Series

Series on the Psychology of Musical Scales
Major, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor,  Dorian, Phrygian ,

Series on the Usage, Characteristics, et c. of Instruments
Do synthesizers have a place in classical music?  Introduction to fretless instruments

General thoughts about aspects of music
Noise in Music      Contrapunctual vs. Chordal thought

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Noise in Music

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There is a school of thought in regards to musical intervals and timbres which believes that there is no absolute truth or beauty in music, and that musical enjoyment  is only based on the preferences of the individual listener. One of the main arguments for musical relativism is the argument that music is not "noise", even extreme metal or experimental music, and that the intent as art is a sufficient cause for something to be appreciated as music. The result of this is that "music" can become so abstracted from the typical definition that typical noises heard in daily life, such a a rhythmic cooler humming or a loose car part that make a semi-predictable tapping sound, might end up on the threshold of "music" if they were performed in front of a live audience. My defense of the similarity of some music to noise should be somewhat clear by itself, but here is a picture of the waveforms of four different instruments: The flute's waveform is the cl...
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Do synthesizers have a place in classical music?

Introduction Synthesizers are capable of a huge variety of sounds, and that's why I became so obsessed with them several years ago. Nearly any possible instrument or noise can be imitated, and they are capable of hundreds of unique sounds that don't exist in the real world, as well. I spent many hours turning knobs, renting different synths, and recording songs with them. But somehow, after a while, the novelty started to wear off. Sure, I still liked certain sounds, but after watching countless videos of people jamming with synths, I started to feel like just because they're capable of a huge scope of various things doesn't mean that the same things will actually produce the best type of music. Honestly, a portion of the music felt repetitive, boring, inhuman and derivative. Some synths are pejoratively nicknamed "bleep machines" and this felt all too true at times. Considering the money put into many synthesizers, I felt that the actual expressive musical va...
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Psychology of the Natural Minor Scale

Natural minor is the same scale as the Aeolian mode. The piece Greensleeves is in this scale, as well as a lot of chants, but it isn't generally used for music that's newer than the Renaissance. Generally, the harmonic minor scale has replaced it since then. In the key of A, this scale uses just white notes. In C, it uses C,D,Eb,F,G,Ab,Bb. This scale gives an ancient feeling, and it is not suited for modern harmony because of the flat 7th. Because of that, it has no leading tone. (which is a tone one semitone flat from the home key, and is used before the home key to bring tension which the tonic chord made from the home key resolves to) Composing something in natural minor, therefore, requires a shift in thinking and is easier to do with counterpoint than modern harmony. Transposing something that is usually in harmonic minor to natural minor will give it a more somber tone. As far as composing goes, I wouldn't recommend this key over harmonic minor except in situation...
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