work is directly inspired by Steve Reich’s groundbreaking piece ‘Drumming’ which he composed after returning from Ghana Africa where he studied under master drummer Gideon Alorwoyie[62], and which earned him a standing ovation at his performance at the Museum of Modern Arts in December of 1971 (Johnson, 1989).
This work is probably one of the first example of Reich’s use of phase shifting[63] which is a remarkable musical phenomenon, compositional and performative device, especially in the context of a percussion instrument like the marimba. Since Quornokol is so structurally rhythmical as a composition for piano, it was very simple to adapt it to the marimba. However, I changed the harmonic structural arrangement to suit the aesthetic sound of the marimba and make the composition more interesting harmonically when incorporating the phasing elements.
I conceived that it would be possible to recreate the phenomenon of phasing within an audio recording environment, though not to the extent that it is possible to create phase shifting through the random elements a live performative context offers. In the recording software, I duplicated each part three times, relative to the bass, middle and melodic parts, this gave me four tracks for each part. The master track for each part played in time with the click track, each of the other three tracks for each part where slightly displaced in relationship to their master track and each other. This gave me the ability using automated mixing, to bring into the mix the displaced tracks in relation to each part at various times during the composition, and at various volumes thereby creating the phenomenon of phasing.
I specifically chose the 32nd notes subdivision, knowing that having 8 notes per quarter note pulse would facilitate the potential for phasing to work in a recorded environment, whereas Steve Reich’s piece ‘Drumming’ is played in the subdivision of 24th notes.
Title: Listen to The Fives
Subdivision: 20th notes
Tempo: 49 bpm
Duration: 9:02
Instrumentation: Synth Pad, Large Frame Drum, Small and Large Tibetan Bells, Tabla, Darabouka, Taikos, Table Hits
This piece is inspired by the aesthetic and layered sound of Gamelan orchestras. However, being based on the Quornokol instrument and score, it can only approximate that aesthetic, emulating colours and sonic textures utilized in such an orchestra.
I therefore chose large Tibetan bells to emulate the sound of the metallophones, I also included small Tibetan bells and a whole variety of recognisable hand drums. In keeping with the layered structure of the sound of gamelan orchestras, I created layers within the middle part of the Quornokol alternate rhythmic groupings by panning the small Tibetan bells and the tabla playing in unison left and right respectively; and structured the darabouka and taikos also playing in unison and panned left and right respectively, to play a completely different set of alternate groupings.
The large frame drum references the subdivision of 20th notes as would the bass part in the Quornokol piano piece, and the large Tibetan bells play through one cycle of all the source codes as the lead melodic voice emulating the gamelan.
Due to the statistical density of all the rhythmic percussive layering, I realised I needed to anchor the work by referencing the fives or 20th note subdivision at least in some part of the composition. I achieved this by using ‘table hits’ to play beat 1 and 3 of each group of five, the table hits sound like a big choir of people handclapping, and were very effective in grounding the composition.
It however gave it a more tribal feel, which removed it from the aesthetic of the gamelan sound. To a Western ear the gamelan sound can seem ambiguous relative to a definite pulse or subdivision. I nevertheless made that choice, in order to give the listener more of a chance to connect with the work. The intensity of the rhythmic modulations inherent in the work through the layered drum parts may go unnoticed without a strong reference to the subdivision the piece is built on.
I needed to prevent this from happening, especially since the piece is entitled ‘Listen to the Fives’. Steve Reich studied gamelan in Seattle in the early 70s, on the basis of which in 1974 he wrote a more elaborate work for a larger ensemble, ‘Music for 18 Musicians’.
Title: Echoes of Being
Subdivision: 36th notes
Tempo: 10 bpm
Duration: 18:48
Instrumentation: Double Bass, Cello, Plucked Violins, Piano, Voice
This work in 36th notes gives the impression of being a jazz waltz due to its subdivision being a multiple of three. Its chordal harmony being in fourths, also reinforces the strong jazz sound, while its slow tempo is reminiscent of a jazz waltz ballad. The bass part played by the cello, and the alternate rhythmic groupings played by the plucked violins are identical in form to the Quornokol piano works. Only a selection of the source codes has been utilized since the 36th note subdivision contains 511 source codes, and to use them all at this tempo would make the work hours long.
There are two melodic lines, the first representing the rhythm section plays the chordal harmony on piano, in the second cycle over the top of the piano, a melodic female voice is added, with a very ethereal sound. Both of these melodic lines are still rhythmically orientated since they are playing through a selection of source codes groupings.
The double bass in the first cycle of this piece, plays a pattern of simple rhythmic pulses (1st, 4th, and 7th beats in each 36th note) starting on the quarter note, reminiscent of some waltz ballads exemplified by the jazz chamber music groups of the late 1950’s and early 60’s. However, in the second cycle I displaced the bass motif to start on the second note of the 36th notes within each quarter note. Which though it may not be noticed, subliminally creates a strong tension, juxtaposition with the ethereal female voice, and even chaos at times in relation to the other instrumental parts. The displacement completely undermines the feeling of the waltz for the rest of the piece and never resolves.
Title: Drifted
Tempo: 20 bpm Elastic
Duration: 4:32
Instrumentation: Piano, Double Bass, Drums, Synth Pads, Organ, World Voice Sample
This work which could be thought of as postminimalist and experimental has been included though not derived from the Quornokol score, for three reasons:
The first, being that it is the only piece within the portfolio, in which I am playing the Western drum set, which is the main instrument I have played and studied for 3 ½ decades. So it felt necessary to include a work where this instrument was represented.
The second, because the entire piece is written completely around the drum part, which was played and recorded in one take, as a response to the atmospheric synthesizer layers from which the work originates. The subsequent bass and piano parts were written and composed around the rhythmic structure of this improvised drum part.
Lastly, in contrast to all the other works, the pulse is completely elastic, it’s not constant, it is shifting. The exploration of both rhythmic methodologies East and West, based on the alternate groupings and source codes are funneled through an intuitive and emotive aesthetic, based on my jazz and jazz fusion sensitivities developed over a lifetime. In the other works, though not always immediately apparent, with careful listening one will recognise both rhythmic methodologies East and West based on the syncopated source codes and alternate rhythmic groupings; whereas in this piece ‘Drifted’ this is likely not to be the case, and is therefore expressive of a different and more experimental aesthetic, then the slow-moving pulse-rate minimalism of some of the other works in the portfolio.
References:
Adams, J. (2014). Nixon in China - Earbox - John Adams. [online] Earbox - John Adams. Available at: http://www.earbox.com/nixon-in-china/
Adams, J. (2016). John Adams - Nixon in China - Live at the ENO 2000 (with Score) - Part 1. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qTaeF9x8wk
Anku, W, 2000. Circles and Time: A Theory of Structural Organization of Rhythm in African Music. The Online Journal of the Society for Music Theory, Volume 6 - Number 1, 7. Indiana, United States.
Burt, Warren, 2016. Minimalism and Post-Minimalism. Power point presentation Box Hill Institute. Melbourne, Australia.
Corne, Alan, 2012. Rhythmic Phrasing, Two Fundamental Approaches. www.thequornsdrummingworld.com
Eno, B. (2016). Sound On Sound: A fervent nostalgia for the future - Part 2. [online] Music.hyperreal.org. Available at: http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/interviews/sos2.html
Gann, K. (2016). Music After Minimalism. [online] Kylegann.com. Available at: http://www.kylegann.com/postminimalism.html
Glass, P. (2016). Philip Glass - Einstein On The Beach - 01 Knee Play 1. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIDuZq7RVAM&list=PLa__YRHn2at_WsNSjX2gymnxzueC9ngVw
Hassell, J. (1977). Vernal Equinox. [LP, LML 1021] New York United States: Lovely Music.
Hewett, I. (2016). How Brian Eno created a quiet revolution in music. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/how-brian-eno-created-a-quiet-revolution-in-music/
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Kenyon, N. (2016). John Adams's Nixon in China: 'a genuinely contemporary opera.' From the archive, 25 october 1987. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/19/from-the-classical-archive-nixon-in-china-john-adams-premiere-oct-1987.
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Appendices
Appendix A: The enumeration of all source codes contained in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes utilising the Quornokol languague.
Enumeration of all possible note groupings for 8th notes.
Quornokol for one 8th note = 1 A
Three individual note groupings found in 8th note subdivision.
One note groupings: 2
1 , A
Two note groupings: 1
1 A
Enumeration of all possible note groupings for triplets or 12th notes.
Quornokol for one 12th note = 1 A U
Seven individual note groupings found in 12th note subdivision.
One note groupings: 3
1 , A , U
Two note groupings: 3
1A 1U AU
Three note groupings: 1
1AU
It is worthwhile to add quarter note triplets[64] here starting on and off the beat (in red and underlined) as follows:
1 A U 2 A U 3 A U 4 A U
1 A U 2 A U 3 A U 4 A U
Enumeration of all possible note groupings for 16th notes.
Quornokol for one 16th note = 1 E A U
Fifteen individual note groupings found in 16th note subdivision.
One note groupings: 4
1 , E , A , U
Two note groupings: 6
1E 1A 1U EA EU AU
Three note groupings: 4
1EA 1EU 1AU EAU
Four note groupings: 1
1EAU
Enumeration of all possible note groupings for 20th notes.
Quornokol for one 20th note = 1 O A E U
Thirty-one individual note groupings found in 20th note subdivision.
One note groupings: 5
1, O, A, E, U
Two note groupings: 10
1O
1A
1E
1U
OA
OE
OU
AE
AU
EU
Three note groupings: 10
1OA 1OE 1OU 1AE 1AU 1EU OAE OAU OEU AEU
Four note groupings: 5
1OAE 1OAU 1OEU 1AEU OAEU
Five note groupings: 1
1OAEU
Enumeration of all possible note groupings for 24th notes.
Quornokol for one 24th note = 1 I O A E U
Sixty-three individual note groupings found in 24th note subdivision.
One note groupings: 6
1, I, O, A, E, U
Two note groupings: 15
1I
1O
1A
1E
1U
IO
IA
IE
IU
OA
OE
OU
AE
AU
EU
Three note groupings: 20
1IO 1IA 1IE 1IU 1OA 1OE 1OU 1AE 1AU 1EU IOA IOE IOU IAE IAU IEU OAE OAU OEU AEU
Four note groupings: 15
1IOA 1IOE 1IOU 1IAE 1IAU 1IEU 1OAE 1OAU 1OEU 1AEU IOAE IOAU IOEU IAEU OAEU
Five note groupings: 6
1IOAE 1IOAU 1IOEU 1IAEU 1OAEU IOAEU
Six note groupings: 1
1IOAEU
Enumeration of all possible note groupings for 28th notes.
Quornokol for one 28th note = 1 I O A E U C
One hundred and twenty-seven note groupings found in 28th note subdivision.
