Melodiæ Incognita; exploring the Bohlen-Pierce scale
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2020
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This work is a description of several years of intensive study into the Bohlen–Pierce (BP) scale, a tonal framework discovered in the early 1970s in which the scale is larger in compass than the conventional 12-tone-to-the-octave equally tempered (12–ET) scale. The BP scale repeats at the tritave—an interval larger than the octave—and all 13 notes within the tritave are either different in frequency to the 12–ET notes or used in different ways in different positions within the scale.
This difference, together with the fact that the scale is constructed entirely from odd-integer ratios of a fundamental frequency, where the 12–ET scale is based on tempered ratios of an almost entirely even-integer nature, poses many questions about both theoretical and practical approaches to the new scale. The ambit of this study has been to interrogate some of these questions through practice-based research with a view to answering the overall research question: ‘Are there ways in which creative explorations of the Bohlen–Pierce scale can offer an effective context and/or impetus for the creation of new musical works?’
The ultimate outcome of this process has been the production of a two-CD-length studio recording, 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘢 — 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘓𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴. This is the ‘creative’ component of the project. The exegesis is divided into five parts. Part 1, Chaos, examines the context and historical background of ‘xenotonality’—making music in ‘strange tunings’—and the BP scale in particular. Part 2, Discord, sets out the philosophy, objectives, boundaries and context of the study. Part 3, Confusion, describes the instruments I have built or adapted in the course of my study, and describes the construction, performance, and underlying assumptions of each of the seventeen music tracks which constitute the sonic component of this project. Part 4, Bureaucracy, reports on the outcomes of the study and attempts to weigh its ultimate value with a certain degree of objectivity. Part 5, Aftermath, consists of a summary and suggestions for further research.
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