Six macrotonal etudes for electronic music media
Stephen L. Weigel · Cardinal Scholar (Ball State University) · 2018
This creative project was a theoretical investigation as well as a composition. The goal was to create a twin to Easley Blackwood’s Twelve Microtonal Etudes for Electronic Music Media, the Six Macrotonal Etudes for Electronic Music Media. In my research paper, I explained the historical context of this piece, some of the electronic techniques that were used, and the goals and theories of Blackwood himself. Analysis of three representative etudes (23, 13, and 15 NOTES), which I modeled, yielded strictly demarcated formal mindsets. All of Blackwood’s preferences are strong and easily emulated, such as his technique for writing in just-major triad approximations, or, when that was impossible, non-Western scales or two-step size scales. I treat dyads in my etudes similarly to how Blackwood treats triads. Finally, I also provide a brief explanation of the important structural parallels between my composition and Blackwood’s.