One note groupings: 7
1, I, O, A, E, U, C
Two note groupings: 21
1I 1O 1A 1E 1U 1C IO IA IE IU IC OA OE OU OC AE AU AC EU EC UC
Three note groupings: 35
1IO 1IA 1IE 1IU 1IC 1OA 1OE 1OU 1OC 1AE 1AU 1AC 1EU 1EC 1UC IOA IOE IOU IOC IAE IAU IAC IEU IEC IUC OAE OAU OAC OEU OEC OUC AEU AEC AUC EUC
Four note groupings: 35
1IOA 1IOE 1IOU 1IOC 1IAE 1IAU 1IAC 1IEU 1IEC 1IUC 1OAE 1OAU 1OAC 1OEU 1OEC 1OUC 1AEU 1AEC 1AUC 1EUC IOAE IOAU IOAC IOEU IOEC IOUC IAEU IAEC IAUC IEUC OAEU OAEC OAUC OEUC AEUC
Five note groupings: 21
1IOAE 1IOAU 1IOAC 1IOEU 1IOEC 1IOUC 1IAEU 1IAEC 1IAUC 1IEUC 1OAEU 1OAEC 1OAUC 1OEUC 1AEUC IOAEU IOAEC IOAUC IOEUC IAEUC OAEUC
Six note groupings: 7
1IOAEU
1IOAEC
1IOAUC
1IOEUC
1IAEUC
1OAEUC
IOAEUC
Seven note groupings: 1
1IOAEUC
Enumeration of all possible note groupings for 32nd notes.
Quornokol for one 32nd note = 1 I O E A U Y C
Two hundred and fifty-five individual note groupings found in 32nd notes subdivision.
One note groupings: 8
1, I, O, E, A, U, Y, C
Two note groupings: 28
1I 1O 1E 1A 1U 1Y 1C IO IE IA IU IY IC OE OA OU OY OC EA EU EY EC AU AY AC UY UC YC
Three note groupings: 56
1IO 1IE 1IA 1IU 1IY 1IC 1OE 1OA 1OU 1OY 1OC 1EA 1EU 1EY 1EC 1AU 1AY 1AC 1UY 1UC 1YC IOE IOA IOU IOY IOC IEA IEU IEY IEC IAU IAY IAC IUY IUC IYC OEA OEU OEY OEC OAU OAY OAC OUY OUC OYC EAU EAY EAC EUY EUC EYC AUY AUC AYC UYC
Four note groupings: 70
1IOE 1IOA 1IOU 1IOY 1IOC 1IEA 1IEU 1IEY 1IEC 1IAU 1IAY 1IAC 1IUY 1IUC 1IYC 1OEA 1OEU 1OEY 1OEC 1OAU 1OAY 1OAC 1OUY 1OUC 1OYC 1EAU 1EAY 1EAC 1EUY 1EUC 1EYC 1AUY 1AUC 1AYC 1UYC IOEA IOEU IOEY IOEC IOAU IOAY IOAC IOUY IOUC IOYC IEAU IEAY IEAC IEUY IEUC IEYC IAUY IAUC IAYC IUYC OEAU OEAY OEAC OEUY OEUC OEYC OAUY OAUC OAYC OUYC EAUY EAUC EAYC EUYC AUYC
Five note groupings: 56
1IOEA 1IOEU 1IOEY 1IOEC 1IOAU 1IOAY 1IOAC 1IOUY 1IOUC 1IOYC 1IEAU 1IEAY 1IEAC 1IEUY 1IEUC 1IEYC 1IAUY 1IAUC 1IAYC 1IUYC 1OEAU 1OEAY 1OEAC 1OEUY 1OEUC 1OEYC 1OAUY 1OAUC 1OAYC 1OUYC 1EAUY 1EAUC 1EAYC 1EUYC 1AUYC IOEAU IOEAY IOEAC IOEUY IOEUC IOEYC IOAUY IOAUC IOAYC IOUYC IEAUY IEAUC IEAYC IEUYC IAUYC OEAUY OEAUC OEAYC OEUYC OAUYC EAUYC
Six note groupings: 28
1IOEAU 1IOEAY 1IOEAC 1IOEUY 1IOEUC 1IOEYC 1IOAUY 1IOAUC 1IOAYC 1IOUYC 1IEAUY 1IEAUC 1IEAYC 1IEUYC 1IAUYC 1OEAUY 1OEAUC 1OEAYC 1OEUYC 1OAUYC 1EAUYC IOEAUY IOEAUC IOEAYC IOEUYC IOAUYC IEAUYC OEAUYC
Seven note groupings: 8
1IOEAUY 1IOEAUC 1IOEAYC 1IOEUYC 1IOAUYC 1IEAUYC 1OEAUYC IOEAUYC
Eight note groupings: 1
1IOEAUYC
Enumeration of all possible note groupings for 36th notes.
Quornokol for one 36th note = 1 I O E A U Y C T
Five hundred and eleven individual note groupings found in 36th notes subdivision.
One note groupings: 9
1 , I , O , E , A , U , Y , C , T
Two note groupings: 36
1I 1O 1E 1A 1U 1Y 1C 1T IO IE IA IU IY IC IT OE OA OU OY OC OT EA EU EY EC ET AU AY AC AT UY UC UT YC YT CT
Three note groupings: 84
1IO 1IE 1IA 1IU 1IY 1IC 1IT 1OE 1OA 1OU 1OY 1OC 1OT 1EA 1EU 1EY 1EC 1ET 1AU 1AY 1AC 1AT 1UY 1UC 1UT 1YC 1YT 1CT IOE IOA IOU IOY IOC IOT IEA IEU IEY IEC IET IAU IAY IAC IAT IUY IUC IUT IYC IYT ICT OEA OEU OEY OEC OET OAU OAY OAC OAT OUY OUC OUT OYC OYT OCT EAU EAY EAC EAT EUY EUC EUT EYC EYT ECT AUY AUC AUT AYC AYT ACT UYC UYT UCT YCT
Four note groupings: 126
1 I O E
1 I O A
1 I O U
1 I O Y
1 I O C
1 I O T
1 I E A
1 I E U
1 I E Y
1 I E C
1 I E T
1 I A U
1 I A Y
1 I A C
1 I A T
1 I U Y
1 I U C
1 I U T
1 I Y C
1 I Y T
1 I C T
1 O E A
1 O E U
1 O E Y
1 O E C
1 O E T
1 O A U
1 O A Y
1 O A C
1 O A T
1 O U Y
1 O U C
1 O U T
1 O Y C
1 O Y T
1 O C T
1 E A U
1 E A Y
1 E A C
1 E A T
1 E U Y
1 E U C
1 E U T
1 E Y C
1 E Y T
1 E C T
1 A U Y
1 A U C
1 A U T
1 A Y C
1 A Y T
1 A C T
1 U Y C
1 U Y T
1 U C T
1 Y C T
I O E A
I O E U
I O E Y
I O E C
I O E T
I O A U
I O A Y
I O A C
I O A T
I O U Y
I O U C
I O U T
I O Y C
I O Y T
I O C T
I E A U
I E A Y
I E A C
I E A T
I E U Y
I E U C
I E U T
I E Y C
I E Y T
I E C T
I A U Y
I A U C
I A U T
I A Y C
I A Y T
I A C T
I U Y C
I U Y T
I U C T
I Y C T
O E A U
O E A Y
O E A C
O E A T
O E U Y
O E U C
O E U T
O E Y C
O E Y T
O E C T
O A U Y
O A U C
O A U T
O A Y C
O A Y T
O A C T
O U Y C
O U Y T
O U C T
O Y C T
E A U Y
E A U C
E A U T
E A Y C
E A Y T
E A C T
E U Y C
E U Y T
E U C T
E Y C T
A U Y C
A U Y T
A U C T
A Y C T
U Y C T
Five note groupings: 126
1 I O E A
1 I O E U
1 I O E Y
1 I O E C
1 I O E T
1 I E A U
1 I E A Y
1 I E A C
1 I E A T
1 I E U Y
1 I E U C
1 I E U T
1 I E Y C
1 I E Y T
1 I E C T
1 I A U Y
1 I A U C
1 I A U T
1 I A Y C
1 I A Y T
1 I A C T
1 I U Y C
1 I U Y T
1 I U C T
1 I Y C T
1 I O A U
1 I O A Y
1 I O A C
1 I O A T
1 I O U Y
1 I O U C
1 I O U T
1 I O Y C
1 I O Y T
1 I O C T
1 O E A U
1 O E A Y
1 O E A C
1 O E A T
1 O E U Y
1 O E U C
1 O E U T
1 O E Y C
1 O E Y T
1 O E C T
1 O A U Y
1 O A U C
1 O A U T
1 O A Y C
1 O A Y T
1 O A C T
1 O U Y C
1 O U Y T
1 O U C T
1 O Y C T
1 E A U Y
1 E A U C
1 E A U T
1 E A Y C
1 E Y T
1 E A C T
1 E U Y C
1 E U Y T
1 E U C T
1 E Y C T
1 A U Y C
1 A U Y T
1 A U C T
1 A Y C T
1 U Y C T
I O E A U
I O E A Y
I O E A C
I O E A T
I O E U Y
I O E U C
I O E U T
I O E Y C
I O E Y T
I O E C T
I O A U Y
I O A U C
I O A U T
I O A Y C
I O A Y T
I O A C T
I O U Y C
I O U Y T
I O U C T
I O Y C T
I E A U Y
I E A U C
I E A U T
I E A Y C
I E A Y T
I E A C T
I E U Y C
I E U Y T
I E U C T
I E Y C T
I A U Y C
I A U Y T
I A U C T
I A Y C T
I U Y C T
O E A U Y
O E A U C
O E A U T
O E A Y C
O E A Y T
O E A C T
O E U Y C
O E U Y T
O E U C T
O E Y C T
O A U Y C
O A U Y T
O A U C T
O A Y C T
O U Y C T
E A U Y C
E A U Y T
E A U C T
E A Y C T
E U Y C T
A U Y C T
Six note groupings: 84
1 I O E A U 1 I O E A Y 1 I O E A C 1 I O E A T
1 I O E U Y 1 I O E U C 1 I O E U T 1 I O E Y C 1 I O E Y T 1 I O E C T 1 I O A U Y 1 I O A U C 1 I O A U T 1 I O A Y C 1 I O A Y T 1 I O A C T 1 I O U Y C 1 I O U Y T 1 I O U C T 1 I O Y C T
1 I E A U Y 1 I E A U C 1 I E A U T 1 I E A Y C 1 I E A Y T 1 I E A C T 1 I E U Y C 1 I E U Y T 1 I E U C T 1 I E Y C T 1 I A U Y C 1 I A U Y T 1 I A U C T 1 I A Y C T 1 I U Y C T 1 O E A U Y 1 O E A U C 1 O E A U T 1 O E A Y C 1 O E A Y T
1 O E A C T 1 O E U Y C 1 O E U Y T 1 O E U C T 1 O E Y C T 1 O A U Y C 1 O A U Y T 1 O A U C T 1 O A Y C T 1 O U Y C T 1 E A U Y C 1 E A U Y T 1 E A U C T 1 E A Y C T 1 E U Y C T 1 A U Y C T I O E A U Y I O E A U C I O E A U T I O E A Y C
I O E A Y T I O E A C T I O E U Y C I O E U Y T I O E U C T I O E Y C T I O A U Y C I O A U Y T I O A U C T I O A Y C T I O U Y C T I E A U Y C I E A U Y T I E A U C T I E A Y C T I E U Y C T I A U Y C T O E A U Y C O E A U Y T O E A U C T
O E A Y C T O E U Y C T O A U Y C T E A U Y C T
Seven note groupings: 36
1 I O E A U Y 1 I O E A U C 1 I O E A U T 1 I O E A Y C 1 I O E A Y T 1 I O E A C T
1 I O E U Y C 1 I O E U Y T 1 I O E U C T 1 I O E Y C T 1 I O A U Y C 1 I O A U Y T
1 I O A U C T 1 I O A Y C T 1 I O U Y C T 1 I E A U Y C 1 I E A U Y T 1 I E A U C T
1 I E A Y C T 1 I E U Y C T 1 I A U Y C T 1 O E A U Y C 1 O E A U Y T 1 O E A U C T
1 O E A Y C T 1 O E U Y C T 1 O A U Y C T 1 E A U Y C T 1 O E A U Y C
1 I O E A U Y T I O E A U C T I O E A Y C T I O E U Y C T I O A U Y C T
I E A U Y C T O E A U Y C T
Eight note groupings: 9
1 I O E A U Y C 1 I O E A U Y T 1 I O E A U C T 1 I O E A Y C T 1 I O E U Y C T
1 I O A U Y C T 1 I E A U Y C T 1 O E A U Y C T I O E A U Y C T
Nine note groupings: 1 1 I O E A U Y C T
Appendix B: The grouping organisation of Konnokol for subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes within the Quornokol instrument as they pertain to piano 3.
