I Broke Music Theory
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Peering into the microtonal void that is Nonatonic & Tetratonic Orwell, and let me be the first to tell you... The 31 EDO music theory well is deep!
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#microtonal #microtonality #31edo #31tet #musictheory #musictheorylessons #microtone #xenharmonic #xenharmonics #tetratonic #nonatonic #orwelltemperament #orwell9
A quick note on the phrase "I broke music theory" and other corrections, but first! If you liked this video, please consider supporting my work on Patreon! www.patreon.com/LeviMcClain
A little while ago, I made a video where the thumbnail said something like "I broke music theory". The video was on some basic principles of harmony in 31 EDO. Mainly Supermajor, Subminor and Neutral qualities of different chords. That video is one of the best performing on this channel and has been a real conduit to reach a larger audience with some of these really cool, left field ideas. The chief critique on that video, one that I (probably fairly) got roasted alive for was that I failed to pay homage to all those who came before me with a lot of these ideas. After all, I did not invent the idea of the subminor chord. I also did not intend to make it seem like I was claiming this, because... like obviously I did not invent the Subminor chord. That said, I'd like to properly acknowledge the giants of old in 31 EDO theory that make all of what we build on today possible: Nicola Vicentino, Christiaan Huygens, & Adriaan Fokker. A video about each and their contributions to this robust system of music is on the horizon. Also would like to acknowledge Gene Ward Smith who I understand first coined the concept of Orwell. Music theory is the words and language that we use to talk about music. It's descriptive, not prescriptive, so I'm not exactly sure what it means to "break it". When I say "I Broke Music Theory" I mean something like: I would like to show you the way I approach and understand music, which is likely a little different from how you most likely approach and understand music. The grandioseness of this claim is meant to express how insanely cool I think all of this stuff is, and helps to stand out in a world entrenched in 12. The click bait-y nature of the title is unfortunate, but this is what works in an algorithm controlled world. I think the trade off is worth while in good faith.
Corrections:
Edostep 14 (542c) should be labeled as G half sharp, not G sesquisharp.
Why it isn’t prescritive?
Is there any reasons why you don't publish music on spotify ?
@LeviMcClain I've still to read this note of yours to your video, but I'd like to say already that your challenge to try these scales appeals to me. But I'd like to say too that, while these stuff of polychromatic (Dololres Catherino @dolomuse ), and several EDO, and the lot of microtonal music I've listed from the lumatone commercials, sound to me out of tune, the microtonal music from Mike Battaglia and turkish musicians I've listened to, already does not, without any training or adaptation period... What's going on there, then???
...
Now I read your note: I like a lot the point you make of 'Music theory is descriptive, not prescriptive'. I actually read the same idea on the classical books from Walter Piston.
@@LearnCompositionOnline Actually, Levi's comment looks a lot like a citation on classics music theory books from Walter Piston, e.g.
While restrictions make sense in order to promote creativity, mandatory rules make no sense in any art field (other than the engineering knowledge to perform a technique, or to craft an instrument, to say, which are growable, though)
This explanation doesn't save you from the criticism that your title is untrue clickbait. Everything you described IS music theory. All theory about music is.
All of a sudden that "music theory is witchcraft" video lookin a lot more literal.
so true!! I love it. It has that ethereal feeling of the void from which it came
I've got a bachelors in theology and a masters in electrical engineering. It's witchcraft. But I'm here for it.
i literally just came from that video LMAO
@@KS-pi1kt i found it after this comment, now I get the reference.
It is tho
Came for the brain breaking theory, stayed for classical bass
Always gotta stay for classical bass
@@LeviMcClain can we please get a piece in orwell[9] on streaming platforms/bandcamp? Would be willing to donate extra for that bass 🎸
Literally 1984
The length some people will go for the puns 🤌
@@LeviMcClain I'm interested to hear your thoughts on music's ability to influence human emotion. Does music theory cover this form of "spell casting"?
