Scale of the Day: G Dorian diminished 4

The G Dorian diminished 4 Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: C Sharp Aeolian

The C Sharp Aeolian Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

A Weekend of Thanks

Some good stuff I've noticed over this long holiday weekend.

Much thanks for the usual suspects: good health, good family, etc.

Some techie things that I can only rave about:
Bloglines. I can now track 64 (and growing) feeds and stay current with new music blogs, political blogs, technology blogs, etc. It has replaced my old start page and keeps me well informed. Oh, and it's free.
FireFox. Also free. I don't normally get excited about internet browsers. And that's probably because IE has basically worked all these years. Lately I've taken to hitting F11 to clear out all the clutter of the oversized navigation buttons and creeping toolbars courtesy of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo (each with duplicate features). FireFox just does a better job and I prefer the "tabbed" multi-page navigation over my old habit of having multiple windows open.
Gmail. Free as well. I've had my account for some time now. It smartly groups threads together and is mysteriously free from spam.
Live365. Free... but also offering an add-free subscription service and/or station hosting priveleges. Radio stations run by people who share their music because they love it. For me, it's an affirmation that there are other souls out there who share my taste in music. That's not something one feels with local broadcast radio and corporate broadcasting formats. It's also a nice way to explore genres that I haven't kept up on and hear some real surprises.

A blog entry that caught my attention:
Robert Gable's Aworks had a thoughtful post that touches upon several things that I obsess about. Reflecting on a Thanksgiving weekend spent with family in rural Indiana while tethered to an Ipod playing Alan Hovhaness's "Quartet No.4" Gable mused about religious freedom and plurality in America. He mentions a church in San Francisco named after Saint John Coltrane. I had to check that site out. I don't know about saint-hood, but I can easily understand why Coltrane would inspire something spiritual enough to found a church. This is a church with a house band that models itself after this great master. That could well be worth checking out if I'm ever in San Francisco on a Sunday.
As for Alan Hovhaness: He was at one of the summer Telluride Composer-to-Composer conferences and had a lot of interesting things to say about drawing from a plurality of musical cultures. He was also an extremely disciplined composer. Even while attending the conference he stuck to his 4:00pm - midnight composing routine and even had something performed that he'd written just days before in this manner. I was saddened when he passed away in 2000. I suspect there's a vast wealth of music from that man that has yet to be experienced.

And some things I've heard recently on the internet radio:

KPOO FM. This is a stream I located via the church of Saint John Coltrane. I caught a bit of the evening jazz program tonight that really hit the spot. Some old Geri Allen Trio material I hadn't heard in a long time (Geri Allen was also at Telluride one year) along with some great Dave Holland big band and an awesome track from the David S. Ware quartet. My esteem for pianist Matthew Shipp grows every time I hear him.

One of the electronica stations featured some Secret Chiefs 3 that was new to me. It was excellent. I need to hear more from that group.

Kyle Gann's Postclassic station has finally worked up my appetite for the wonderful music of John Luther Adams. He has a new book and accompanying CD that I may have to ask for for xmas.

Another station featured a great piece that is always welcome in my ears: The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives. Ives is actually featured on several stations oriented around modern classical music.

So there you have it. Good health, family and stimulating music/ideas. Things worthy of thanks.

Scale of the Day: E 5-axis Construct #1, Lydian Mode

E 5-axis Construct #1, Lydian Mode Scale.

Scale of the Day: D Sharp Phrygian mapped to the Square-root of 2

The D Sharp Phrygian mapped to the Square-root of 2 Scale.

Scale of the Day: D Sharp Phrygian diminished 4

The D Sharp Phrygian diminished 4 Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: A Sharp Locrian

The A Sharp Locrian Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Whole-tone

The E Flat Whole-tone Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: G Flat Lydian

The G Flat Lydian Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Ionian 1% wide

The E Flat Ionian 1% wide Scale.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Ionian mapped to the Triative

The E Flat Ionian mapped to the Triative Scale.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Ionian diminished 5 mapped to the Square-root of 2

The E Flat Ionian diminished 5 mapped to the Square-root of 2 Scale.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Pythagorean Ionian

The E Flat Pythagorean Ionian Scale.

Scale of the Day: F Sharp Mixolydian mapped to the Square-root of 2

The F Sharp Mixolydian Mapped to the Square-root of 2 Scale.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Mixolydian

Intervallic content of the E Flat Mixolydian Scale.

A Little Internet Radio

Whew. Things have been so busy I've barely had time to keep up the "Scale of the Day" action at the blog.

I recently added high-speed internet to my life. Which finally gives me a chance to check out Kyle Gann's wonderful Postclassic radio station. I've followed Gann's columns in the Village Voice for over a decade and read his blog often. He's a thoughtful writer/teacher/composer and a champion of a vital stream of music that doesn't always register on the "mainstream" radar. To be honest, as a dial-up surfer I was always annoyed at how many of his blog entries would dwell on his station and playlists as they seemed remote to my corner of the internet. What a difference a little DSL line makes. Here's three pieces that really made my day:

It was a real pleasure to hear Barstow by Harry Partch. Partch is such an important figure for me. And I'd forgotten just how great Barstow is. There's something so warm in those original recordings. Something alive in hearing Partch's own voice reading hobo inscriptions set to his distinctive music.

A big discovery for me was Devolution by Anthony De Ritis. I'm not familiar with this composer's work. Based on what I've heard so far I would love to hear more. Hell, I'd love to track down Devolution on CD. Wow! Bravo!

And Tableau Vivants by James Tenney. I have fond memories of Tenney bringing in the pencil draft of that composition (in progress) to class one day and discussing it. I later heard Sound Pressure perform the world premiere in Montreal.

Just three great works from an impressive playlist.

Scale of the Day: F Sharp Mixolydian augmented 4

The F Sharp Mixolydian augmented 4 Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: B Dorian

The B Dorian Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: E 3, Square-root of 2 Construct #1, Lydian Mode

The E 3, Square-root of 2 Construct #1, Lydian Mode Scale.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Aeolian mapped to the Square-root of 2

The E Flat Aeolian mapped to the Square-root of 2 Scale.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Aeolian diminished 4

The E Flat Aeolian diminished 4 Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: A Phrygian

The A Phrygian Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: D Sharp Locrian

The D Sharp Locrian Scale as you would find it on any conventionally tuned equal tempered instrument.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Lydian 1% Wide

The E Flat Lydian 1% Wide Scale. Stretched octaves are fascinating.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Lydian mapped to the Triative

The E Flat Lydian mapped to the Triative Scale. All the intervals of a standard Lydian scale stretched to fit within the 1901.96 cent confines of the triative (3/1). Triative based harmonies are fascinating as the wide 3/1 is nearly as 'consonant' as the 2/1 "octave."

Scale of the Day: E Flat Lydian augmented 5 mapped to the Square-root of 2

The E Flat Lydian augmented 5 mapped to the Square-root of 2 Scale.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Pythagorean Lydian

The E Flat Pythagorean Lydian Scale.