Mythology and Music Theory

The different ways of dividing the octave are related to mythological stories. The tonic is viewed as the king or emperor in ancient Greek music, the classical music of India and China. The fourth and the fifth are sometimes related to as the Asvan twins in Indian mythology or to ministers in the government hierarchy. The other notes in the scale are the subjects of the king. Notes outside the scale are enemies especially the one built a tritone from the tonic that, in the western tradition is viewed as the diabolical in music. The chord built on the seventh scale degree is also considered an “untouchable.” All of these ideas are a misapplication of the concept of, “as above, so below.” The ancients wanted to base their societies or at least SEEM to be basing their MUSIC on the natural order of the universe/ heaven. But making God a king and the angels ministers is sheer! projection because of the difficulty we have conceiving of a deity. Suggesting that since there is a caste system in heaven, there should be one on earth is self-serving of the upper classes. Repressive cultural control is not related to morality and is not derived from the authority of a venerable tradition. The upper classes represent their program as fair and themselves and their music theory as moral and proper. They must rationalize their program as closer to immutable values and prevent outsiders from understanding it and of acquiring self-mastery. They use all of the above to propogate unfair classism.

There's a hero in mythology who cuts up the terrible dragon that goes around the octave. The dragon has the scales of a snake from the earth and the wings of a bird from the sky. It represents the unity of opposites and is represented as an urobourus. It’s the most important “God/hero” that cuts it up, releasing the waters of heaven that have been sucked up and distributes the snake’s body as food for the devoted. Its a terrible dragon because of the fifths. This is from a book called The Myth of Invariance. If you create a scale using perfect fifth intervals without tempering them, you arrive at pythagora's comma. The octaves don't line up and processes like the procession of the equinoxes going further and further out of tune. It’s definitely the SPIRAL of fifths and not the circle of fifths.

Southeast Asian/Gamelan Music

Indian, Persian and Southeast Asian music has a cyclic rhythmic concept and so the circular representation of it is the most appropriate. This is also the way they view time with reincarnation and past-lives etc. so the circular representation is a natural.

If we look at the rhythmic cycle in gamelan music on a circular grid, it often has two superimposed triangles representing 6 rhyhmic events divided into two kinds played in duple meter. They do not create polyrhythmic tuplets so are not symmetrical triangles. But the way the two overlap produces a symmetrical star of David/Jewish star, though usually the downbeat is not on the axis of symmetry.

Microtones:

Indonesian Gamelan has an octave divided into ten equal parts for the Slendro scale. Ten being a number of completion in Chinese theory which was carried to South-East Asia. Thai music is divided into seven equal parts where two are left out, usually the 4th and 6th so that there isn't just a scale of all equal intervals like the whole tone. This creates a pentatonic scale (5 notes). The notes that are left out are sometimes used as ornaments and passing tones. Burma leaves those degrees out too and also makes another scale in seven equal but leaves out the third and seventh instead.

Healing Music, Gamelan and Microtones:

The binaural beats of gamelan, created by the 2 identical instrument sets which are tuned about a 1/4 step apart, synchronizes with alpha or theta brainwave patterns depending on the exact distance of the interval. Gamelan musicians even say that their intent is to make the audience half-awake/half-asleep. I thought a 12-string type guitar retuned could also reproduce the shimmering quality of gamelan. The scraper used in Cuban music can also scrape out brain wave tuplets in 7, 9, 11, 13 or whatever.

Thai Music: Tuning

The Thai tuning system is originally derived from the Javanese which in turn was derived from Chinese music theory. The Thai system is based on seven pitches an equal distance apart from each other. This results in a scale which not only does not have a perfect fifth but also has no notes which will be the same as any in the western scales. In Thai music, the fourth and seventh pitches are usually avoided, a practice similar to the avoidance of the 3rd and 7th in China. They function as ornaments or passing tones.

Thai Music: History

Thai Music

Siam history
Over time, the people who were to later become "Thai," migrated from China or perhaps further east or north into what is now northern and central Thailand somewhere very roughly estimated between 2255 B.C. and 1254 A.D. Archeologists aren't certain where exactly they migrated from but some believe that they are from the area between the Hwang-ho and Yangtze rivers. Todays' Chinese music is derived from this region. In the 6th century, Khmers settled in what is now Northern Thailand. The Khmers eventually held rulership over north and central Siam, forcing the people further south to endure the invaders rulership. In the 13th century the Thai people of Siam rose up and overthrew the Khmer.

About the Music 4

If Sufi mystics can use the names Buddha, Jesus and Mohamed in the same sentence then I want to be a part of that. If that's and affront to your identity as a cowboy or a Christian then come back when you're ready to see the larger world just outside your hometown which is literally surrounding your tiny little cultural pocket.

For your information, half the internet is in Chinese. How many Chinese characters do you know? How many Chinese characters would you be willing to learn?

I don't need traditionalists to lose the identity they grew up with. It's fine really and can be fun too. To be fair, they're certainly not the only one's guilty of arrogance combined with being uniformed.

It's the self righteousness that has traditionally come with those identities which alienates the entire world that me and the rest of humanity could do without. We also would like traditionalists to join us in a larger space. If not now, then sometime in the future. Better sooner than later though.

They had to believe in that culture in order to integrate with it because that is where they found themselves. However, such an attitude has outlived it's usefulness. In saying these things, I feel like Salmon Rushdee writing the Satanic Verses.

World Music Project with Robert Plant's guitarist wants me to play on their next world music CD

Some people making a world music project that has Led Zeppelin's singer's guitarist wants me to play on their next world music CD but it's not possible without a computer. My computer got a short and a small fire and is still in Ubud. The reason they want me to do it is because my music on Myspace sounds great and other examples like this.



It's composed to sound like Japanese folk music. I've got other examples in Thai, Chinese, Indonesian and Middle Eastern Styles.

I sent a message to Mark Slaughter asking him to endorse my music composition course. In the message to Mark it mentioned the opportunity with Robert Plant's guitarist emphasizing why they would want me and it also said,

"I was wondering if you'd be interested in having a look at the music composition course I'm currently marketing. It has the tools I used to put together all of my compositions. It's at www.thewritesongcourse.com. I could really use someone with your credentials to give their endorsement.

Free copies are below.
http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/the-write-song-course-ebook/6607644

http://www.lulu.com/content/multimedia/the-write-song-course-audio/6633066

Just listen to the audio while you passively scan the text. What could be easier?

I think we could both make a decent amount of money."

Best regards,

Greg Turner