Wow, great video. Honestly it definitely sounds better than just being out of tune. I think there is definitely a type of musician that gravitates towards this stuff solely to be "weird" but I feel you're exploring it more genuinely in search of a broader sense of real music that is beautiful beyond just being different.
This is an incredibly thoughtful and kind comment. Thank you!
👍
Here to back up OP's comment. Keep it up!!!
Your Orwell (4) song is so hauntingly beautiful, and surprisingly kind of folky!
Thank you so much!
@@LeviMcClain Ver interesting video and would love to hear a full song separately of what you already have in the video.
Have you seen this video:
Microtonal Metal (easy mode)
Ben Levin
He does something interesting, uses 48 tet tuning setting and another set to regular 12
then he triggers them at the same time and discovers some useful unpredictable interactions.
I think most music takes into account the limits of the ear.
We have 12 notes but the music we make tends to center around 5 or 7 notes
"key" and then with chord changes there are some departures
So when we are using much higher divisions of the octave like 31 or 48
we can let that unfold into it's full complexity
OR try to restrict the complexity in a similar way by only selecting 5 to say 8
notes taken out of the 31 or 48 and compose with only that smaller set for a while
and maybe if there are chord changes expand it to say 11-13 notes of the 31 or 48
the intent being to make the music more digestible to our ears and sense of order
and also using a lot of repetition for the same reason.
And there is always the weight of the harmonic series to consider the Mixolydian mode is consonant with the first 10 harmonics of the harmonic series (the 11th harmonic, a tritone, is not in the Mixolydian mode). The Ionian mode is consonant with only the first 6 harmonics of the series (the seventh harmonic, a minor seventh, is not in the Ionian mode).
It would be dope for a mystery or supernatural series or movie
I just can't express how deeply astonished I was, hearing the hauntingly alluring the tune in orwell[9]. Awestriking, eye-opening, no words can epitomise the profound beauty of microtonal music; it's not the first time I've heard xenharmonic piece, but the way you harmonized the tones seems to me, a non-musician - just an avid listener, as a great accomplishment on your part, and although I do not understand the theory, the majestic and charming motif of your composition had deeply altered my understanding of this music category.
Great commentary on this
The guy expresses himself and me as a absolute poet@@mikegeld1280
This is the first microtunal music that made sense to my ears. It's super cool!
And made sense of what microtonal music is. Very interesting!
The Acoustic Rabbit Hole is already composing a minimalist piece for it! It's called "Micro-chondria!"
@@Acoustic-Rabbit-Hole I love the name!!
@@davidrobinson7260My note-to-color music theory claims identity specific emotions that come out of specific keys. Check it out!
i think our ears will get more comfortable with microtones in our lifetime, 12 is getting boring imo
That has a quality of familiarity from the deep in me. Haunting yet comforting.
I love the feeling of discovering a channel right before it blows up. keep up the good work!
Appreciate the kind words man, thank you!
I just watched this 3 times, and I'm still tripping on it. Wow. I thought I knew what music was.
So ridiculously talented, I struggle to comprehend it, fuck. Well done.
Meh filler. Like, 6:20. He couldn't even make the light look the same.
its at 31 likes and i wanna like it but i don't want to change it......
Don’t do it, the synchronicity is too good
It's alright, we will get 31k likes
Look, you have 31 likes.
Microtonalist here too, love how you bring this to more people, it seems to be very successful!
Is the female voice on those songs Zheanna Erose?!
How do I trick RUclips into treating my videos this way? 😅 Great music again my guy, the visuals and singing are especially nice with this one!!!
One must simply break music theory I guess 😂
Thanks man!!
@@LeviMcClain LOL
It’s also worth mentioning for anyone who’s getting into microtonality for the first time; that you could just start listening to more Middle Eastern music, since they have a ton of modes full of notes that do not fit within our 12 note system. Microtonality isn’t some entirely new creation. It’s just no longer within the European musical cannon.
that acoustic bass sounds fucking amazing
Great video - and song/jam examples. Very pretty. Still partway through, but just noticing the table of notes for Orwell[9] has a tiny error, that fourth should probably be G‡ (at 14\=542c as it says), and not G‡# (which would be 16\=619c).
