Description:
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.