Alternate groupings for 8th notes (one bar = 8 notes, two bars = 16 notes, three bars = 24 notes)
Groups of 1 = one bar = 11111111
Groups of 2 = one bar = 2 2 2 2
Groups of 3 = one bar = 3 3 2
Groups of 4 = one bar = 4 4
Groups of 5 = two bars = 5 5 5 1
Groups of 6 = two bars = 6 6 4
Groups of 7 = two bars = 7 7 2
Groups of 8 = two bars = 8 8
Groups of 9 = three bars = 9 9 6 (please note this is the only instance where 3 bars were needed to create repetition of a specific group)
Alternate groupings for 12th notes (one bar = 12 notes, two bars = 24 notes)
Groups of 1 = one bar = 111111111111
Groups of 2 = one bar = 2 2 2 2 2 2
Groups of 3 = one bar = 3 3 3 3
Groups of 4 = one bar = 4 4 4
Groups of 5 = two bars = 5 5 5 5 4
Groups of 6 = two bars = 6 6 6 6
Groups of 7 = two bars = 7 7 7 3
Groups of 8 = two bars = 8 8 8
Groups of 9 = two bars = 9 9 6
Alternate groupings for 16th notes (one bar = 16 notes, two bars = 32 notes)
Groups of 1 = one bar = 1111111111111111
Groups of 2 = one bar = 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Groups of 3 = one bar = 3 3 3 3 3 1
Groups of 4 = one bar = 4 4 4 4
Groups of 5 = two bars = 5 5 5 5 5 5 2
Groups of 6 = two bars = 6 6 6 6 6 2
Groups of 7 = two bars = 7 7 7 7 4
Groups of 8 = two bars = 8 8 8 8
Groups of 9 = two bars = 9 9 9 5
Alternate groupings for 20th notes (one bar = 20 notes, two bars = 40 notes)
Groups of 1 = one bar = 11111111111111111111
Groups of 2 = one bar = 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Groups of 3 = one bar =3 3 3 3 3 3 2
Groups of 4 = one bar = 4 4 4 4 4
Groups of 5 = one bar = 5 5 5 5
Groups of 6 = two bars = 6 6 6 6 6 6 4
Groups of 7 = two bars = 7 7 7 7 7 5
Groups of 8 = two bars = 8 8 8 8 8
Groups of 9 = two bars = 9 9 9 9 3
Alternate groupings for 24th notes (one bar = 24 notes)
Groups of 1 = one bar = 1111111111111111111111111
Groups of 2 = one bar = 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Groups of 3 = one bar = 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Groups of 4 = one bar = 4 4 4 4 4 4
Groups of 5 = one bar = 5 5 5 5 4
Groups of 6 = one bar = 6 6 6 6
Groups of 7 = one bar = 7 7 7 3
Groups of 8 = one bar = 8 8 8
Groups of 9 = one bar = 9 9 6
Alternate groupings for 28th notes (one bar = 28 notes)
Groups of 1 = one bar = 1111111111111111111111111111
Groups of 2 = one bar = 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Groups of 3 = one bar = 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1
Groups of 4 = one bar = 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Groups of 5 = one bar = 5 5 5 5 5 3
Groups of 6 = one bar = 6 6 6 6 4
Groups of 7 = one bar = 7 7 7 7
Groups of 8 = one bar = 8 8 8 4
Groups of 9 = one bar = 9 9 9 1
Alternate groupings for 32nd notes (one bar = 32 notes)
Groups of 1 = one bar = 11111111111111111111111111111111
Groups of 2 = one bar = 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Groups of 3 = one bar = 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2
Groups of 4 = one bar = 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Groups of 5 = one bar = 5 5 5 5 5 5 2
Groups of 6 = one bar = 6 6 6 6 6 2
Groups of 7 = one bar = 7 7 7 7 4
Groups of 8 = one bar = 8 8 8 8
Groups of 9 = one bar = 9 9 9 5
Alternate groupings for 36th notes (one bar = 36 notes)
Groups of 1 = one bar = 111111111111111111111111111111111111
Groups of 2 = one bar = 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Groups of 3 = one bar = 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Groups of 4 = one bar = 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Groups of 5 = one bar = 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1
Groups of 6 = one bar = 6 6 6 6 6 6
Groups of 7 = one bar = 7 7 7 7 7 1
Groups of 8 = one bar = 8 8 8 8 4
Groups of 9 = one bar = 9 9 9 9
Appendix C: Three central issues addressed in this study and the interview with John Riley[65].
There are three topics within this study which I broached in my interview with John Riley at Box Hill Institute on the 26th of August 2016. These related to how subdivisions are named, the existence and roles of Western musical rhythmic languages and the cataloguing of all the source codes within subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes.
When questioned whether a unified, integrated and systematic protocol existed in the West in order to name subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes and beyond. Riley replied in the negative.
This corroborated my research that such a protocol does not currently exist, and is the reason for which I advocate that the numeric convention existing to name some subdivisions in the Western world taken from the American system, be adopted as a cohesive and integrated protocol to name all subdivisions, in teaching and pedagogical institutions, as well as in the public domain.
Currently the subdivisions where this numeric protocol has been engaged are 8th, 16th and 32nd notes. What I call 12th and 24th notes are usually referred to as ‘eighth note triplets’ and ‘sixteenth note triplets’. This convention stems from firstly viewing 12th notes as 8th notes, (which in itself is peculiar since they are not mathematical equivalents) and on that basis adding the logic that where there were 2 eight notes, we now have 3, and therefore 12th notes become related to eight notes as triplets. Similarly, with 24th notes, they are viewed as 16th notes, and on that basis, the logic is added that where there were 4 sixteenth notes, we now have 6.
Clearly to divide a quarter note by 2 or 3 are two entirely unrelated mathematical propositions with different outcomes, therefore, I could never reconcile the logic of wanting to associate 12th note triplets, with an entirely different subdivision based on a different mathematical division. The same applies to viewing 24th notes as somehow being a derivative of 16th notes, they too are entirely different subdivisions created via entirely different mathematical calculations.
I find it confounding that the logic which has been used to create and name 8th, 16th and 32nd notes, has been bypassed for subdivisions where the quarter note pulse has been divided into three or multiples thereof, and does not exist at all for subdivisions created by dividing the quarter note pulse by five or seven.
Fives and seven’s (which I refer to as the 20th and 28th note subdivisions respectively) are usually referred to and named, not based on a specific musical terminology that relates to subdivisions, but the general noun utilized in the English language to describe groups of things or objects, based on the word ‘tuplets’, in which case a group of five is referred to as ‘quintuplets’ (meaning a group of five) and a group of seven is referred to as ‘septuplets’ (meaning a group of seven), in each case this is not a music specific term. Sometime, 24th notes are also referred to as sextuplets (a group of six) rather than sixteenth note triplets.
Generally, when referring to subdivisions in a musical context, the subdivisions in question used on a daily basis by musicians throughout the world, and which have been documented in musical scores utilizing Western notation for the last fifteen hundred years, relate to a division of a ‘quarter’ note pulse. Though it is possible to subdivide any musical pulse, such as 8th notes, this endeavour would represent a more conceptual undertaking which does not tend to function or represent a general practical occurrence in today’s contemporary music. Even when considering compound time signatures such as 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8 the reference to the beat is based on a quarter note pulse 2 in 6/8, 3 in 9/8 and 4 in 12/8, in terms of sound there is absolutely no difference between one bar of triplets in 4/4 time and one measure of 12/8 time.
The subdivisions created by numerically dividing the quarter note pulse by 2, then 3, then 4, then 5, then 6, then 7, then 8, ad infinitum, which has been referred to as the ‘rhythmic scale’ are infinite in nature. The logic used in order to name a subdivision, for instance the subdivision created when a quarter note pulse is divided by the number 4, is to ascertain how many notes would occur based on that division in a bar of 4/4 time. Since dividing a quarter note pulse by the number 4, results in four notes or pulses, multiplying that total by four, since there are four quarter notes in a bar of 4/4 time, will result in a total of 16, thereby becoming the basis to name the subdivision as “16th notes”.
Why has this systematic protocol not been utilized in relationship to all subdivisions, when it is the most accurately descriptive, pragmatic and logical? Currently in the West, there exists a jumble of three conventions in order to name seven of the of the most utilized working subdivisions within global musical traditions.
We have an English system, which uses dedicated terms for three of these seven subdivisions, such as quavers, semi quavers and demi semi quavers, we have an American system which uses the protocol I am advocating for 8th, 16th and 32nd notes, plus terms like eighth note triplets and sixteenth note triplets, while for 20th or 28th notes, some descriptive nouns based on the word ‘tuplet’ are used.
For naming subdivisions, the numeric system based on the division of the quarter note pulse in a bar of 4/4 time is not only the most accurately descriptive, but also the most pragmatic because it will also function for all subsequent subdivisions beyond 32nd notes, should a musical work utilise those subdivisions. Currently, subdivisions beyond 32nd notes are used so extremely rarely in contemporary music, that no name has been suggested, created or assigned to them whatsoever. Utilising the numeric basis for naming subdivisions would solve that problem, as all subdivisions beyond 32nd notes would simply be given their numeric equivalent representing how the subdivision has been created. Going down the rhythmic scale beyond 32nd notes this would be: 36th, 40th, 44th, 48th, 52nd notes ad infinitum.
The second issue and topic relates to research based on examining whether an integrated systematic rhythmic language or counting system for subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes exists in the West? What are the current tools at hand? Since no cohesive and integrated naming system for subdivisions has been implemented to date, and musical language represents a much more sophisticated development than merely naming subdivisions, one would more than likely surmise that such a counting system or language also does not exists. When I questioned John Riley if he was aware of such an integrated rhythmic counting language or system, he also responded in the negative.
