Have we already composed, performed, and recorded every combination of notes, tempo, and instruments? Are we living in a time where we will never hear a new combination of notes? Have we already imagined every possible melody?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Western music systems, there are 12 intervals<\/a> between two notes spaced an octave apart. Play or sing an E Flat note. Now play an E Flat one octave above the first note. You have jumped the full range of possible notes available in Western Music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scales are generally created from a smaller selection of these 12 notes. Within these scales, certain notes are generally played much more often than others. This means that many melodies derive from a small subset of the 12 available notes<\/strong> within an octave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One would imagine that there\u2019s not much room for originality. Let's take a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Is it possible that we've already written every possible melody?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Is it possible that we've already written every possible melody? The first known examples<\/a> of written music date from roughly 5000 years ago. These days we have a more or less permanent way of storing musical compositions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What distinguishes different pieces of music is as much the timbre and rhythm of the music as the melody. Timbre refers to the general sound of the musical notes. The same melody played on two different instruments can sound different because of timbre. A modern musician might compose a melody using the same notes the Beatles used for a melody of their own but the similarities are not always obvious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The music appears to be different thanks to the modern percussion, synths, and imported samples. The sound is further manipulated by adding compression, digital delay, and a whole host of other effects. That\u2019s the beauty of music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the 12 note constraints<\/strong>, musical compositions number in their millions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Debussy once said that music is the space between the notes<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n This got me thinking again about how musical constraints force composers to be creative. Emphasising silence, and letting simple melodies breath can result in the most beautiful music. Debussy once said that music is the space between the notes. Every composer has the same limited number of notes to use and the skill lies in their ability to produce original music. Originality comes from a combination of notes chosen, rhythm, note durations, and harmony. But the quality of the sound (timbre), the strength of the notes (loud\/soft) and the expression placed on the notes are also factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas Newman has an incredible talent for generating emotion through his music. His minimalistic music is in contrast to the work of his contemporaries Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, and Alan Silvestri. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The other day I was listening to the \u2018Meet Joe Black\u2019 soundtrack by Newman. Something told me that I\u2019d heard the music before. On listening to my other Fratres, his 1977 composition and one of his most famous works, uses repetition of musical phrases over drones. This method is based on the Tintinnabuli style<\/a>, which Part invented. Tintinnabuli dictates that certain musical voices use only notes from specific triads and are thus restricted in movement. The first couple of minutes of the track \u2018Yes\u2019 from Meet Joe Black 0:06 \u2013 2:00<\/a> resemble Part\u2019s \u2018Fratres\u2019 1:19 \u2013 2:00<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nHow To Be Original<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Thomas Newman & Arvo Part<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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