I really like the orwell[4] example, but it really sounds like the tonic is at 21\, so maybe you could have rotated the diagram to show us a better picture of what we hear (a sort of major sixth chord with a sub fifth and supermajor sixth, and actually a lot like a shrunken version of 4:5:6:7 or a dominant seven) - 0\=0c - 10\ = 387c - 17\ = 658c - 24\ = 929c
Holy hell that keyboard with modular keys is super cool, I wish more keyboards out there could do that!
Noooooooooooo, you are so right! Good catch! I’ll add it to the corrections, thanks man!
@@LeviMcClain Also the accidental (#) from the last note (C#) is missing. And F#+ would be better spelled as Gb. Anyway, excellent video, lush sounds and cool instruments.
I couldn't distinguish you from Charles Cornell for a long time, so I thought that this is his secret second channel. It seems that I'm bad at recognising faces.
Are you good at reading by any chance?
(Testing my theory that literacy makes people worse at recognizing faces)
@@zyansheep Although I am literate as a language nerd, my reading skills are below-average.
@@zyansheepInteresting theory 🤔 I guess you can count me in your experimental pool. I'm not THE fastest reader, but like 50-80% faster than average, so I guess that counts? 🤔 As for my face recognition it takes me at least 10 times seeing someone to learn their face and still I can forget it in 2-3 years when I don't see that person and they change their style or visibly age in the meantime. I use more auditory cues, general look/style/posture and sometimes smell to recognize people.
@@zyansheepim bad at faces, good at reading except that i have a short attention span and i get distracted a lot. but i know words and i can kinda process them. also a language nerd like that other person said. and also we're all obviously the kind of ppl to watch a video abt 31edo which may be relevant lol
@@zyansheep Add me to that list of people. Reading and writing just came so naturally for me at a very young age. But I've always struggled with mathematics, facial recognition, spatial awareness, and especially verbal learning. I learn best when isolated and able to work at my own pace with no distractions. A classroom was just never the right environment for me. I learn better by seeking the information I'm looking for on my own and through experimentation.
I don't how you showed up in my feed, but I am so pleased. I took Electronic Music at Brown University in the late 70s. Your music is sonically beautiful and intellectually fascinating. I have the lyrics to a country song that would employ this structure to full effect. It's a about a drunk whose life I saved in a McDonald's parking lot. He emerged from some bush and staggered and fell under the rear wheel of a car driven by an elderly man about to exit the premises. The harmonies could have fun with this lyric. I "subscibed" all.
The fact that you manage to create so beautiful pieces of music out of those exotic scales impressed me a lot! Fantastic job!
Bro, I finally understand 31 TET much better. The sub sets and selected intervals just made it click in my mind so much. And before it always seemed to me like the song was in tune with out of tune notes, but the way you did this created tones I've never heard before. You are truly a blessing to nerds like me, thank you!
Yeah working with small scales does wonders, you can often learn interval relationships better. And then you can ask: what if I want this a little bit modified? what if I want to modulate? And bam you use more or less the entire tuning.
…well I suppose that’s one way how it can happen. I haven’t worked with 31edo, it’s a bit too big for me right now; I experimented with 17, 19 etc. because it’s easier to jam with on a 49-key keyboard (when you want all notes).
This idea makes a lot of sense and will become popular. We have probably already wrote most of the breathtaking stuff from 12TET, Just Intonation, Octonic etc. The last 900 years amazing composers have composed. Music has become stagnant and popular music is ridiculous and abysmal. I have 2 musical ideas I will manifest in 12TET. Then I plan on doing stuff like this.
With how much you "shrunk your niche" I'm surprised this ended up in my feed so soon. And you found a big fan this is awesome!
I'm impressed by your ear. Singing in microtones must be difficult.
