Programming sequences with Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns
Вставка
- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- Slonimsky's Thesaurus is quite a strange music book, but its impact on Jazz and experimental musicians has been enormous. Today we tiptoe into this extravagant world to see if there's anything interesting for our USTA sequencer!
frap.tools/usta/
00:00 Introduction: Slonimsky's Thesaurus
2:45 Pattern no. 1
04:02 Adding the bass
04:29 Rhythmic variation over pattern no. 1
04:47 Adding a tonal bass line
05:10 Cross-patching a CV for pitch-shifting the pattern
05:31 Quantizing the chromatic pattern
06:30 Integrating the notes and closing the filter
07:03 Pattern no. 141
08:09 Quantizing pattern no. 141
09:28 Pitch-shifting pattern no. 141
#fraptools #eurorack #pattern #modularsynth #musictheory #electronicmusic
Enjoyed this one! Would love to see taking the idea further, maybe around the concept of "I have this composed phrase, how many ways can I manipulate it to keep it interesting?" Compositional techniques in modular is definitely an underexplored area.
That's a great suggestion! There might be a lot of examples of theme and variations from classical music as well. Thanks!
Yo bro right into the rabbit hole. Combining Slominsky with Modular is really cool! I guess you can make 1000 albums by the time you reach the end of the book. Great work!
Haha thanks, but at that point there would be so much music and so little time to listen to it...
Cool! Excellent demo of the Frap equipment, as usual. But also, thanks for turning me on to this book. I've not come across it before.
Glad you enjoyed it! There are a few videos on it on UA-cam, especially this one by David Bruce: ua-cam.com/video/LRCtCB3y7mI/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
It's certainly an interesting thought exercise!
Thanks for sharing this innovative modular, love the those filters and the book is pure gold and a great resource for the devoted amateur or advanced professional. Thanks 🎉
this is great. i love finding ways to apply old ideas in a new context. seems like you always discover that those old ideas were pretty modern all along :)
True! That's a bit of a Western obsession, the idea of always coming up with "new" stuff - once you realise that you can still make good music with old ideas, it's all downhill :)
Most modular music I hear, that isn't totally atonal, (quite often not by design lol),or based on alternate tunings, is either modal or based in relatively simple diatonic chord progressions. These systems of composing are all pretty old. Slonimisky has a greater claim to modernism than those.
The OG unison midi chord pack
precious as gold!!
Thank you!
Love it!
Super nice
Thank you so much!
Yes more like this please
Sure thing!
Cool, I've been using Yusef Lateef's pattern books in a similar way. I've always found Slonimisky a bit obtuse. Where as Lateef is more clear, for me at least, ymmv. Although I've recently got hold of this book, by a Jazz guitarist, whose name temporarily escapes me, which explains Slonimisky by giving practical application and examples. Maybe I'll get it then:)
Thanks for sharing! I didn't know Lateef's book and it seems like a more practical book, with patterns and scales that can actually be useful in an improvisational context. Slonimsky's work on the other hand seems more theoretical, a study into ways of creating new patterns rather than a collection of useful phrases. I think that both books can complement one another, but I'm definitely curious to check Lateef's one more in depth!
What book is that?
More Slonimsky!!
Coming for sure, then!
Really educational I need more tutorials for my usta as I'm struggling with the workflow.
That's an interesting point. Have you checked the six episodes we put together so far? ua-cam.com/play/PLPVhsLeaCG8qqHK9Uxhm9fHHsToPNtFt3.html&feature=shared
If so, let us know what kind of struggles you have and we'll address them in the next episodes.
Awesome patch & video!
Glad you enjoyed it, more is coming!
@@FrapTools I bought the book, thanks :)
Awesome, that was quick - best of luck with it!
I never has the reflex that the Thesaurus could be an inspiration for modular; i must look for my dusty old school book :)
Me too! But as I was practicing on the piano I glanced at the modular and said "well... why not?"
I assume that someone somewhere has created midi files of the Slonimsky material. Any idea where I might find something like that? Thanks!