User:Inthar/5L 4s

This page describes my approaches to the semiquartal (5L4s) mos, firstly a contrapuntal approach and secondly based on a fictional tradition inspired by world musics such as maqam.

Counterpoint

Melodic approaches: A concultural tradition

In-universe background

Modern Bjeheond (bay-HUND) is a small subtropical continent (about the size of Australia). Two Bjeheondian languages have official status: Tergetian, a language in the Lakovic family. The two main countries are the Republic of Bjeheond, a former colony of the Windermere Empire, and Tumhan, the homeland of the Netagin people. Tergetian, which was originally spoken on the continent Talma to the north, and Netagin, a language isolate, are both widely spoken. The two languages are thought to have influenced each other pre-historically, before Proto-Tergetians settled in Talma.

Bjeheondian music is mainly based on Netagin music, which is based on two main scales: (1) the equi-heptatonic scale, or (2) haniers, which are scales similar to the semiquartal scale, the nine-note scale 221212121 which is an extension of the familiar pentatonic scale. This section mainly deals with the use of the semiquartal scale in Netagin music. Netagin music is usually taught to foreigners based on 14edo, and modern produced Netagin music use this tuning, as well as other semiquartal edos.

Liturgical chanting is not fixed to a particular tuning and may use traditional microtonal inflections or fine-tuned intervals.

A Netagin hanier /hɐ'nɪɾ/ (literally 'stepping') consists of a nine-note scale plus a choice of which subsets to emphasize, either a set of two pezům /pɛ'zuəm/ (pentachords, lit. 'set of five') or a framework based on a buri /by'ɾi/ (lit. 'sprint'), a pentatonic subset where 1\19 is not used as a step. Different styles encourage different subset use.

Mode names

• 8|0: LLsLsLsLs Tsimmaïan (tsim-ə-EE-ən)
• 7|1: LsLLsLsLs Tavulian
• 6|2: LsLsLLsLs Lannian
• 5|3: LsLsLsLLs Bonzhian
• 4|4: LsLsLsLsL Tjatupian (chə-TOO-piən)
• 3|5: sLLsLsLsL Zierokian
• 2|6: sLsLLsLsL Vashmian
• 1|7: sLsLsLLsL Pahnachian
• 0|8: sLsLsLsLL Iporian

One can think of 5L 4s modes as being built from two pentachords (division of the perfect fourth into four intervals) plus a whole tone. The possible pentachords are LsLs, sLLs, and sLsL. (In this fictional culture, these pentachords are called Lannin, Zierokin, and Vašmin, respectively, and is part of a larger system of pentachords based around the semifourth.)

TODO: Does having native mode names make sense?