Verse:Hmøøh/Talma/Music

The Talman just intonation tunings and scales are due to Praimhín.

Talman music is the longest continuous tradition of just intonation music in Tricin, and Bjeheondian music, and other Trician JI traditions such as Fyxoomian music have Talman influences. Intervals are viewed as rational frequency ratios or approximations thereof, which have not only factors of 2, 3 and 5, but also 7, 11, 13 and higher primes which may not be well-represented in Western European music. In contrast, modern Talman music may use various non-just intonation scales, inspired by other Trician musical traditions.

Talmans traditionally preferred smaller ensembles; larger orchestras are a Classical and Romantic development.

Todo

Need Talman rituals, holidays and festivals

Standardization

The Trician scientific unit for musical intervals is the vri (named after the acoustician Yðŋi Vri), the interval given by the frequency ratio exp(1/1728):1 ≈ 1.00187155617 cents. So it's in practice very similar in size to cents.

Some simple intervals in vri:

• 2/1 (octave) ≈ 1197.75832801 vri
• 3/2 (just perfect fifth) ≈ 700.643706813 vri
• 4/3 (just perfect fourth) ≈ 497.114621198 vri
• 5/4 (just major third) ≈ 385.592056672 vri
• 6/5 (just minor third) ≈ 315.051650141 vri
• 7/4 (harmonic seventh) ≈ 967.016081555 vri
• 11/8 ≈ 550.288047374 vri
• 13/8 ≈ 838.957505673 vri
• 81/80 (syntonic comma) ≈ 21.4661145576 vri

Standard pitch: G = 392.43834795 Hz (standard middle C * 9/8 = 1 / (1/5040^2 of 1 Trician day); 380 Hz is used as "baroque pitch"

History

Some conjectured reasons that JI and other high-dimensional tunings have been a mainstay in Talman music for so long are:

• No equal temperament of size less than ~ 41 supported all of the features that Talman composers desired.
• Fixed pitch instruments were disfavored partly because of vegetarianism disallowing the use of animal glue.

Origins

The earliest recorded Talman musical tradition was based on throat-singing. Primes higher than 5 came from a tradition of throat singing where, according to contemporary sources, having a deep voice and the ability to throat-sing higher harmonics clearly was seen as a mark of masculinity.

Early Gweats court music

The earliest surviving Gweats court music continues the early tradition of overtone scales based on one fundamental. The scales were based on overtones 5-10, overtones 6-12 or overtones 7-14, depending on the status of the client. But the scales had other notes added (such as 21/16) to allow more interesting melodies. Rhythmic devices such as syncopation and polyrhythms were also used.

Classical Gweats music

Imperial Windermere composer Tsăhongtamdi's treatise Elements of Harmony (CWdm: Yămyămał clisăyfäl) describes just intonation ratios and the process of playing them on strings. Tsăhongtamdi describes Partchian tonality diamonds and similar scales as extensions of overtone scales over a single fundamental which was the staple in music at that time, to multiple related fundamentals.

Tsăhongtamdi's most influential recommendation was against using fixed-pitch instruments; he argued that they were expressively limited. This recommendation was lasting in influence - most instruments used in traditional Talman music are flexible-pitch instruments. Since Mărotłism banned the killing of mammals but not of fish, fish glue and hoof glue could be used for repairs instead of hide glue. Hence viola organistas and harpsichords tuned to tonality diamond scales were commonly used in imperial Windermere music.

Monastic music

Medieval Mărotlian monastic chanting used much simpler scales than court music:

• Overtone scales: modes of overtones 5 to 10 (E G Bb C D E), 6 to 12 (G Bb C D E F), or 7 to 14. May be sung over a drone.
• Undertone scales: modes undertones 5 to 10 or 6 to 12.
• Hexanies: usually
  • 1 3 5 9: modes of 1/1 9/8 5/4 3/2 5/3 15/8 2/1 (C D E G A B C)
  • 1 3 7 9: modes of 1/1 9/8 7/6 21/16 3/2 7/4 2/1 (C D Eb F G Bb C)

Folk music

The JI scales used in Talman folk music are less systematic than in classical music, but they aren't always based over a single fundamental. Some modulation, or changing of the bass note or "key" is used.