Since I had used the two counting protocols from ‘the basic counting method’ as the basis to create the Quornokol language which enabled me to catalogue all the source codes, and I had not been able to uncover conclusive evidence as to where or by whom the basic counting method had been developed, I asked Riley if he was aware of its origins?
However, he too was unaware, he suggested that maybe these protocols originated or were linked to the military marching drumming traditions of both France and Switzerland, possibly dating back all the way to the eighteenth or nineteenth century. Though any developing Western musical tradition based on American soil would undeniably have its roots in Europe, the fact that the protocol for counting 16th notes is written as: 1 E A U, and that phonetically the A symbol is sounded as ‘and’ leads me to conclude and believe that the basic method originates in an English speaking country, which France and Switzerland are not.
Therefore, I tend to think this system originates somewhere in the United States and is linked to its marching snare drum and drum kit drumming pedagogical traditions, but I have no evidence to support this.
Suggesting to Riley that since no holistic integrated and systematic rhythmic language existed for subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes in the West, I asked him how he counted subdivisions beyond 16th notes? He enumerated some phrases made of the same approximate number of syllables as the number of notes in one quarter note pulse for a particular subdivision.
For example, for 20th notes or a group of five, he suggested “hi-ppo-po-ta-mus” and for 28th notes he suggested “I-like-Da-vid-Let-ter-man”. These are perfectly good working examples, and in my own drumming education in order to learn rudiments relative to either five or seven stroke rolls, I was given similar phrases by my teacher, such as “lis-ten-to-the-five” and “lis-ten-to-the-se-ven-stroke”, though ideally one would not use a two syllables word, to represent one stroke or pulse, such as the words ‘li-ke, ‘fi-ve’ or ‘se-ven’. Resorting to this kind of device or concept, one could also just use the phonetic equivalent of numeric representations for a group or subdivision, such as counting: 123456 for 24th notes, or 12345678 for 32nd notes, and 123456789 for 36th notes, however this is not optimal. Numbers are already being used to count and keep track of the quarter note pulse within time signatures, to add numbers to count the subdivisions within musical works which use time signatures becomes unruly and confusing. Also, generally numbers being associated with mathematics as a conceptual science, tend toward a ‘left brain’ activity, whereas music being an intuitive creative process, tends towards a ‘right brain’ activity, and therefore counting with numbers is not supportive to the ‘feeling’ dimension inherent in musical practice.
These kind of counting devices do not embody a cohesive integrated system representative symbolically of each of the eight subdivisions considered, nor do they function as a cohesive and integrated counting system or rhythmic language; and as a vehicle to realise the ambition to catalogue all source codes within these subdivisions, they are utterly dysfunctional.
This is the reason I was led to innovate the Quornokol language in order to cohesively and systematically enable the eight subdivisions in the study to be represented symbolically, to function fully and holistically as a rhythmic counting language for pedagogical purposes, and enable the research to take place relative to cataloguing all the source codes within the eight subdivisions under investigations.
As I stated previously in this thesis:
“My research and experience over decades lead me to conclude that as yet this specific exercise to define all source codes in the subdivisions considered, has not yet been rigorously explored by previous researchers”, I therefore questioned John Riley about this issue.
Was he aware of any documentation in the body of the literature, or of individuals who had recorded and documented the source codes in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes?
He responded by saying that there were records of the cataloguing of the source codes in the literature and by individuals relative to 8th, 12th and 16th notes, but that he was unaware of any individual who had undertaken this ambition and published the results, or that texts existed in the body of the literature, where subdivisions beyond 16th notes, such as those in this study (20th, 24th, 28th, 32nd and 36th notes) had been researched catalogued and published.
It is therefore my hope that the undertaking of creating an integrated language for the relevant subdivisions within this study, on the basis of which the cataloguing all the source codes was accomplished, and subsequently the Quornokol pedagogical instrument was innovated, will make a substantial contribution to the body of knowledge, which in time will become a recognised pedagogical system disseminated within institutions for higher learning, music schools and within the primary and secondary school education system.
Appendix D: Further reflections based on Quornokol’s relationship to minimalism.
The evolution of musical movements, traditions and form is a story as complex as the evolution of mankind. To uncover in specific detail, the historical context of the evolution of a musical movement such as minimalism, could take up a whole person’s lifetime. Sometimes historically we find specific individuals whose contribution to an art form is that of a giant walking amongst men. If we examine two great schools or movements which took form as an evolutionary development within the western classical musical tradition of the 20th century, that of the avant-garde[66] and experimental music[67], we find John Cage as a primary catalectic force stamping these two movements with his unique legacy.
Having been an instrumentalist for 35 years, while listening to music seriously for four decades, my experience affords me some expertise in this field. In effect, over these last four decades, minimalism has impacted deeply on my musical life both consciously and unconsciously, and it has now through my own musical evolution mysteriously become a central focus of my musical process and consideration, as part of the research, pedagogy and creative outcomes that are at the heart of my Master’s thesis. These are:
The development of the Quornokol pedagogical instrument,
The Quornokol musical works,
The Quornokol score and the elaborations of that score into eight minimalist original musical works.
As such through the investigation undertaken in my Master’s thesis, as a composer involved in research led practice, and practice based research, I have become more aware of minimalism’s historical context. More poignantly, I have intuitively and interpretively interacted with minimalism, developing my own definition based on my experience through the engagement of creative practice.
Therefore, I suggest that the definition of minimalism at its most reductionist is based on singularity. As a compositional structure that singularity could be expressive of just one instrument like the piano in the Quornokol instrument. However, that singularity could also be expressive of prolific multiplicity, such as a thousand different voices all singing the same note.
This singularity can be expressive of many different aspects, devices, aesthetics, both performative and compositional, encompassing any issue that relates to any aspect of music.
What then defines minimalism, is a singular aesthetic context, as a consequence of which the listener is deeply drawn into the music, as sound and subjective experience. In order to achieve this, within the composition all sources of potential distraction from that one singularity must be removed or diminished.
In which case the music may seem unadorned, unembellished; these may be qualities that a mainstream audience equates to be un-emotive, not an aesthetic representative of the beautiful, however this is not the case.
It may be true that minimalism requires more from the listener, more attention, patience and a commitment to discover something which at first glance may not be strikingly apparent.
Indian classical music in many of its aspects and forms does represent a minimalist aesthetic, and for a variety of reasons it may feel inaccessible to a Western ear, even a musically trained one. Within its performative form, just the alap[68] introduction may be thirty minutes in length, resulting in just one performative piece lasting up to and over an hour, it therefore requires focus and concentration, it requires a commitment on the part of the listener.
Classical Indian music is based harmonically on one fundamental tonic, or key centre played by a resonating drone, upon which usually a single instrument or voice will paint a melody based on a raga, generally accompanied by one percussion instrument.
It makes use of extensive improvisation over a very specific form, a form which will move progressively towards a potentially climactic resolution, exploring minute details whether harmonic or rhythmic along the way, all structured to take the recipient deep within. There is no chordal harmony, no extensive instrumentation or orchestra, no layering of many diverse sonic textures to distract one’s focus, it is deeply introspective.
Maybe for all these reasons, like experimental music it asks something of the listener and like experimental or minimalist music therefore, may not attract a large audience in a Western context. However, three celebrated minimalist composers were students of classical Indian music, La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Jon Hassell, while Philip Glass was influenced by Indian music through the study of transcribed film scores in Western notation composed by Ravi Shankar [69].
I fell in love with Indian classical music in my mid-teens, which may have been instrumental along with my love of jazz and jazz fusion music (inclusive of the ECM catalogue[70]), to engender receptivity to minimalist composers such as Brian Eno and Jon Hassell, even though I associated Eno with ambient music, and Hassell with jazz world fusion.
Minimalist music is generally conceived of having originated and developed in the 1960’s, in the dawn of its evolution the digital technology taken for granted today was not in existence. Even though the minimalist music movement experimented widely with electronics, the composing tools now at our disposal, such as sequencers and audio recording software for the computer did not exist. Composers have always made use of the piano keyboard in order to score their compositional works and presumably many minimalist composers made use of the piano in order to develop and write their pieces.
This brings us to the issue of scoring, these days using music software to compose music, enables not only the composition to be written but usually recorded in the same instance.
This was not the case in the 60’s, in order to even hear one's work beyond the internal vision any composer may have had for a given piece, one had to write a score, and give it to the relevant musicians to play in order to hear the work; whereas I can go to my studio and write, record and produce not only a score, but a full recording of even an elaborate orchestral piece in just one day. Minimalist composers probably took into account the musicians at their disposal when writing the work. The musician’s skill, training, technical and aesthetics qualities as an instrumentalist may have impacted on the composer’s compositional direction and aesthetic choices within a given work. The financial consideration relative to hiring musicians to perform the work may have been a strong factor when considering the number of instruments in a given piece. The composer may have chosen to write works for smaller ensembles foreseen to be realistically achievable in performative terms in the not too distant future.
Only as composer like Steve Reich, John Adams and Phillip Glass became more established were they able to write works based on bigger budgets. In this current time if a more unknown composer writes an orchestral work which he does not have the budget to fund, though he may desire or hope for that work to be performed by real musicians in some future time, at least he can create a very realistic recorded representation of the work, on the basis of which he is able to make refinements based on successive listenings.
Therefore, at that time it was a big undertaking to write and print a score, find the appropriate musicians and have them play the music. This circumstance probably created strong collaborative bonds among a wide community of artists who depended on each other, which may be a contributing factor to the prolific creativity of the era. As such, the works of this period tended towards performance, and due to the nature of experimental music, other forms for scoring were explored apart from our traditional Western notation system.
Possibly, this is the reason which led many composers to allow more interpretive autonomy to the musicians who performed their compositions.
This seems to be one fundamental characteristic difference between the composers of the avant-garde and the experimental composers, this issue of control.
The avant-garde composers such as Stockhausen[71], went to great lengths so that the very precise compositional vision they had for any given work would be accurately interpreted and represented by the musicians performing the work. Whereas the experimental composers, seemed to inject the release of control into some of their works. They embraced ignorance as part of the creative process, welcoming spontaneity and surprise by allowing more random factors and elements, whether in the environment, the technology involved, or the interpretive dimension of the musicians performing their music. In some cases, even the audience might become part of the actual compositional structure itself. This chance factor in music is something that John Cage explored extensively in his own work[72] (Nyman, 1999).
Sometimes this expanded and spontaneous potential was based on very clear instructions and parameters within the score, while in other instances complete autonomy was granted. Not just in an improvisational sense, having given a specific form over which to improvise, but even the form itself could be left to the musician to generate. This orientation within the experimental compositional aesthetic is indicative of the composer seeing him or herself as a part of a greater whole in the compositional process, in that sense the composer is as much a recipient of his own work as an audience which has gone to hear the work for the first time.
In my thesis, the Quornokol instrument written for three pianos, has two functions:
The first pedagogical in nature, where each of the eight subdivisions under investigations can be studied for the purposes of internalising rhythmic phrasing and enhancing one’s rhythmic repertoire and capability; the three pianos are therefore assigned specific places within the stereo image and accompanied by a click track,
The second, compositional in nature, functions as a creative work in eight movements underpinned by a minimalist aesthetic, in which the recordings do not include a click track, have very different spatial representations for each piano and make use of tempo shifts within each movement.
