Cris Forster's 'Musical Mathematics'

[C.Forster's Bass Marimba-Photo by Will Gullette]

Musical Mathematics by Cris Forster is a rigorous and highly organized book that deals with the construction and tuning of acoustic instruments. In a clear and graspable way, the book first tackles the physics of instruments, a subject that is often the greatest stumbling block for readers interested in building instruments of their own design. After a detailed examination of the subject of mass, Forster guides us through his knowledge of strings, which includes their physical properties and different usages on musical instruments. Only in retrospect does one realize what a careful choice as a starting point this is because it easily leads us to a more complex study of bars, rods, and tubes. Resonators follow, with thematic connections that reach back to earlier chapters and forward to air columns and flutes. A chapter on geometric progressions, logarithms, and cents concludes the first part of the book, and at the same time acts as a bridge to the study of tunings. The second part presents the reader with a strong foundation of the history of tuning in Western civilization and throughout the world, and the methods employed to realize these tunings. The book ends with an examination of Forster’s own instruments, which are extremely beautiful in both design and sound. He remains one of the greatest practitioners among instrument builders.

Although I have spent many years in the field, I discovered in Musical Mathematics a fresh and above all generous presentation of knowledge both with regard to acoustics and the history of scales. For example, the chapter on Chinese music discusses an approach to string tuning that I have never encountered in any other sources. Because of his own translations from other languages, Forster’s research is not limited to English texts; for this reason, his book is filled with many new sources that provide fresh perspectives of the historical record. The subjects of Indonesian, Indian, Arabian, Persian, and Turkish tunings are likewise treated with much care and depth. Perhaps the book might be compared to Harry Partch’s Genesis of a Music, but there are marked differences. The latter was written to explain Partch’s music and instruments, and only secondarily to help others build their own unique instruments. Musical Mathematics, on the other hand, focuses more on the needs of creative individuals; it encourages musicians to discover and explore aspects that are most useful and fruitful to their own work. It is toward this goal that Forster shares the benefit of his knowledge and experience.

Yes, here is a book I surely wish I would have had 30 years ago when I first started out as a just-intonation composer and instrument builder. Musical Mathematics is truly as useful to the beginner as to the most accomplished expert in the field; both will find much value in this book. Also, it is obvious from his thoroughness and practical insights that Cris is an authority who has actually worked with the materials — an important aspect that sets this publication apart. This is a work of depth and breadth written in a spirit of sharing and helpfulness for those interested in the subject. Musical Mathematics is a watershed book that will, without doubt, change acoustic instrument building for the better, and change many of our views on the history of mankind’s intonational practices.

I can't help to mention that it is

Available Here

http://www.amazon.com/Musical-Mathematics-Science-Acoustic-Instruments/dp/0811874079/ref=sr_1_1/181-1266760-1225831?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269533071&sr=8-1

Working on The Wilson Archives

It is funny to think of one studying just the subject of tuning for over 20 years much less with one person, Erv Wilson. Such a subject while specialized is not inseparable from all the other aspects that go into music though. That is how it was possible and often the focus of discussion.
Much more than number games, once a scale is designed and what one understands what material is made available, one needs nothing more than ones ear to guide one into the territory one has developed.
Often I have been asked if I have been influenced by certain composers, but as in one case, I had not even heard their works until a little over a decade ago having absolutely no access to their work. Nor has much stuck since then either. Similarity can come about out of the nature of the material itself and what it enables one to do as well as what it wants to do. Say everyone in history had only done oils and a few pick up watercolor for the first time, different individuals are bound to discover and marvel at some of the things it can do. Possibly the real question is why one would want to use them like Oil since they already have the means to do so. Especially when using something as removed as glass.
Hopefully we can move on and see it as ‘sensitivity’ to the subject as opposed to an influence.
I have just returned from the US where the entire papers of this man were digitized. Myself organizing them into files of like subject while Terumi Narushima, my wife who is also working on a thesis on Erv’s Keyboard designs and strategies scanned the material. All this in the mere 17-day window we had to do it. Credit goes to Stephen Taylor also for prompting us to come to do this realizing that it needed to be done soon. Also he provided us with the workspace, even being our shuttle at times as well as diving in and putting in his full effort and advice. It would not have happened without him not to mention the others steps he has taken to help Erv’s well being. Jim French deserves much in this way too staying with him for extended stays beyond what anyone could be asked to do.
Others should be also mentioned as putting in their experience with the work in a few nighttime gatherings. These included Marcus Hobbs, Gary David, Jim French and Chuck Jonkey each who like Stephen and I and all of Erv’s students have developed their work in a singular and unique way that makes the idea of a Wilson “style” absurd. The visit also invoked Jose Garcia who I hadn’t seen in maybe 20 years as well as Marsha Mann telling Stephen what she remember of Erv.
Taylor requested, actually insisted I provide a proposed filing system in which all his could be organized and mapped. And after four goes at it, this is diagram is what I came up with (still in progress though). It reflects how the papers cross-reference themselves and not some personal preference on my part.
We ended up with over 355 files, some as many as a hundred pages and few less than a dozen. The files often were general and single documents scattered in different places. Fortunately only a few pieces that are a complete mystery yet these already are coming to light. So my work is still going on here and will take some time with the goal to make it available.
Erv stated that his work was like assembling a bird’s nest, finding the pieces and placing them in the right place when he found it. So maybe this is how his nest looks in the creative imaginative dimension he created it in and for.
He remains the one person in my life I must give the highest thanks to. I hope the finish product will be a testament to that thanks.