Săφnga cămχüüm

During the later Gweats era, there was a musical movement called săφnga cămχüüm ('subtly flowing art'), which explored minimalism and complex expressive beating and dissonance, reminiscent of La Monte Young. Such music was most often written for organs, viola organistas and harpsichords with just 10-15 notes per octave.

Early Fnüeng court music

The Fnüeng era saw a return to earlier just intonation scales, such as overtone scales over a drone, or tonality diamonds. This period used more folk music influences.

Thanks to the invention of the printing press, many works of music survive from the late Fnüeng dynasty period.

Jopahite Period

This period used scales that Etsoj Jopah discovered, such as CPSes, Euler-Fokker genera, and constant structures.

Classical period

After the Jeodganite Revolution which led to the collapse of the Fnüeng Dynasty, some Ngronaist sects such as Hyvahism required strict vegetarianism (thus fish glue was not allowed), thus banning certain fixed pitch instruments like viola organistas and harpsichords. Composers started to use effectively free JI, with more modulation, with each scale playing a role like the tonic.

Nationalism was a strong influence during the Classical period - many Talman national anthems were written during the classical period.

Romantic period

The Romantic period was the longest period of Talman classical music. Thirty-one tone equal temperament (31edo) began to be established for organs and other fixed-pitch instruments.

Early

Romantic composers emphasized emotion, humor, exuberance and contemplation. Romantic music often had an individualist ethos, which prompted the development of solo techniques. Early Romantic period composers used a free JI approach with microtempering, only sometimes flirting with more tempered scales. However, the use of equal temperaments were spurred on by the theorist Bloisin and the invention of the isomorphic keyboard in the later Romantic period.

Talman Romanticism was less nationalistic than Earth Romanticism.

Gothicism

Many late Romantic composers were involved in "Gothicism", for lack of a better term. Gothicism was a reaction against the polished, optimistic aesthetic of the Classical and early Romantic periods, and is inspired by Talman late Romantic era horror and sci-fi literature. Gothic music uses a lot of dissonant chords and blaring, raspy, sighing or murmuring timbres. Tuning-wise they often restrict to smaller, high-limit JI subgroups. This is often viewed as continuous with the Early Modern period.

Modern period

Temperaments

Modern composers often work with a variety of equal temperaments and rank-2 temperaments. Some favorite equal temperaments are 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 26, 27, 31, 41, 46, 53, 58, 72, 94 - but many other equal temperaments are used, including nonoctave scales (like the Bohlen-Pierce scale).

Just intonation

New technology as well as the Bjeheondian vi-na allowed exploration of higher harmonics from 16-32 and yet higher.

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism emerged in modern times as a dissident movement in both Fyxoom and Talma (in Fyxoom, as a reaction to the dominance of Populism; in Talma, as a reaction to hyper-academic music). Neoclassicism often looks to imperial Windermere music in addition to Classical period music.

Neoclassicism in Talma was pioneered by figures such as Prăfin fab-Bălang and Aw-Cih Rhw.

Instruments

Some common Talman instruments are given below with their Eevo names; they can be divided into continuous-pitch and fixed-pitch instruments.

Below, v is shown next to vegetarian instruments; Ⓥ is shown next to vegan ones.

• An instrument is vegetarian if manufacturing or repairing it does not require one to use any products that involve killing an animal.
• An instrument is vegan if manufacturing or repairing it does not require any animal products.

Continuous-pitch

Free-pitch instruments are prized for their ability to play in any tuning; string quartets and quintets are fertile ground for explorations of tuning systems.

