Verse:Tricin/Clofabolocin/Music
Instruments
Some instruments used in Clofabian music include the spiusin, a kind of harp or lyre with sympathetic strings; penicillin, a psalmodicon-like instrument (which is, incidentally, called moldpill in Estonian); ditoren, the crychord; and the sevoren (borrowed from Eevo sewvore) (an isomorphic keyboard).
Tunings
Clofabian tunings depend on the instrument and musical genre. "Diaphonic cycles" (scales based on JI ratios with a common numerator) and "Helixsong cycles" (scales based on JI ratios with a common denominator). Meantone or 19-tone equal temperament is also commonly used.
Timeline
Coplimeran
Traditional Clofabian music is based around improvisation. In modern times it may be called coplimeran (free music) to distinguish it from later traditions of composed music.
something more "gestural" like partch's music?
but not as corporeal
i'll go with an aesthetic between gayageum sanjo and partch's music
the music of clofabolocin is mostly centered on solo improvisation, exploring harmony, melody, and rhythm (instruments are divided into those three categories)
or solo improvisation with narration à la Partch's Li Po lyrics
clofabians love to play with technique, so with a spúith they do things like playing melodies purely on the sympathetic strings, using the body as a drum, striking the strings with spoons, playing complex ornaments on the sympathetic strings with a slide ...
penicillin bows have resonators
so people can play one bow with another
dunno about that
that may make the bow too heavy
the penicillin is fretted and the frets are nylon wires just like strings, so they can be plucked
the tuning of a clofabian instrument depends on the instrument (and may even vary from instrument to instrument since ensemble playing is rare)
music to a clofabian could be mainly about individual expression
and, they have timpani!
so it's common for them to play melodies on it
flutes don't have sophisticated key systems like they do in western music (they're typically tuned to a 7 tone quasi equal scale)
clofabian phonology is sufficiently simple that they could sing poems into a flute!
producing a 2 part counterpoint
flutes could have keys though, so that key clicks would be possible
"drumming" on them is one possible flute technique
there could be a clofabian saying that goes something like "you can't teach someone to live gracefully or to play the spúith well"
Nabitameran
Nabitameran, literally 'composed music', is a relatively recent tradition that is in the Baroque-chiptune cluster. It usually uses a 19-note meantone tuning given by stacking 18 fifths.
Common instruments used are the harpsichord, the organ and the uniquely Clofabian claviorganum, where a note is played by simultaneously plucking a harpsichord string and blowing through organ pipes. The claviorganum may be slightly detuned for a shimmering vibrato effect.
There are two slightly differing flavors of nabitameran:
- "Acoustic chiptune" was pioneered by Semopoetin Zyrtec. Semopoetin's music would use voices played by harpsichords, organs, claviorganums and drums to make "incidental music" for plays. The music was strongly reminiscent of 8-bit video game music on Earth.
- Clofabian electronic music began as improvisation over a bass line, and took on Baroque-like complexity as time went on. Early Clofabian music systems used four voice channels + 1 percussion channel (Compare Famicom which used 3 voice channels + 1 perc channel).
Some forms of music in this style are:
- Canons and fugues in a loop
- Baroque dances with a swing and percussion track (made with a noise channel)
- Repetitive stereotypically Baroque figurations with changing harmony