New Instrument In Meta-Mavila

Here is a new instrument that features a scale called Meta-Mavila (sometimes called mavila is some tempered version). It is only a nine tone scale. It could have been a 16 tone scale but when i had that version on organ, i was not as happy with it as much as only this subset. 

It will mark the first time i am working towards an ensemble with a scale of less than 12 pitches. But it is really only the third such endeavor of ensemble building i have undertaken. But I am far more instrested in ensemble of instruments or families instruments than individual instruments that might sound good but not with others. The other ensembles have been first a 31 tone scale with a 22 tone subset. The second is my Meta-Slendro 12 tone tuning which works well on retuned 12 tone instruments.

 Am i becoming more interested in less notes? It seems like it. More than anything it is more like a refinement of a musical poetic language, cutting out the unessentials and having some sense of what it is im most interested into exploring in depth. This scale has no real connecting points with European tuning outside of just being one. Some intervals that might have 3 steps on the piano are here subdivided something closer to 2. But it is not an equal scale at all. Each tone has it own unique place in the overall sequence of things of equal value and relationship. 

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 There were simpler ways to mount this, but I was missing having a scale with a generalized pattern where each scale or chord always has the same pattern over a keyboard, or in this sense a layout of bars. I plan to use it in an installation in April where others know nothing of the theory behind but will be able to play it.  Experimenting will let one discover they can take a pattern they like and repeat it or imitate another on a different places on the instrument and will sound the same. This will make it fun if more than one joins in being able to imitate someone else by working with the same pattern. 

The whole tuning based on a recurrent sequence has ways of reinforcing the harmonics found elsewhere so tends to all work together well in a environment of spontaneous playing. info on tuning is for the asking but too ponderous to try to cover here. i already have a hammer dulcimer which i have been tuning to this scale so plan on using the two together along with some bowed psaltries. Since i have two of my bass bars that coincide with this tuning, i need only add 7 more with if another project happens next year, it will be perfect for that. Remaining to be seen. Sound sample are coming but want to live with it a bit more before the introduction. Stay tuned~

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