• ðavr Ⓥ or = a 4-stringed fiddle, used for the treble register.
  • Tuning: 2:3:5:7, lowest string = 200 Hz
• ñams Ⓥ = a viol-like 5-stringed bowed string instrument used for the treble and alto register
  • Tuning: 2:3:5:7:9, lowest string = 133 Hz
  • softwood; arched plates; sound post; should be thicker than a viola and be played vertically
• ñamsóm Ⓥ = an instrument the size of a large cello or small double bass which is tuned an octave lower than a ñams
  • Tuning: 2:3:4:5:7:9, lowest string = 67 Hz
• txovíh Ⓥ = fretless steel guitar tuned to a hexany; steel frets
• lyzóf Ⓥ = a trombone; exists in many different pitch ranges, such as soprano, alto, tenor, and bass lazóf
• byrẃl Ⓥ = musical saw
• gyvúas Ⓥ = a slide bassoon
• iskól Ⓥ = a slide flute
• çaswm v = fretless guitar

Fixed-pitch

Smaller fixed pitch instruments (less than 25 notes/octave) are tuned to specific JI scales; larger fixed-pitch instruments such as organs are usually tuned to 41edo. (41edo is the smallest equal temperament that represents the 15-odd limit.)

• viola organista (keyboard instrument with a rosined conveyer belt mechanism for the strings)
• organ Ⓥ (with ivory-free keys)
• jogóm Ⓥ = an unfretted zither with 60 strings
• teem Ⓥ = an oboe
• fewm = a timpani
  • Modern fewms are vegan.
• diamond marimba Ⓥ

This is more of a control mechanism than an instrument:

• sewvore Ⓥ (named after the inventor, Jamon Sewvore) = isomorphic keyboard

Some tunings for sewvores:

• 1/1 11/10 6/5 5/4 11/8 3/2
• 1/1 25/24 7/6 5/4 7/5 3/2
• 1/1 21/20 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 10/7 3/2
• 441/440 tempered out: 1/1 21/20 11/10 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 11/8 10/7 3/2
• hexanic: 1/1 21/20 35/32 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 48/35 10/7 3/2
• major: 1/1 25/24 7/6 6/5 5/4 7/5 35/24 3/2
• minor: 1/1 25/24 15/14 6/5 5/4 9/7 75/56 3/2
• augmented: 1/1 15/14 7/6 5/4 9/7 35/24 3/2
• the 29 string model: 1/1 21/20 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 10/7 3/2 or 1/1 25/24 7/6 6/5 5/4 7/5 35/24 3/2
• the 37 string model: 1/1 21/20 35/32 8/7 6/5 5/4 21/16 48/35 10/7 3/2 or 1/1 25/24 15/14 7/6 6/5 5/4 9/7 7/5 35/24 3/2

Vegetarian and vegan instruments

Since vegetarians, and more recently vegans, were and are important constituents of Talman societies, many composers allowed vegetarian and vegan substitutions for nonveg(etari)an instruments. Often, non-veg(etari)an instruments were considered interchangeable with their veg(etari)an counterparts, and veg(etari)an composers refused to use nonveg(etari)an instruments at all. This shifted the balance against larger wooden fixed-pitch instruments such as the viola organista, which required animal glue to manufacture and repair.

Some common historical substitutions:

• Rosined sticks for horsehair bows.
• Electric fiddles for acoustic fiddles.
• Organs for harpsichords, pianos and viola organistas.

Thanks to the recent invention of cell-cultured gelatin and collagen in Fyxoom, vegetarian substitutions are no longer required for instruments that require gluing.

Melody

Though Talman music is precise in categorizing harmonic intervals, melody is categorized more loosely. For example, a previously used melody can be deformed slightly or be inverted.

The notion of a motif dominates some periods of Talman music. Some motif-based music may transform motifs gradually until they are no longer recognizable (maybe in more avant garde music).

Rhythm

Talman music often uses familiar Western meters, but some types are practically meterless. (Depends on time period.)

Percussion is absent or used sparingly, or is used only lightly in Talman classical music. Percussion sounds mainly come from hitting the body of an instrument.

Regional variations in rhythm

It is often said that regional variations in rhythm are influenced by the rhythms of the various languages spoken:

• Windermere and Tseer music uses grace notes (i.e. short unstressed notes followed by a long stressed note) more often, because Windermere has minor syllables, and Tseer was heavily influenced by Windermere after the classical period.
• Ciètian music uses Scotch snaps more often, because Ciètian has initial stress and unstressed long syllables.
• Anbirese and Skellan music, on the other hand, sounds more rhythmically neutral to English speakers, since Anbirese and Skellan are stress timed languages without phonemic vowel length.

