Ivor Darreg -- May 1983

Possible Novosonic Project

The following is offered for consideration by those who might be able to implement it:

Electronic organs, synthesizers, and computers have finally arrived at the point where certain hitherto impossible things are easy to implement and affordable. The crossover-point between conventional instruments and methods, which have risen shockingly in cost lately, and the new instruments and methods for producing music, which have come down in cost during the last few years despite all the economic troubles, has at least in part been reached.

Just Intonation, and the temperaments other than 12 tones-per-octave, have become practical. A number of patents and theoretical articles have proposed that keyboards be connected to special apparatus, such as computer "logic" modules, to permit a conventional organist, say, to play conventional music as it is ordinarily performed, and to select the proper just pitches, or pitches of some non-12 temperament, in place of the nominal pitches of 12-tone equal temperament the keyboard operations are assumed to be calling for.

I wish to warn about this trend: it will lead to insufficient use of the new facilities and new moods and new auditory experiences provided by these new tunings. It will not lead to progress in music unless one uses all the new systems efficiently and gets away from the strangling stifling restrictions of the past century and more, imposed by the conventional instruments.

I suggest the writing of new "instruction manuals" or guides for performers and arrangers and composers, which will show how to use these new resources to their full capabilities. Otherwise, the reactionary musicians who cling to the Past with a death-grip, will still be vicious human roadblocks to any progress beyond the middle of the 19th century! True, some of the transformations required to convert say an organ prelude to just intonation could be taken care of by automatic devices already used in computers and the like; but these electronic devices would often make hackneyed or stock or humdrum choices in selecting the new pitch-classes from the playing on a conventional keyboard. This would appear to represent improvement -- but would be a concealed roadblock, very hard to get rid of once in place.

The modifications of a piece, or the composition of new pieces, should be freer than those "canned" solutions of the problem can ever permit, and this can be accomplished by persons who already possess the necessary knowledge and skills. I won't have time to do all this) for I shall be very busy doing new compositions and getting my old compositions modernized and designing new instruments and techniques. I earnestly hope there are some people Out There in the Real World who can help in this effort. It won't cost them any money: they are going to spend it on something else anyhow, so this is just a change of attitude which will result in a lot of pleasure for many people.