Musical composition: using 12-tone chords with minimum tension
Frans G. J. Absil · 2007
This document discusses musical composition with 12-tone chords. Harmonic structures are built from a set of basic 4-part chord structures (mainly chords in thirds), distributed over three parallel layers. Harmonic tension, i.e., the dissonance caused by minor 9ths, is minimized, adhering to a set of rules. This yields a limited number of possible 12-tone chords.