There are many characteristics that give Quornokol as a composition its minimalistic qualities or overall aesthetic, for instance, the singularity of which I was speaking earlier in relation to the instrumentation, the use of piano only; the use of only one subdivision for each movement, only using one scale and key centre for each movement and making use of extensive repetition based on predefined numeric rhythmic structures for both rhythmic modalities East and West, represented in the composition.
Quornokol realised as a composition written for three pianos is expressive of a minimalistic aesthetic, but as a score it is just the starting point from which countless compositional elaborations can be made. The creative portfolio of compositional creative works I have written precisely illustrates this very point.
The resulting individual works highlight the directions I chose, through which to elaborate on the eight movements of the Quornokol score.
The Quornokol score as a master key or blueprint functions within a minimalistic aesthetic which allows reinterpretation by other composers or performers. In this case the relinquishment of my control as the composer is extensive, in essence I have created three interrelated but specifically different rhythmic parts, one represented by each of the three pianos in the score.
Keeping these three rhythmic parts separate is the only requirement I would impose in the reinterpretation of the score, in order to retain some of the works original identity, though in the final analysis, this too could be relinquished. While keeping each part separate however, the way the bars are arranged, whether each part is duplicated as a whole or in sections only, whether different harmonic structures are imposed, different instrumentation, whether the tempo is radically changed or not, and whether each part is duplicated numerous time for different instruments is all left to interpretation by the performer or composer. In that sense the work is utterly open-ended, and once reinterpreted any given movement from the original piano score would most likely become unrecognizable, having been transformed on so many levels. Relinquishing control over the work, I welcome all the creative multiplicity that could be generated from this singular score.
Appendix E: Links to associated media content.
If reading a hard copy please refer to USB drive provided.
If reading an electronic PDF version, please control click the links below to access media.
The Quornokol playlists of MP3 audio files:
The Quornokol Pedagogical Piano Works 8th to 36th Notes.
The Quornokol Minimalist Piano Works in Eight Movements.
The Master's Compositional Portfolio of Original Works based on The Quornokol Score.
The Quornokol MP4 video presentation files:
Video presentation of: Quornokol a pedagogical instrument and musical work.
Video presentation of: Quornokol as a pedagogical work ‘how it functions’.
Video presentation of the Roland Handsonic Percussion Pad:
Video Presentation of the Roland Handsonic Percussion Pad
and how it functions.
Glossary of terms:
Alternate Groupings: ‘Alternate groupings’ is a term I have created to describe the process common to the Carnatic tradition and some Western stylistic genres of rhythmic phrasing, where groups other than the one inherent to a particular subdivision are utilised to phrase rhythmically. For example, 16th notes are traditionally grouped in groups of fours, one bar in 4/4 time equals 4+4+4+4 however one could create ‘alternate phrasing’ by grouping these 16th notes as follows: 5+3+5+3 or again 4+3+4+5 or 6+7+3. Using what I call alternate phrasing can be used as a compositional tool, to create metric modulation, create the illusion the tempo is speeding up or slowing down or to create tension and release, it could be used to create what is called ‘a calculation’ by some Carnatic musicians, where an ensemble of drummers and harmonic players play a phrase in rhythmic unison, usually to resolve a cycle of improvisation, the list goes on and on. As I have described previously, this kind of rhythmic phrasing is second nature to Carnatic
musicians, but in the last decade there has been an upward trend of growing awareness and utilization of alternate phrasing amongst Western musicians.
Ambient: Ambient is the name Brian Eno gave to the record label he launched in 1977. He did so with the intention of releasing certain musical works, the aesthetic musical style of which also became known as ‘Ambient’. The term Ambient now is widely used to describe music that is more atmospheric, relaxing, gentle, largely electronic instrumental music with no persistent beat, used to create or enhance a mood or atmosphere.
Avant-Garde: The avant-garde (from French, "advance guard" or "vanguard", literally "fore-guard") are people or works that are experimental, radical, or unorthodox, with respect to art, culture, and society. It may be characterized by nontraditional, aesthetic innovation and initial unacceptability, and it may offer a critique of the relationship between producer and consumer. The avant-garde pushes the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm. Many artists have aligned themselves with the avant-garde movement and still continue to do so. Avant-garde music is considered to be at the forefront of experimentation or innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elements, and the idea of deliberately challenging or alienating audiences.
Basic Method: The Basic counting system is the most universally accepted approach. Its origins are unclear, it is taught in relation to contemporary music and the drum set. It is easily learnt; however, it does not cover all subdivisions. Varied interpretations across the world have led to a disjointed approach and a non-universal methodology.
Carnatic Music: Term used when referring to the Classical music tradition of South India.
Chance Music: Chance music or aleatory music from the Latin ‘dice’, is music where some element within the music’s structure, or the composition or performance includes random musical outcomes. Though intentioned, these outcomes will in general not have been predicted by the composer or performer utilising various devices, be they technological or humanly scripted.
Classical Music: Irrespective of its cultural context, classical music is a music which has evolved over a long period within a culture and therefore has evolved as a serious music following long established principles. Some classical traditions are thousands of years old, such as the Vedic classical tradition underpinning the more modern classical traditions of Indian music.
Composition: The act of combining parts or elements to form a whole, in this instance as it relates to music.
Eastman system: The Eastman counting system was developed at the Eastman School of Music in 1950s. It is a systematic method for counting rhythms.
Euler mathematical formula: Named after Leonhard Euler, is a mathematical formula in complex analysis that establishes the fundamental relationship between the trigonometric functions and the complex exponential function.
Experimental Music: Experimental music is a compositional practice defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities and a movement radically opposed to and questioning of institutionalized musical compositional, performing, and aesthetic conventions (Sun, 2013). The practice became prominent in the mid-20th century, particularly in North America, John Cage is one of the genres most distinguished and celebrated innovators and pioneers.
Gamelan: is the traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali in Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones played by mallets and a set of hand-played drums called kendhang which register the beat.
Other instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, a bowed instrument called a rebab, and even vocalists called sindhen.
Improvisation: The art or act of improvising, or of composing, uttering, executing, or arranging anything without previous preparation: Musical improvisation requires imagination and creativity.
Jazz: Music originating in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century characterized by a sense of swing and syncopation, and subsequently developing through increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvised virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.
Kodaly Method: The Kodaly Method, also referred to as the Kodaly Concept, is an approach to music education developed in Hungary during the mid-twentieth century by Zoltan Kodaly.
His philosophy of education served as inspiration for the method, which was then developed over a number of years by his associates.
Konnokol: Term used to define the vocal percussion of South India within its Carnatic Classical Music Tradition. The term “Solkattu” is also used, though it refers to the pedagogical dimension of the language, while konnokol tends to refer to its mastery as a performative medium. It also can function as a pedagogical tool to learn south India’s three major hand drums: The Mridangam, Ghatam and Kanjira.
Metric Time or Time Signatures: Metric time is when the oscillation of pulses are given a defined way of being organized for musical purposes, such as in metric time signatures. In the time signature of 4/4 there are four pulses organized in each bar, and each of these is assigned a quarter of the time value of the ‘whole’ time available in the bar. That whole varies in length of time according to how fast the pulse or tempo has been deemed or set to travel at.
Minimalism: In music, minimalism is a movement that began in the early 1960’s spearheaded by American composers such as La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. The movement encompassed a compositional orientation towards minimalism relating to the structures, arrangements and instrumentation utilised within the compositional aesthetic which defined the movement. Minimalist music often features repetition, harmonic stasis, gradual process, steady beat, static instrumentation, meta music, pure tuning and an audible structure (Gann, Potter, Siôn, p3-6, 2013). Leonard Meyer described minimal music in 1994: “Because there is little sense of goal-directed motion, minimal music does not seem to move from one place to another. Within any musical segment there may be some sense of direction, but frequently the segments fail to lead to or imply one another. They simply follow one another”.
Multimedia or Mixedmedia: Many of the experimental performances taking place in the 60’s could be described as ‘multimedia happenings’. Since much of experimental music’s repertoire originated within an artistic community made up not only of musicians but visual artists, choreographers and dancers, while yet some of these artists may have been involved in multiple disciples, such as singer, instrumentalist, composer, choreographer and dancer Meredith Monk; a wide range of elements from various disciplines might be incorporated into a performance. The resulting work thereby possibly including many medias, such as music, slide projections, graphic art, film, video, dance, electronic installations and light shows.
Musical Language: In order to sing or count rhythm or pitch, different musical languages have been developed by various cultures. Some of these languages such as “South Indian konnokol” have become art forms unto themselves with a very specific musical aesthetic.
Narrative: A narrative or story is any report of connected events, real or imaginary, presented in a sequence of written or spoken words, and/or still or moving images. In music ‘the narrative’ can be communicated through various musical devices apart from a sung lyric telling a story. The colours, or emotions that music engenders in a listener can be said to form the basis of a narrative, though more symbolic or based on the recipient’s imagination, the narrative can be as powerful in a musical work, as the spoken or written word, or still or moving images.
Opera: Opera is a form of storytelling which combines various art form such as music, singing, drama, poetry, and sometimes dance. In a Western context opera is generally identified with a classical aesthetic mode of singing, both technical and stylistic, sometimes recitative (spoken) or in aria form (melodic) which originated in Florence Italy in the sixteen century. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes. Because of opera’s narratively driven function, performances that involve music, theatre and singing from other cultures can also be referred to as opera.
Phrasing: The grouping of the notes of a musical line into distinct phrases. The capacity or knowledge of how to arrange subdivisions and their relative note groupings, to create musical phrases. Similarly, to how one would use words to create sentences.
Post-minimalism: By the 1980s, the momentum of the original minimalist movement was starting to slow down, especially in the more experimental reductionist and austere forms within which the movement originally began. A whole new generation of young composers was emerging, though they may not have demonstrated a great interest in continuing the very specific narrative of the minimalist movement, they however had been greatly influenced by it. Therefore, the subsequent period in following decades, and the composing style that emerged during this time has been referred to as ‘post-minimalism’.
Progressive Metal: A subgenre of metal music incorporating elements from progressive rock. The earliest bands to fuse these two genres together were Dream Theater, Watchtower, Psychotic Waltz, Tool and Fates Warning. (Although some argue King Crimson were ahead of their time doing this with their rendition of 21st Century Schizoid Man.) Keyboards/synthesizers, and other instruments not often seen in the metal genre are more commonly used in progressive metal. Progressive metal acts tend to have very long song lengths with plenty of complex instrumental sections which give the musicians multiple opportunities to improvise. Odd-time signatures are also commonly implemented and musical virtuosity is part of the aesthetic in this genre. This approach has led to the instrumental progressive metal’ becoming a sub-genre within the progressive metal movement.
Pulse: Pulse in music refers to a timed oscillation that is repeated at exact intervals. Therefore, a pulse creates the impression of a constant repetitive rhythm that is not speeding up or slowing down. In music the speed of the oscillation of the pulse is called the ‘tempo’, and different musical movements can be created over pulses oscillating at different tempos.