Musical genres and forms

Talman classical forms evolved from religious songs and court music forms.

Some music attempts to convey narratives; this music is categorized as fryndu tlaneçol in Eevo. [This is not a precise category however, as even not-explicitly-programmatic music or music without lyrics often try to create a sense of "story" to some extent by using multiple parts.]

Song structures

• AB (binary)
• ABA (ternary)
• ABABAB... (rondo)
  • [A B1] [A B2] [A B3]...

C can sometimes be used, most commonly in

• ABABCB

Liturgical music

Music sung to liturgical poems (in Windermere and sometimes Tigol) often follows the structure of the poem but different tunes may be used for different stanzas.

If the poem follows a refrain-verse structure, the music follows a type of rondo form:

[A B1] [A B2] [A B3]...

where the B_i's are not necessarily all distinct. Much of the time each verse uses a different tune, and the verses themselves may have varying length.

The same liturgical poem might use different melodies depending on the Mărotłite legal strictures for singing the words in different contexts.

Chamber music

Chamber music was highly valued by Talmans. Pieces were commonly written for the Talman string quartet with two ðavr, one ñams and one ñamsóm.

Art songs

Art songs, which was developed during the Romantic period, are performed by a solo voice (or sometimes two or three voices), often with chamber accompaniment. Lyrics may be poems dealing with nature and idyllic settings; love; mystical themes; short dialogues; or humor. Some art songs are longer or form a song cycle, and feature multi-part narratives.

Art songs often have more of a specified, compact form made of sections, following the poetic structure of the lyrics. They may be strophic, through-composed, or they may follow a form such as:

• ABA
• [A B1] [A B2] [A B3]
• ABABCB

Polyphonic music

A common style of polyphony, called xeetxeroog in Tseer and binchălismoay in Windermere, uses two melodic lines in a JI scale or free JI, and explores the JI dyadic harmony formed by the melodic lines. Xeetxeroog with three or more voices are considered quite adventurous.

More familiar techniques like canons and fugues occur during the Romantic period. Polyphony in general was seen as depicting a dialogue between characters.

Dance music

Some dances are in rhythms such as 5, 7, 10, or 25 beats per measure (but no with higher prime factors).

Music was also traditionally performed in eating establishments, taverns, and banquets. This type of music often resembled more jovial types of dance music. Tavern music, in particular, was usually improvised on the ðavr or a ŋams family instrument, meanwhile more aristocratic banquet music was composed and played by a chamber ensemble.

Some dances are:

• A quasi-jig (in 6/8 or another triple compound meter)

Dance music was often assembled into suites, like in the Baroque period.

Musical theater

[TODO: Talman literature]

Musical theater (Eevo: łylám /wəˈʟam/, from Windermere: wălam 'legend, story, retelling') is usually based on works of literature (common sources are myths, depictions of history, famous plays or novels), and was developed greatly during the Romantic period. Modern works often take inspiration from literature and musical ideas from other cultures or contemporary works.

There exist a few different subgenres of classical łylám:

• Classical-era łylám: Small-scale Baroque opera-like works, but with more intoned/spoken parts. Since the accompanying orchestra was small, the singing technique was not very demanding; the emphasis was on clear delivery of words, rather than melodic virtuosity. This type of musical theater was enjoyed by the elites into the Classical period.
• Romantic-era łylám is more colorful. It was developed to appeal more to the masses.
  • A serious style used for histories, myths, heroic tales, tragedies or science fiction.
  • A comedic or satirical style, usually just lighthearted but also used for social commentary
• Partch-style corporeal musical dramas: These dramas are designed to be appreciated visually, narratively and emotionally as well as musically. Unlike in Western musicals or operas, the performers who play the instruments are also those who act out the parts and sing.

Cantatas

Cantatas (Eevo palyçúah, Windermere palăchüech, etymologically 'that which is recited') were often written for special occasions or holidays, such as Bwrjadreeg (Talman winter solstice).

Notation

Gamut

Talman music uses the Helmholtz-Ellis notation. It differs from Bjeheondian and other Trician JI notation schemes, in that it is more symmetrical and is less biased toward harmonic series scales.