That’s why we have melodyne 😅😂
Thanks, dear gods of the Algorithm, for bestowing upon me this gift of a channel.
And thank you for the video! Everything is right up my alley, your production is great and I love your songwriting, too!
This is awesome. Technical systems and vocabulary aside, the musical examples are artistic and utilize aesthetics that are not only demonstrative but also emotive in ways not possible with 12TET.
Man, you just blew my fractal mind.
very interesting!
Do you have perfect pitch, or just really good relative pitch? Using 31 TET on fretless instruments sounds impossible to me
I have decent relative pitch. As for the bass, there has been a lot of work put into mechanical refinement of my technique. Not there by a long shot yet, but we get a little better every day.
I wasn't ready for how amazing this video is
2:48 this might be the best Deftones ballad ever
This sounds awesome! I would describe microtonal music as "Avant Garde" - (new and unusual or experimental ideas, especially in the arts). The Orwell 9 tuning sounds very useful for Psychedelic Rock, Psy-Trance, New Age, Psychic, Paranormal, Spiritual, Ethereal Music, Fantasy Theatrical Score depicting elves, dragons, wizards, angels, demons, ghosts, spirits, magic, and Sci-Fi Cinematic Theatrical Score depicting time travel, interstellar travel, aliens, UFO's, alternate realities, and entities from other dimensions of existence. I could imagine this used in movies and TV series similar to "The Twilight Zone", "Outer Limits", "The X-Files", etc. 🔥
First!!! Let’s goooooo! 31 TET slaps.
very high quality video production and sick keyboard also holy shit amazing voice the orwell 4 example was really beautiful and haunting
I'm assuming this is a new channel because there are a little over 10K subscribers but this guy will blow up for sure. This is incredible.
Nahhh I’ve been around for a minute 😅
But thank you!
I felt that.
It's like an alien technology.
Great vid - appreciated the quality of the music presented, where do we get more?
Thank you! I have a couple other videos on microtonal theory on the channel you can thumb through. Also have more on the way, so subscribe and turn on notifications for future videos!
@@LeviMcClain Thanks Levi, will do. Keep doing shockingly good music.
That was a great educational video but your compositions were above and beyond my expectations. Excellent productions, Levi!
Thank you!!
your composotion style is so perfect with microtonality
Thank you! I wonder if the microtonality informs my composition style or the other way around 🤔
I just found your channel yesterday. Awesome music and awesome topics. I have a question. Can I achieve some sort of useful faux microtonal tuning on a 12TET guitar by tuning the strings at some weird intervals?
Yes, it will sound like a ironic variation of tonal music
Sure you could! You’d be pretty limited with your musical choices though. Probably have better luck adding Fretlets, going full microtonal neck, or bravely diving into full fretless guitar! Thanks for the comment!!
My video “The 12 Days of Christmas” and piece “Tenacious Chorale” both do this
Hey Nerds, that was fun. I like your perspective. Thanks.
Interesting in theory... but it sounds like dogshit.
I recently learned about oreintal music and how it's much more complex then what we think thanks to mircotoning etc...
This video solidified the idea that there is a large world of unexplored music and untapped potential.
Seeing what you've done, I'm very optimistic about the future of music!
I can't wait for you to release an album. This is amazing music and I want to listen to it all day
so you used microtone. and that is "breaking music" wow. incredible. Weird that there was already a word for your "invention"...
Pls see pinned comment 😅
1984 is a perfect description. I can see a form of this being used as a scene right out of Orwell's book.
Just got into theory and you make me feel so slow, in the best way. It’s nice to see people still question and push boundaries. I’m gonna come back to this video again and again till I can understand all the concepts amazing work friend.
Eerie. Ethereal. Now I have a new thing to explore. Thanks.
tavi.
9:07 The RUclipsr told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
That’s… not what I said, pls watch again 🙏
I'm so glad you're here saying all the things I want to but don't have the eloquence. I value your presence in this alien world
Enough with the catchy titles and thumbnails....!