Quornokol: The pedagogical instrument that represents the unification of both the rhythmic phrasing methodology of the Carnatic tradition and the source codes developed through my original rhythmic language and experiences. Requiring a title, it made sense to me that this instrument itself should also be named from synthesizing my nickname with the second half of the word konnokol, producing the name “Quornokol”.
Raga: A raga or raag (literally "color, hue" but also "beauty, melody"); is one of the melodic modes used in traditional South Asian music genres such as Indian classical music and qawwali. A raga uses a series of five to nine musical notes upon which a melody is constructed, often with different patterns both sequential and harmonic when ascending and descending the raga. However, the way the notes are approached and rendered in musical phrases and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons. Indian classical music is always set in a raga.
Rhythmic: In the performance arts rhythm is the timing of events on a human scale; of musical sounds and silences, of the steps of a dance, or the meter of spoken language and poetry. Rhythm may also refer to visual presentation, as timed movement through space and a common language of pattern unites rhythm with geometry. In recent years, rhythm and meter have become an important area of research among music scholars.
Rhythmic Phrasing: The primal form of any musical work using pulse is rhythmic in nature. The most harmonically complex melodic work exists as a rhythmic structure whether simple or complex, prior to the inclusion of its tonality. Therefore, rhythmic phrasing is the first stamp that charactarises any musical work using pulse. I advocate that an in depth study of rhythmic phrasing is crucial for any aspiring musician whether they play a harmonic or non-harmonic (percussion) instrument.
Rhythmic Scale: Usually when we think of musical scales we think of a series of pitches organised in a pattern that one can ascend and descend. The same is true of the rhythmic scale, however instead of pitches subdivisions are used. The rhythmic practitioner can sing, play or count going up and down the subdivisions just as a singer would use a scale made up of a specific pattern of pitches.
Sequencer Software: An electro-mechanical system or computer software for controlling a sequence of events automatically, in this instance, sound events.
Source Codes: ‘Source codes’ is the term I employ and created to describe all the possible rhythmic note groupings in subdivisions from 8ths to 36ths that this research has yielded. The pool of the source codes within subdivisions is empirical, finite and absolutely definable, it cannot be diminished or expanded, and it is mathematically objective and definable. The source codes represent all the ways one can extract groups of notes within a given subdivision relative to the numbers of notes in a group (Please note the order of the symbols representing the notes within each subdivision is immutable and cannot be changed, the order remaining constant is crucial to cataloguing the source codes in order to utilize them for musical and pedagogical purposes). For example, relative to 16th notes 1 E A U. utilizing these four symbol grouped in this specific order yields 15 different possible configurations. Four groups of individual notes, six groups of 2 notes, four groups of 3 notes and one group of 4 notes. Taking the groups of 3 notes for example gives us the following configurations: 1EA, 1EU, 1AU, EAU, these groupings are 4 of the 15 possible note groupings existing within 16th notes. I termed the note groupings from subdivisions ’source codes’ since in their entirety, they represent all the available rhythmic configurations within any given subdivision.
Subdivisions: The musical subdivisions of the quarter note pulse have also been referred to as The Rhythmic Scale. Once a bar of music has been divided into quarter notes, four even pulses of equal length, they can be further divided, in theory infinitely. However, the progression would be as follows 8ths= 2 notes per quarter note pulse, 12ths= 3 notes per quarter note pulse, 16ths= 4 notes per quarter note pulse, 20ths= 5 notes per quarter note pulse, 24ths= 6 notes per quarter note pulse, 28ths= 7 notes per quarter note pulse, 32nd= 8 notes per quarter note pulse, 36ths= 9 notes per quarter note pulse, and so forth.
Syncopation: A musical device aimed at shifting or creating a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music, caused typically by emphasising the weaker beats in a musical phrase. Rag Time music is one of the first Western music genres to make extensive use of syncopation in the 20th century. In 4/4 time not stressing the quarter note pulse in a rhythmic phrase, or omitting quarter notes all together while utilizing other subdivisions will create syncopation which can also be referred to as “off beat”. Syncopation is one of the strong rhythmic characteristics utilised in many forms of jazz music, such as be-bop, big band and free jazz and is demonstrated as a rhythm or a passage of music that is syncopated.
The Takadimi System: This is a system devised by Richard Hoffman, William Pelto, and John W. White in 1996 in order to teach rhythm skills. It is based on the use of specific syllables at certain places within a beat. Takadimi is used in classrooms from elementary level up through the collegiate level, and in the US meets the National Content Standard 5 by teaching both the reading and notating of music.
Tempo: In music the speed of the oscillation of the pulse is called the ‘tempo’. Different musical movements can be created through pulses oscillating at different speeds or tempos.
Tonality: The sum of melodic or harmonic relations existing between the tones of a scale or musical system. The sum of relations of a particular scale or system of tones; a key.
World Music: World music is a descriptive term relating to stylistic genres of music emanating from traditional cultures all around the world. It can refer to musical traditions in their pure culture forms, or hybrids of various traditional styles intermixed. It can also relate to music which has incorporated aesthetics from one tradition and amalgamated or used it in a different context. For example, recordings of traditional Carnatic musicians are considered world music, but taking the vocal and percussive parts from those recording and amalgamating them within an electronic dance context could also be considered as world music.
[1] ‘Source codes’ is the term I employ and created to describe all the possible rhythmic note groupings in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes that this study’s research has yielded.
[2] Rhythmic phrasing is the primal form, language and structure that any musical work making use of pulse utilizes as a communicative means. Even the most harmonically complex melodic work, exists as a rhythmic structure whether simple or complex prior to the inclusion or consideration of its tonality. Therefore, rhythmic phrasing is the first stamp that charactarises any musical work using pulse. I advocate that an in depth study of rhythmic phrasing is crucial for any aspiring musician whether they play a harmonic or non-harmonic (percussion) instrument.
[3] Konnokol is a rhythmic performative language utilised in the Carnatic classical music tradition of South India. It also functions as a pedagogical tool to learn South India’s three major hand drums: the mridangam, ghatam and kanjira.
4 Syncopation is a musical device aiming at shifting or creating a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music, caused typically by emphasising the weaker beats in a musical phrase. Rag Time music is one of the first Western music genres to make extensive use of syncopation in the 20th century. In 4/4 time not stressing the quarter note pulse in a rhythmic phrase, or omitting quarter notes all together while utilizing other subdivisions will create syncopation which can also be referred to as “off beat”. Syncopation is one of the strong rhythmic characteristic utilised in many forms of jazz music, such as be-bop, big band and Trad jazz.
[5] Jazz is a music genre originating in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century with the integration of African based music and European harmony and form. It is characterized by a sense of swing and syncopation, and subsequently developed through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.
[6] Subdivisions of the quarter note pulse are utilised by music traditions from all cultures globally to create rhythmic phrasing.
[7] In order to sing or count rhythm or pitch, different musical languages have been developed by various cultures. Some of these languages such as South Indian konnokol have become art forms unto themselves with a very specific musical aesthetic.
[8] In music, minimalism is a movement that began in the early 1960’s spearheaded by American composers such as La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. The movement encompassed a compositional orientation towards minimalism relating to the structures, arrangements and instrumentation utilised within the compositional aesthetic which defined the movement. Minimalist music often features repetition, harmonic stasis, gradual process, steady beat, static instrumentation, meta music, pure tuning and an audible structure (Gann, Potter, Siôn, p3-6, 2013).
[9] Lisa Young is well known to World and Jazz Music listeners as a creative vocal stylist and improviser, incorporating Indian and African elements in her work. A longtime student of maestro Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani in Chennai, India, Lisa specializes in konnokol – South Indian vocal percussion. She has studied South Indian music since 1994, both in Australia and in India. In 2010 she received the Monash-Pratt Post Graduate Award for her PhD Music Performance candidature at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. (From www.lisayoungmusic.com)
[10] Subdivisions in the West generally refer to divisions of the quarter note pulse, which are infinite. A quarter note is simply a whole note that has been divided into four equal parts. If we take one of these quarter notes, we may further divide it by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 ad infinitum. The resulting number of notes will always be equal to the number we used to make the division, if 2 we get 2, 3 we get 3 etc. The term ‘subdivisions’ refer to the amount of notes resulting when we divide four quarter notes in a bar of 4/4 time, if we divide four quarter notes by two, we will get 4 x 2 equaling 8, therefore resulting in the 8th note subdivision. The same process applies when dividing a quarter note by 4, resulting in the 16th note subdivision, ad infinitum.
[11] Pulse in music refers to an oscillation that is repeated at exact intervals of time apart from one another. Therefore, a pulse creates the impression of a constant repetitive rhythm that is not speeding up or slowing down. In music the speed at which the pulse oscillates is called the ‘tempo’. Different musical movements can be created over pulses oscillating at different speeds or tempos. Metric time occurs when the pulses are given a defined way of being organized for musical purposes, such as in metric time signatures. In the time signature of 4/4 there are four pulses organized in each bar, and each of these is assigned a quarter of the time value of the ‘whole’ time available in the bar. That whole varies in length of time according to how fast the pulse or the ‘tempo’ has been deemed or set to travel at.
[12] There are generally two protocols utilized in order to name subdivisions in the English speaking world. The first derived from the UK, the second from the United States. In the UK specific names are given to each subdivision, such as quavers, semi quavers and demi semi quavers. While in the United States the numbers equaling the amount of notes in any subdivision in a bar of 4/4 time are utilized for three subdivisions. Therefore, since there are sixteen semi quavers in a bar of 4/4, according to the protocol from the US they are simply called 16th notes. I chose to use this system for its numeric efficiency and simple pragmatic representation. Thus the subdivisions from which the source codes have been extracted starting with quavers are: 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 24th, 28th, 32nd and 36th notes. However, even in the United States 12th notes tend to simply be called triplets, or eighth note triplets rather than using the numerical equivalent. Please refer to appendix C for further elaboration about how subdivisions are named and my proposal for a more systematic approach.
[13] Usually when we think of musical scales we think of a series of pitches organized in a pattern that one can ascend and descend. The same is true of the rhythmic scale, but instead of pitches, subdivisions are used, the rhythmic practitioner can sing, play or count going up and down the subdivisions, just as a singer would sing up and down a specific scale made up of a pattern of pitches.
[14] For example, with 20th notes the konnokol language is Ta Ti Ke Ta Tom, therefore having the syllable Ta repeated twice is not conducive to the cataloguing or extraction of all the note groupings within that subdivision. Though konnokol did not function effectively to catalogue the source codes within the relevant subdivisions, as a rhythmic language to sing, it is much more lyrical and aesthetically pleasing than Quornokol. It rolls off the tongue in a way that my language does not in aesthetic terms. However, I did not develop Quornokol for aesthetic musical purposes (though it can be sung). I developed it primarily in order to name, catalogue and facilitate counting all the source codes in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes. A secondary ambition was to create a unified, holistic language for the 8 subdivisions in question in order to address the apparent gap in the pedagogical literature, since in my research to date, I have not come across any kind of integrated language or Western counting system. Please refer to appendix C for further discussion about this issue.