TODO: nominal names

• F G A B C D E F = pythagorean scale, lydian mode
• 5, 7, 11, 13 accidentals are defined by: sol la ti(v5) do(^11) re mi(v13) fa(v7) = harmonics 8-14
  • 2, 5, 7, 11, 13 = o, txi, ça, ?, ?
  • /5, /7, /11, /13 = di, nw, ?, ?
  • accidentals for 17, 19, 23, 29, 31 = as in Helmholtz-Ellis
• Apotomic sharps and flats: Bb F C G D A E B F#

Staff directions

Usually in Modern Windermere, but not always.

• glep (Wdm. 'broad') = largo
• pdeas (Wdm. 'slow') = lento
• că'oang seaf (Wdm. 'walking pulse') = andante
• tsăliet (Wdm. 'fast') = allegro
• pălay (Wdm. 'loud') = forte
• tădadech (Wdm. 'heating up') = accelerating, with increasing intensity

Swuntsim music

The ancient Swuntsim had a tradition of antiphonal chants in their religious services. Little is known about the original melodies, and Swuntsim religious texts do not mention or prescribe a particular tuning, but Ancient Swuntsim music is speculated to have been monophonic.

The Swuntsim use JI tunings like other Talmans; however, they developed their own distinctive style for their religious and folk songs. The liturgical style tends more contrapuntal.

Notable figures

TODO: should be more Skellan, less Anbirese

Imperial period

• Tsăhongtamdi was a composer, physicist and mathematician who wrote Elements of Harmony.
• Inthar Tăhus invented other cross-sets.
  • used 12edo as a cross-set of 3edo and 4edo, in Study in 12 Equal Divisions
• Fron Șărep invented the precursor to modern Talman notation based on a chain of fifths - which was popularized in the later Imperial era.
• Hădech Nușach is well known for his pieces for the viola organista using beating JI chords.

Jopahite period

• Etsoj Jopah was a philosopher who described various JI scales.
• Inþar Foltazj Anbirese composer who put the seal of approval on Jopah's ideas.
• Ugeo Sjangreo: a major Anbirese composer
  • 17 string quartets
  • Many JI constant structure scales including scales with 16, 18, 23, and other numbers of notes
  • Constant structures generated by step sizes

Classical period

• Maiz Siba: Anbirese composer.
• Yðŋi Vri was a Sgewlan acoustician who proposed the interval unit of vri.
• Bièsan Sruma Ciètian composer

Romantic period

• Rewhd Sgutsis was a prolific Skellan composer and music theorist, who proposed 41edo for organs.
• Jamon Sewvore was a student of Sgutsis, and invented the isomorphic keyboard, called the sewvore in Eevo.
• Keopran Djangeodae was a famous Anbirese composer of łyláms.
• Salanae Mokraed was another Anbirese operatic composer.
• Garintzer Bleisin was a Ciètian mathematician and music theorist. Bloisin studied Sgutsis's work, and went on to devise most of regular temperament theory.
  • Jeondeoguis is an adaptation of Heojad Orpaer's novel cycle Jeondeoguis: Angharad, an attractive female protagonist stuck in a hostile and dangerous alien world of Jeondeohouis. She becomes involved in a cult of the god Kahorantavaara. Her worship takes on a much more... personal dimension, which becomes all-consuming and destructive, the world falling around it...
    • The alien language is Finnish gib

Numbers:

0: yymi 1: paa 2: lyö 3: vahta 4: jähmi 5: kuova 6: tyhti 7: naama 8: hympä 9: marja 10: ysä 11: ysäpaa 20: kulka 30: änkä 40: halo 50: letsi 60: tolla 70: mysti 80: kupa 90: jäsi 100: täi

Modern music

• Tleeg Bwsað was an Impressionist composer who almost exclusively used EDOs, especially the "bad" ones.
• Aw-Cih Rhw (Aud-Ghihi Lhuj) was a Shum-Skellan neoclassical composer.

Works

• Some sci-fi-themed corporeal musical drama (named after an in-world character): based on the work of the pseudonymous author Þoogast P. Nosaŋve.