You didn't break anything, you're just trying to get into something that's been growing in the musical world for quite some time now...and as far as I can see you have something to share...
But sorry, the presentation is just too far off. The theory is deep, you might have some understanding of it to share, but don't join the train of all those people who're pretending they're a constant revolution in everything they do...
I'm pretty sure you have something really interesting to share here, but you're so overselling it...I really don't want to watch that, it's just another commercial so far 😄 Please stay honest and don't true, you have enough knowledge and talent to share here, no need for degrading superlatives, you'll still be in the recommandation of us who want to discover people like you. I'm just tired of everyone trying to oversell themselves for nothing..
right
Friendly reminder that microtonal music isn't something especially modern or even fundamentally different from 12-tone. Plenty of musical traditions break the octave into more than 12 subsections, including the predecessors to the western classical tradition.
For sure!
i don't think you need this amount of bait in order to succeed with the channel... and this is not the first time you used the exact same words... it's just not going to register well with people...
what i'm saying is that the video is nice and the songs are cool together with the ideas, just disagree on the way they're portrayed
I'm not really familiar with the microtonal stuff, but that piece at 2:50 was beautiful
This is one of those channel that will blow up years later
The Acoustic Rabbit Hole.
Agreed, definitely ahead of its time
If you're at all interested in microtonal music and DON'T know who George Orwell is, I'd be very surprised. 19/84. Lulz.
Got dayum how am I just finding you now? You sir, are an amazing person, musician and nerd. Thank you for all that you do.
THIS SOUNDS SO COOL WHAT
you, sir, are a genius- new fascination unlocked
Hal, turn on the Orwell 9.
_I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that. And you didn't say please._
I will ALWAYS break music theory. Eternally and forevermore.
Another way to get used to this sort of music is to listen to Arabic or middle Eastern music, or basically any modal tradition outside of standard western music. It's full of this stuff. Even Scandinavian folk music traditionally deviated!
Loved your video! You look like if Sam and Frodo Baggins had a love child. It's your eyes man. Thank you for the good stuff!
omg this video is so well built.
Thank you. Been trying out new formats recently, I think this one turned out okay!
Wow, this video is fantastic. Inspiring on so many levels. I love what you are doing here!
Thank you so much!
6:21 thank me later
I loveeeeeeee your videos about microtonality
Thank you so much my dude!
So basically i was right all my friends guitars are slightly out of tune and they were right it doesn't matter that much. I mean it is a string instrument ...
I thought this was going to be crazy music theory. Its just basic microtonal.
If you struggle with listening to microtonal music go listen to Sevish. He is a master at using different tuning systems
Aaaaand… like that I’m subscribed.
The subject is fascinating and the visual production is stunning... but the two musical compositions, they really hit it out of the park. They are both quite simple at their heart, but you embrace each one for what it is and are not scared to be both playful and try to see how far you can get with it. That shows a lot. Of course everything can always be better -the script is good, but not quite at the same level as everything else-, but there's such a broad display of incredible talents in this video that it would be criminal to ask for more from a single human. Keep it up, you definitely deserve every bit of success that comes your way.
I'm so bored of the Chromatic scale, Microtonal just sounds like the future.
Why da ULTRAKILL font on da wheel
Levi, brother. I just been doing some crazy stuff on dividing by 31. When you map the results on a wheel similar to the Orwell 9 system, it shows a mathematical center of 9. And second, you get this fascinating shape, that probably must line up with a melody. I have no idea how to play this on any instrument, but I’m sure you could. Is there a way I can email this to you?
Yea! levi at levimcclain dot com
The night. Let's go and watch and hear some madness.
This is interesting but also totally arbitrary. You're not breaking anything ; you're merely presenting a different palette. Some will like it. Most won't.
love how the diagrams look like satanic rituals
i think i know what I'm gonna learn tomorrow :)
The moment you said septimal seventh, I was sold on this tuning... its my favorite interval
I love this! I was deep into atonal, electronic, music myself about 25 years ago, I’ve written quite a few pieces and have built several interactive music installations, but ended up in a different career altogether. So this, your creativity and enthusiasm, is in some ways reminding me of that almost lost piece of myself.