[15] Pronounced: “one, oh, and, ee, uh”. In the Quornokol language, the first note irrespective of the subdivision, is always represented by a number while all the other notes are represented by letters. The grouping above represents counting with Quornokol in the subdivision of 20th notes in the time signature of 1/4. In time signatures which contain more than one quarter note pulse such as 3/4 or 4/4 time, in the Quornokol language the first note in any group representing any subdivision, sounds coincident with the quarter note pulse and is always represented by a number. Therefore, in a time signature containing more than one quarter note such as 3/4, with each subsequent quarter note the number moves up sequentially, in 3/4, 20th notes would be written and counted thus: 1OAEU 2OAEU 3OAEU. While counting, this enables the practitioner to keep track precisely of which quarter note pulse in the bar is being addressed. It differs from the konnokol language of the Carnatic tradition which does not use numbers within its language making use of syllables only, therefore in its system, in order to keep track of which beat is being addresses in a time signature or cycle, a pattern of hand claps and waves are used by members within an ensemble, to demonstrate precisely where the practitioner is in any given moment within the time cycle.
[16] The source codes represent all the ways one can extract groups of notes within a given subdivision relative to the numbers of notes in a group (Please note the order of the symbols representing the notes within each subdivision is immutable and cannot be changed, the order remaining constant is crucial to cataloguing the source codes in order to utilize them for musical and pedagogical purposes). For example, relative to 16th notes 1 E A U utilizing these four symbol grouped in this specific order yields 15 different possible configurations. Four groups of individual notes, six groups of 2 notes, four groups of 3 notes and one group of 4 notes. Taking the groups of 3 notes for example gives us the following configurations: 1EA, 1EU, 1AU, EAU, these groupings are 4 of the 15 possible note groupings existing within 16th notes. I termed the note groupings from subdivisions ’source codes’ since in their entirety, they represent all the available rhythmic configurations within any given subdivision.
[17] The Euler mathematical formula is a formula that can be utilized to work out all possible combinations existing of ordering symbols or things (like books on a shelf for example) from a predefined number. For instance, if one has four different books on a shelf, there are 24 possible patterns or orders that these books can be arranged in. Similarly, with 16th notes, there are 15 possible specific groupings that can be extracted from four 16th notes that make up one quarter note. Therefore, as this applies to this study, once I had created the language with its associated symbols for each subdivision, the Euler mathematical formulae could be employed to establish exactly how many groupings or ‘source codes’ existed for each subdivision, and what they were. For a complete enumeration of all source codes contained in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes, please refer to appendix A.
[18] This was corroborated with New York based educator, clinician and jazz drummer John Riley in my interview with him, which took place at Box Hill Institute on the 26th of August 2016. For further elaboration on three central issues pertaining to this study considered in this interview, the naming of subdivisions, musical language based on the Basic counting method and the cataloguing of all source codes in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes, please refer to appendix C.
John Riley is a globally recognized educator, clinician and jazz drummer who received a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz education from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music in jazz studies from Manhattan School of Music. He has been featured on approximately 100 LP's, collaborating with artist such as Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Milt Jackson, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, John Scofield, Quincy Jones, Bob Mintzer, Gary Peacock, Mike Stern, Joe Lovano, Franck Amsallem, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, John Patitucci, and Bob Berg. John Riley has published three tutorial drumming books and one tutorial DVD released through Alfred Publishing, he has also been featured on ten DVD releases with a variety of jazz artists. John Riley is on the faculty of The Manhattan School of Music, the State University of New York, and is an Artist in Residence at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Holland.
[19]This is just one possible interpretation of how konnokol could be transcribed to a written language, interpreted to add up to certain numbers in a group, and also be sounded. For example, the group of 7 above is made up of 3 + 4, however it could be made up of 2 + 2 + 3 in which case it would be written Ta Ka Ta Ka Ta Ki Ta. There are also equivalent phrases where notes are left out to create syncopation. The rest or gap may be represented by a coma or full stop. In addition, the language of another grouping could be interchanged, enabling a composition or varying subdivisions to be sung using just the syllables of one particular group.
For example 6 could be written Ta Ti . Ke Ta Tom, 7 could be written Ta . Ti . Ke Ta Tom and
9 written as Ta . Ti . Ke . Ta . Tom
Structuring konnokol in this way creates a compositional aesthetic which also streamlines the sound of the composition, it also makes it simple to remember. In the case above the syllables for a grouping of 5 have been utilized to represent either groups of 6, 7 and 9 or subdivisions of 24th, 28th and 36th notes.
[20] The tradition of French solfege as: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do, and how it is used as a language to internalise pitch as it relates to melody through the use of scales can be emulated in the same way for rhythmic internalisation practice. The language I have written for each subdivision serves exactly that same purpose in a rhythmic context, therefore it is useful to make this correlation and think of the source codes in terms of rhythmic solfege.
[21] Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991), better known as Miles Davis was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, together with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, post-bop and jazz fusion.
[22] From a documentary on Miles Davis called ‘Miles Ahead: The Music of Miles Davis’ by Don Cheadle released in late 1986 which I saw in 1988. Some of the things Miles Davis said in that film have stayed with me all these years, since they had such an impact on me relative to what I was considering about music at the time.
[23] A point needs to be made here about the orientation I have adopted for two decades now, relative to being an educator and what my pedagogical ambitions leading to, and inclusive of this study represent all together. In order to play music, and specifically within certain stylistic genres or traditions, two things are required: 1) the mechanical facility to output what the style or tradition requires technically on ones chosen instrument, 2) the intuition, and emotive capacity to represent the tradition or stylistic genre from the ‘feeling dimension’. A brilliant technical musician, who does not emote through his or her playing will most likely not move an audience, where as an emotive musician not so technically accomplished can have a profound effect on an audience. The emotive quality in music can be transmitted to a student through their teacher, or other musicians steeped in their respective tradition. In musical and spiritual traditions this is called ‘transmission’. I am a strong advocate of this point of view, however in my function as an educator, what concerned me was to create the pedagogical means to enable students to develop a profound mechanical facility on their instrument, in order to be receptive to the transmitive sources of their chosen traditions or style of music. My pedagogical methodology encompasses a profound but general transmission relative to the feeling dimension as it relates to pulse in any tradition or stylistic music genre. I wanted to create processes that would cast a huge net on rhythmic traditions, by going to ‘the source’ from which they originate, and lead the student there in the shortest possible time frame. This is the vision and legacy I would pass on to my students, and therefore the motivation for this study.
[24] This mathematical orientation to rhythmic composition is also used in Western jazz, and fusion genres. As well as in progressive and alternative metal and rock genres, for example world famous progressive rock band ‘Tool’ write a lot of their music just using numbers.
[25] Progressive metal is a subgenre of ‘metal music’ incorporating elements from progressive rock. The earliest bands to fuse these two genres together were Dream Theater, Watchtower, Psychotic Waltz, Tool and Fates Warning. (Although some argue King Crimson were ahead of their time doing this with 21st Century Schizoid Man.) Keyboards/synths, and other instruments not seen as often in the metal genre are more commonly used in progressive metal. It's common for progressive metal acts to have very long song lengths with plenty of complex instrumental sections giving the musicians a lot of room to improvise. Odd-time signatures are also commonly employed and musical virtuosity is part of the aesthetic in this genre, which has led to ‘instrumental progressive metal’ becoming a sub- genre within the progressive metal movement.
[26] Though the term polyrhythm simply means ‘many rhythms’, in practical applications and therefore in its true definition it relates to complex rhythms superimposed on one another such as 5 over 4, or 7 over 3 or 9 over 5. In Western music the most common polyrhythm utilised would be 6 over 4 or 3 over 2, even in Western drumset playing as it relates to what has been called ‘independence or inter-dependence’ the occurrence of such complex rhythms does not often occur, even within jazz or jazz fusion genres. Of course there are always exceptions, drummers such as Elvin Jones wrote pieces based on polyrhythmic exploration, for the past decade Virgil Donati has written many works which feature polyrhythms both in his accompaniment and the composition itself, Horacio Hernandez makes use of polyrhythms in his Afro Cuban music style playing clavés with his left foot and complex Latin rhythms over the top. However, generally speaking though polyrhythms do occur in most musical traditions, they occur much less as a vehicle of phrasing rhythmically, then the first three examples already enumerated above.
[27] ‘Alternate groupings’ is a term I have created to describe the process common to the Carnatic tradition and some Western stylistic genres of rhythmic phrasing, where groups other than the one inherent to a particular subdivision are utilized to phrase rhythmically. For example, 16th notes are traditionally grouped in groups of fours, one bar in 4/4 time equals 4+4+4+4 however one could create ‘alternate phrasing’ by grouping these 16th notes as follows: 5+3+5+3 or again 4+3+4+5 or 6+7+3. Using what I call alternate phrasing can be used as a compositional tool, to create metric modulation, to create tension and release or create the illusion the tempo is speeding up or slowing down. It could be used to create what is called ‘a calculation’ by some Carnatic musicians, where an ensemble of drummers and harmonic players play a phrase in rhythmic unison, usually to resolve a cycle of improvisation. As I have described previously, this kind of rhythmic phrasing is second nature to Carnatic musicians, though not so common in the West. In the last two decades there has been an upward trend of growing awareness and utilisation of alternate phrasing amongst Western musicians.
[28] As well as examples of the Quornokol instrument with all three pianos with the panning assignment described above; In order to demonstrate some of the features conceived for Quornokol as an application for mobile devices, the media files also include mono recordings in each subdivision of the bass part or piano 1 playing with both the konnokol part or piano 2 and the Quornokol part or piano 3 separately. In all examples a click track has be included.
[29] A scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch in a sequential manner. Scales are often built on interval formulas.
[30] To move away from the tonic or root note in any key or scale creates musical tension, therefore that tension is released when one moves back to the tonic of the key or scale. This is especially relevant to the chords that are built on the varying degrees or notes of the scale, moving back to the’1’ chord built on the tonic of the scale will release all the tension created in a passage of music.
[31] The root or tonic note is the foundation tone or pitch that a scale is built from, it is the source from which the scale emanates through its interval structure.
[32] An octave is a musical interval with the distance of: 12 half steps in the chromatic scale. 7 or 8 notes in the diatonic scale. Two notes spaced one octave apart sound similar, despite one being higher in pitch. This is because the higher note’s frequency (its pattern of sound waves) is double the speed of the lower note, but that pattern is the same for both notes.
[33] In music the ninth refers to a note that is the 2nd note in the scale after the root or tonic but played an octave above.
[34] The C major scale consists of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. C major is one of the most common key signatures used in western music. The white keys of the piano from C to C correspond to the C major scale.
[35] The C minor scale used in the Quornokol instrument incorporates the flat third and the flat seven degrees of the scale. This selection of notes is also known as the ‘Dorian mode’.
[36] Ableton Live is a software music sequencer and digital audio workstation for OS X and Windows computer platforms.
[37] MIDI is short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors that allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another.
[38] An electromechanical system or computer software for controlling a sequence of events automatically. In this instance it could also be viewed as an electronic ‘Pianola’ that controls sound through midi.