Harry Smith-"Early Abstractions" (1946-57), Pt. 3

No. 5: Circular Tensions, Homage to Oskar Fischinger (1950)
No. 7: Color Study (1952)

Pictures from the NowNow Festival

Thanks to Adrian for taking these. More wonderful shots of the festival can be seen herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ajebec/4302681073/
Performers were Kraig Grady
Terumi Narushima
Alex Masso (bottom pic)
and Finn Ryan who despite being the tallest is not seen.

The Chopi Timbila/Venancio Mbande

The Chopi were thankfully the interest over a half century ago of Hugh Tracy who collected extensive data about their tuning, music and practice. Its closest tuning relatives in the world seem to be Burma and Thailand more so than those in Indonesia as originally thought. These traditional instruments with their tunings has now been reduced to the skill of this one man. The Chopi has been a prominent investigation and exploration of mine for years and is the basis of the tuning used on my hammer dulcimer and an organ (Meta-Mavila) . I consider it the second most important tuning i am working with. Hopefully it will manage to become an orchestra of instruments like i have been able to with Meta-Slendro. It is more important that this work continues where it started and good to see what we see here.

An Aperiodic dispatch from the CENTRE FOR ALPHABETICAL SEQUENCING

TRANSCENDENTAL AND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH CENTER AND LIBRARY
OF ANAPHORIAN CRYPTOGRAPHY
418 HUGURU DRIVE
VEIVULANGIGI, ANAPHORIA


Rants the Applause

The vendor the crude country asset.

a mysterious expressway stirring underneath
the crowd presses a wary hope
a capable reminder that distances
the doubt in an abolition neighborhood.

Behind the ambassadors a parade roars after each funniest coincidence
Example a fraud appeared beside the pool bending
Spoke frog the staggering
A master gutter riots into any garbage and overcomes appeal
The offending group questions why another quiet manifesto
How can the wasteful ploy chain the infallible autumn magic?

Why does Pope ascend above the voice
so new catholic can recycle a grief
likewise treads the other fundamentalist on its followers

How did the prophet breed such a stereotype?

Even my passive corn objects.
Heaven waits for an approach toward a humane diameter.

Bequeath the psychologist proceeds a genocide.
The silent mob conveys the sneaky doom of wallet
a soldier groans with his bigot toed officer
Huff the helicopter frowns
A military expires across the horrific bridge
strays a gun strays

A bankrupt search insults one killer
A terrified commentator can only yawn
a contemporary repertoire that lifts the conspicuous policeman
The flagging civilian quibbles next to the receiver
How the collective terminator is apologized
This mass understands unhappy censorships

The intervening sunrise revolts near another mechanism.
a diagonal mud changes across the earth
Will any geography succeed to wash aside an indigenous interference?

An interactive hardware dances inside this culture.

The evolutionary reward stirs
Around the yearly childhood
The newcomer flavors a lifetime
The toy licenses a charmed adult

A stone dances over a heart.
A temple dances behind a lecture.
The applause rants throughout a seventh

Addition to National Gallery/Of Threads and Bridges

What is believed to be the oldest depiction of Anaphoria by a foreigner arrived yesterday from Japan accompanied by the interim ambassador R. Tomasula. Carbon dating places it at over 3500 years old and in pristine condition for a woodcut of this age. There has been much speculation about the arc between Anaphoria's two highest peaks as it coincides with many myths of this time as a connection that existed between two famous holy men who while never meeting seemed to provide the people with almost instantaneous dual proclamations.
It was known as the time of the great thread or bridge depending on which peak one is able to trace as the source of the story. Much to do as also been made about the actual curve itself resembling the exact proportions of some of Japan's famous bridges.