It is just a matter of getting used to the sound. You have to let go of the idea that 12TET is somehow 'the most pure' sound, that only feels that way because we hear it so much. If you listen to microtonal stuff for a year you will get pretty used to it. At some point, it all just sounds like music, you won't have that gut reaction to hearing something tuned slightly different.
Great video and music overall, but this entire video was just straight up music theory. Nothing was broken, just a lot of theory about music has been presented…
Correct!
My world just got blown
this channel deserves so much more than 10k subs! great work!
holy moly this is really really really really really good
Yo! This is so interesting. I imagine that nonatonic scale as sort analog of octatonic scale in 12 Edo. Wonder how the modes of it sound... It is nearly symetryc... And still it has (i suppose) 9 modes. Like what would be happening when we shift tonal center arround... Following further, that would be cool to see somewhat extentions analogous with relation of diatonic scales to harmonic major modes for example.... Too much fuel for brain, and i still got to work on the mess i analyze in a boring as 12 EDO stuff ;)
augh, i would've taken years to think of that. Very interesting idea about shifting the tonal center.
@@G8tr1522 well every scale has modes haha. Thats what i am sort of researching lately
I love watching this videos but I'm realy new into non 12 equal tone tuning system. Where can I start learning about all thos topics? Any usefull books or websites? Thank you!
check out Hear between the Lines' music and videos; an useful website is the xen wiki, although it's somewhat tough to understand
Great video and awesome music!
Can I do this in FLStudio?
Ah yes... It all comes back to 1984 in the end.
All notes are equal, but some notes are more equal than others.
31 tones good, 12 tones bad
Zheanna Erose goes even harder with this o.o
Orwell[9]is truly a great temperament. I first heart it in Sevish's "Droplet"
Now I have 2 favorite songs to that name
Check out Löis Lancaster if you haven’t
3:28 it really sounds like mr Collier is in the choir 😲
Nothing new here. There is a 100 + year old organ that has this tonal structure. You have just re-invented the wheel.
Yup! Please see pinned comment (:
This is amazing!. I wonder If I can conform Ableton to this.
and how i make this in fl studio
Mr Wave your hands about
I HATE WESTERN MUSIC THEORY
I am happy this video found me. Did you actually sing those intervals? Astonishing, if so. Also, really nice string playing.
One of my musical heroes and mentors, Von Freeman (tenor saxophone) made extensive use of microtonal techniques in his improvisations. A lot of musicians, both young and old, said he played “out of tune”, but it was obvious to me that he heard the things he was playing and was able to play what he heard. In the context of bebop music, which, as Coleman Hawkins pointed out, was based on the principles of baroque harmony, he sounded unsettling, pushing things sharp or flat, often in the same phrase. Watching him play was fascinating because he was constantly adjusting the angle at which the mouthpiece entered his mouth by raising and lowering his head and re-forming his embouchure for every note- at fast tempi his head almost seemed to vibrate, he was doing it so quickly. The intervals you explain in the video were known in earlier jazz as “blue” intervals, meaning they were in between the pitches of the tempered scale, and as such were used for expressive purposes. When bebop came in, the younger guys tried to express themselves within the notes of the tempered scale so they could show their knowledge of “advanced” harmony, and they largely abandoned the “blue”notes as archaic and unsophisticated. When Horace Silver started writing more blues and soul-oriented material, he standardized the approach to fit within the tempered scale, writing straight-up minor thirds rather than “blue” notes, and notating precise pitches which in earlier jazz would have been played partially between standard tuning.
Thanks for the video, I enjoyed it and look forward to more.
when the anti totalitarian is a police officer for the british empire
Road to Wigan Pier is an interesting read where he dives into some of that hypocrisy.
You make it sound so musical I’ve never heard this stuff sound so musical outside, you know, some crazy Indian musical instrument playing Indian music or something.