Pizzicato will be present at the "Musikmesse 2011" in Frankfurt (Germany), from 6 to 9 of April, 2011. Visit us in Hall 3.1, stand A11, we will be glad to meet you!
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Let us continue our music composition example. You can download the file containing the work already done here:
www.arpegemusique.com/download/compo-92-en.piz
Right-click on that link and select "Save target as..." to save the Pizzicato document. Please note that you can use this document with the demo version so that you can follow the example.
Our first 4 measures establish an atmosphere of calm and then start increasing tension. The next four measures will continue to do so.
Increasing the tension with harmony
As we learned it in a previous article, there are chords that are more apt to express tension than others. The minor third interval (C - Eb) introduces some tension, as well as the false fifth (or augmented fourth), for instance between C and Gb.
In our composition, we have only used the following chords:
F Maj7 (F, A, C, E) and C Maj 7 (C, E, G, B)
These chords are based on a root note (F and C respectively) and they have a major third interval starting on that note (F/A and C/E), as well as a perfect fifth (F/C and C/G) and a major seventh (F/E and C/B). The presence of major and perfect intervals has the tendency to sound positive, optimist, happy, with no particular tension. This is of course quite subjective but it is an attempt to express with words the subtil feelings that music is able to express.
The root note of the chord (F or C in our example) appears in a particular way. When it also happens that this note is at the lowest pitch position at that moment, as it is the case here, the effect of the root note is even reinforced in its fundamental position. It is probably because the ear, listening to several notes together, will more easily locate the lowest note (as well as the highest note) amongst the notes.
The sound effect of a chord or of any set of notes is produced by the combination of the effects produced by the intervals formed between each pair of notes.
The major and perfect intervals, when constructed on a root note, have a tendency to reinforce the presence of that root note. This is explained physically by the fact that the pitches of these notes are in a quite simple fractional ratio of the root note. Let us take some examples.
The fifth interval has a ratio of 3/2. In the C/G interval, this means that the G note generates 3/2 more vibrations than the C note, in the same time interval. The ratio of 3/5 is sufficiently easy to perceive so that the ear associates these two notes as having a "family relationship" or vibration similarity. So it reinforces the main root note and so the fifth is quite important in a chord.
The major third gives a ratio of 5/4. When a C note produces 4 air vibrations perceived by the ear, the E note will have produced 5 vibrations during the same time interval. This ratio of 4 to 5 is still quite easy to establish by the ear and so the major third produces a feeling of harmony, similarity, affinity or a common base between the two notes that make up the interval.
If we take the case of a minor third, the mathematic ratio between the two notes is approximatively 6/5. This ratio is a bit more complex. For the false fifth (C/Gb) the ratio is about 11/8. Moreover, as most of the western music is based on the tempered scale, these ratio are in fact not that precise and some tension is added to most intervals.
It looks like the ear can easily or not easily establish a link between the two notes of an interval. If it can do that easily, then the interval seems nice and agreeable. As the ear has more and more difficulty to establish a link (because of the difference in the structure of vibrations), then the interval sounds more and more harsh and dissonant.
It starts with a slight feeling of tension when the listener can establish the link, but notices that this link is slightly off. He can however still imagine the link and correct it inside himself. If the ratio between notes become more complex, the link is more difficult to establish. When the links are completely disorganized and impossible to establish, the listener experiences a sensation of general confusion. An example is when all performers of the orchestra are independently tuning their instruments or playing a few notes with no coordination. This creates a confused noise.
The word "noise" is indeed defined in physics in a similar way: there is no relationship between the pitches in it. It is the difference between music and noise. Music organizes sound and establishes logic links between the components of sound. What is called "white noise" is in fact a set of all possible pitches put together. The result is that none of the pitches can be located specifically but they all merge to produce a global impact. White noise is similar to the wind blowing or high pressure air coming out of a tube. In such a sound, the ear cannot find any logical link.
You will find more information about the question of sound structure easily or not easily detected, with graphic and sound examples, in our letter number 83:
http://www.arpegemusic.com/li83.htm
The detection of logical links between the sound components of a music generates the pleasure of listening, this detection being done whether intuitively, emotionally or with the help of mathematics or theories. If the structure is too easily detected or too simple, one gets bored with the music. The great masters have been able to create sound structures where the ear can establish so much interesting links in a personal way, that one can find a constantly new pleasure to hear it. The auditor can then contribute to the music he is listening to.
All this to explain how we can increase the tension, simply by using chords that have intervals where notes have a more complex ratio between them. In practice, you can use the following table of increasing tension in intervals, to use in music composition:
- Octave, fifth, fourth
- Major third and sixth
- Minor third and sixth
- Minor seventh and major second
- Major seventh and minor second
- False fifth (or augmented fourth)
This is simply a rule of thumb, as most of the time, you hear a combination of several intervals, creating numerous possible rich, unexpected and interesting effects. For instance, a major seventh alone is quite dissonant, but together with a third and fifth, the result is quite calm and nice:
The result is often a conflict or a subtil game between intervals that are consonant and dissonant. The richness of harmony is created by a well balanced combination of these intervals given to us by nature to compose music.
Based on the above explanation, we select the 4 following chords to use in our composition:
F min = F + A b (minor third) + C (fifth)
D b min = D b + F b (minor third) + A b (fifth)
C min 7 = C + E b (minor third) + G (fifth) + B b (minor seventh)
B dim = B + D (minor third) + F (false fifth) + A b (diminished seventh)
Even if these chords follow the above principles, most of them are still choosen arbitrarily, as there are numerous ways to introduce chords with specific intervals.
To select a chord, the following rules can help you:
- The presence of notes in common with the previous chord, establishing a logical link between the two and keeping some cohesion during the progress of the music.
- The degree of tension you want. Do you want it more or less stressing than the previous one? Select chords that have the right amount of intervals.
- Listening! This is the most important criteria. Does the chord create the effect you want to achieve? If yes, it's good, even if you found the chord by randomly selecting a few notes on the keyboard. If theory tells you to select a specific chord and when listening, you find it does not create the effect you want, then throw it through the window and select another one!
You can also use cadences, that are harmonic motions that can help you create solid and well sounding harmonies, like degree V to I of a scale (G to C for instance).
With experience and work, you will also become able to locate a nice effect and know which chords you must use to create it. A quite common effect in film music where a dramatic effect must be produced (suddenly the sky gets dark, somebody learns a bad news,...) is produced by using a minor or major chord and follow it with a minor chord, but a major third lower.
The first two chords above are using that effect:
F min ==> D b min
The F note is lowered a major third (Db) and a minor chord is built on it. The effect is typical and can even be sequenced more than one time to increase the effect:
By applying the chords to our composition, we can assign the notes in the measures in a similar way as in measures 3 and 4 and we get for instance:
You can download the composition with the above addition here:
www.arpegemusique.com/download/compo-93-en.piz
The chords are not necessarily built on their root position (which means with the root note in the lowest pitch position). Inverting chords like that can also add and modify the sound effects, as some intervals from the chords are switched upside down.
Sure, our composition did not advance very much today, but I hope you have learned a few things so that you can choose chords by yourself more easily. See you next month!
Dominique
Vandenneucker
Designer of Pizzicato.
You can always contact Blair
Ashby, at Aunyx Productions, Inc. for any information you
need on Pizzicato and the way to use it.