[39] Please refer to appendix E for a link to a video which demonstrates in detail the displaced relationship of how the cycles operate in pianos 1, 2 and 3 in relationship to one another. Refer to appendix F for a full notated transcription of the Quornokol pedagogical instrument in subdivisions from 8th to 36th notes.
[40] It is also worthy to note that at a medium tempo, it takes one hour to go through one cycle of the source codes in the 36th notes subdivision. Therefore, in the application for mobile devices the pedagogical tool would enable one to specifically select the source codes one is interested in internalising in order to focus in on specific source codes for study purposes. This would be especially relevant for the 28th note, 32nd note and 36th notes subdivisions.
[41] Based on the claps and waves associated with the rhythmic konnokol tradition of South India, I have developed a series of what I would describe as ‘clavés’ to use in conjunction with subdivisions from 12th to 36th notes in order to reference more than just the quarter note pulse within those subdivisions.
[42] Thalum refers to the rhythmic cycles of time or time signatures used in the Carnatic tradition of South India.
[43] Henry Dixon Cowell (1897 – 1965) was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario.
[44] Colin McPhee (1900 – 1964) was a Canadian composer and musicologist. He is primarily known for being the first Western composer to make an ethno musicological study of Bali, and for the quality of that work. His work therefore his significant in introducing the gamelan orchestral sound of Indonesia to the Western world, with the subsequent influence this would have on minimalist composers such as Steve Reich.
[45] Dennis Johnson born in Los Angeles in 1938 was one of Young’s college friends at UCLA; they met in 1957 when Young heard him practicing Webern’s Variations for piano. Along with their friend Terry Jennings, Young and Johnson were the original minimalists, composing austerely slow and static music years before Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Johnson’s four hour long piano composition ‘November’ which he wrote in 1958 was re-recorded in July 2012 and released in March 2013.
[46] John Milton Cage (1912 – 1992) was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher, and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electro acoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century.
[47] Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for numerous film scores, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's film The Piano. He has written six concerti, four string quartets, and many other chamber works, many for his Michael Nyman Band. He is also a performing pianist. Nyman prefers to write opera rather than other forms of music. He is the author of the book ‘Experimental Music: Cage and beyond’.
[48] Charles "Charlie" Parker, Jr. (1920 – 1955), also known as Yardbird and Bird, was an American jazz sax player and composer. Parker was a highly influential jazz soloist and a leading figure in the development of bebop, credited by some to have pioneered the style. Parker was a blazingly fast virtuoso, and he introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. His tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber.
[49] Many of the experimental performances taking place in the 60’s could be described as ‘multimedia happenings’. Since much of experimental music’s repertoire originated within an artistic community made up not only of musicians but visual artists, choreographers and dancers. Some of these artists may have been involved in multiple disciples, such as singer, instrumentalist, composer, choreographer and dancer Meredith Monk; therefore, a wide range of elements from various disciplines might be incorporated into a performance. The resulting works therefore may include various medias, such as music, slide projections, graphic art, film, video, dance, electronic installations and light shows.
[50] At the end of the first semester in 2016, a progress report presentation was required to be given to the Masters teaching faculty at Box Hill Institute. My presentation included audio examples and written score examples of the Quornokol pedagogical instrument. After examining the score and hearing the audio examples, Dr Warren Burt explained: “this is minimalism”. Being an expert in the field of experimental music, his comment not only acted as a validation of Quornokol as a compositional work, but inspired my further research into the subject; on the basis of which I changed my entire direction and approach to the creative compositional elaboration of the Quornokol piano works.
[51] Leonard B. Meyer (1918-2007) was a composer, author, and philosopher. He contributed major works in the fields of aesthetic theory in music, and compositional analysis.
[52] Usually a four stringed instrument with a neck and resonating gourd utilised in Indian classical music to create a drone, expressive of the tonic note in the raga being explored by the instrumentalist. The resonating drone and tonal centre is created by plucking each string in turn sequentially. The core and central tonality of the raga is created through the harmonic resonance of all four string combined, there are many ways of tuning a tambura to achieve this central tonality, with different tuning accentuating different musical resonating colours within the drone.
[53] All three composers work was influenced by their study of classical Indian music, as a minimalist composer La Monte Young is well known for his extensive use of drones, a primary element in all Indian classical musical forms, while as well as Indian music and the avant-garde, Terry Riley cites the jazz chamber music groups of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus and Bill Evans as bearing a strong influence on his compositional work. Steve Reich studied gamelan in Seattle in the early 70s, on the basis of which in 1974 he wrote a more elaborate work for a larger ensemble ‘Music for 18 Musicians’.
[54] Nixon in China is an opera in three acts by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972. The work premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987, in a production by Peter Sellars with choreography by Mark Morris.
[55] Eno himself created the ‘ambient’ label, as a term after which he named his record company launched in 1978 with the release of his LP ‘Ambient 1. Music for Airports’.
[56] ‘Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics’ is an album by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno. It was recorded at Celestial Sounds in New York City and released in 1980 by Editions EG. Fourth world music became a synonym for world music after Eno and Hassell released this album and conceptualised a definition for the music expressed through this album as ‘fourth world’.
[57] My conception for the score functioning as a blueprint for other composers or performers to engage creative work, is that they would get in touch with me and based on our discussions, I would send them a copy of the score with suggestions about the best parameters within which to work to reinterpret the score within the creative context and outcomes they are hoping to achieve. Having gone through this entire process myself as part of the creative compositional elaboration within this thesis, I have a detailed understanding of which parameters within the score are conducive to change, even extreme change, and which parameters are best kept intact.
[58] ‘Drumming’ is a piece by minimalist composer Steve Reich, dating from 1970–1971. Reich began composing the work after a short visit to Ghana Africa and observing music and musical ensembles there, especially undertaking studies with master drummer Gideon Alorwoyie.
[59] I first heard segments of operas written by Philip Glass and John Adams at Box Hill Institute in late 2015. I was exposed to these composers work as part of a three-hour lecture prior to having realised the importance minimalism as a musical movement would have as a topic within my Master’s thesis. Therefore, not only did I not engaged in any analysis of the works, but my listening was more superficial, since they were being presented in a contemporary performative context, and I was more concerned with their visual representation.
[60] The Kirana Gharana (school) is one of the most prolific Hindustani North Indian schools and is concerned foremost with the perfect intonation of notes (swara). As it relates to singing, the central concern of the Kirana style relates to individual notes, in particular precise tuning and expression of notes. In the Kirana Gayaki, the individual notes of the raga are considered not just random points in the scale but independent realms of music capable of horizontal expansion. Highly emotional intonations in the higher octaves form a part of the musical experience. Another unique feature of this gharana is the highly intricate and ornate use of the sargam taan (weaving patterns with the notations themselves) introduced by Abdul Karim Khan influenced by the South Indian Carnatic classical style.
[61] Please refer to the links section in Appendix E for a video demonstration of the Roland Handsonic percussion pad and how it functions.
[62] Gideon Alorwoyie is a professor of music, principal dancer/choreographer and Director of the UNT African Percussion Ensemble. He joined the College of Music faculty in 1996. He is the High priest of the Yewe Cult. Alorwoyie is from Anlo-Afiadenyigba in the Volta Region of Ghana West Africa and is highly regarded as one of Ghana's foremost virtuosos of traditional music and dance.
[63] Phase shifting, in which two identical phrases would be played at the same time but at slightly different tempos so as to go out of phase with each other, (Gann, Potter, Siôn, 2013).
[64] Though generally thought of as a subdivision of the quarter note pulse, I am of the view that this 6 over 4 polyrhythm is arrived at through the subdivision vehicle of triplets or 12th notes, by playing every 2nd note starting on or off the beat and not by an actual division of quarter note pulses, which is the means through which all other subdivisions are created. This is further reinforced by the fact that in my experience most musicians only think of the quarter note triplet as starting on a quarter note pulse, whereas this polyrhythm can also be played starting from the second note of the 12th note grouping and will create exactly the same effect of the 6 over 4 polyrhythm, this is transcribed above. Therefore, in my view what is traditionally called the quarter note triplet subdivision is actually a polyrhythm based on the triplet subdivision and not an actual subdivision in and of itself. This is why all the possible source codes that could be generated from this polyrhythm were not included in this study, though they are still a very worthwhile area of study and will be covered as part of a research process in the future dealing specifically with polyrhythms. Within the Carnatic tradition this polyrhythm is used as the basis to create some wonderful grooves and used to modulate metrically.
[65] John Riley is a globally recognized educator, clinician and jazz drummer who received a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz education from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music in jazz studies from Manhattan School of Music. He has been featured on approximately 100 LP's, collaborating with artist such as Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Milt Jackson, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, John Scofield, Quincy Jones, Bob Mintzer, Gary Peacock, Mike Stern, Joe Lovano, Franck Amsallem, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, John Patitucci, and Bob Berg. John Riley has published three tutorial drumming books and one tutorial DVD released through Alfred Publishing, he has also been featured on ten DVD releases with a variety of jazz artists. John Riley is on the faculty of The Manhattan School of Music, the State University of New York, and is an Artist in Residence at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Holland.
[66] The avant-garde (from French, "advance guard" or "vanguard", literally "fore-guard") are people or works that are experimental, radical, or unorthodox, with respect to art, culture, and society. It may be characterized by nontraditional, aesthetic innovation and initial unacceptability, and it may offer a critique of the relationship between producer and consumer. The avant-garde pushes the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm. Many artists have aligned themselves with the avant-garde movement and still continue to do so, Avant-garde music is considered to be at the forefront of experimentation or innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elements, and the idea of deliberately challenging or alienating audiences.
[67] Experimental music is a compositional practice defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities and movement radically opposed to and questioning of institutionalised musical compositional, performing, and aesthetic conventions. The practice became prominent in the mid-20th century, particularly in North America. John Cage was one of the earliest composers to use the term and one of experimental music's primary innovators, utilizing indeterminacy techniques and seeking unknown outcomes.
[68] The alap is the opening section of a typical North Indian classical or Druphad performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops a raga, setting the mood in relationship to the audience. In dhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised within the raga and unaccompanied except for the tambura drone.
[69] La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Jon Hassell were all students of Pandit Pran Nath (1918 – 1996) who was a Hindustani classical singer and teacher of the Kirana Gharana or school. La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Jon Hassell all travelled together to India to study with Pandit Pran Nath in the late 60’s. In 1970 Pandit Pran Nath came to New York City where he spent the rest of his life. He established his music school there, La Monte Young subsequently became the executor of his estate while Terry Riley joined the Mills College faculty in 1971 to teach Indian classical music. Pandit Ravi Shankar (1920-2012) was a Indian musician and a composer of Hindustani classical music and film music. He was one of the best-known exponents of the sitar in the second half of the 20th century and influenced many other musicians throughout the world including the Beatles and George Harrison.
[70] ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres.
[71] Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 –2007) was a German composer, acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundbreaking work in electronic music, aleatory (controlled chance) in serial composition, and musical specialization.
[72] In his book ‘Experimental Music: Cage and beyond’ Michael Nyman quotes John Cage as saying “experimental composers have involved a vast number of processes to bring about ‘acts the outcome of which are unknown’.