The Veneration of Laces
The Veneration of Laces is a devotional form of music originally devised by the elf Quathari Flowertail. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. The music is played on a ece and a ipivi. The musical voices bring melody and counterpoint. The entire performance is to become louder and louder. The melody has short phrases, while the counterpoint has long phrases throughout the form. Never more than an interval sounds at once. Throughout, when possible, performers are to make trills and alternate tension and repose.
- The ece always should be forceful.
- The ipivi always does the main melody and should be forceful. The voice uses its entire range from the ringing low register to the piercing high register.
- The Veneration of Laces has the following structure: an introduction and a lengthy passage.
- The introduction is voiced by the melody of the ece and the melody of the ipivi. The passage is fast. The passage is performed using the fomire scale and in the atho rhythm.
- The simple passage is voiced by the melody of the ipivi and the counterpoint of the ece. The passage slows and broadens. The passage is performed using the eyo scale and in the aweme rhythm.
- Scales are constructed from seventeen notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1-xxxx-x-x-x-xxx-xxxx-xxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
- The fomire heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 3rd, the 6th, the 7th, the 9th, the 10th and the 14th.
- The eyo pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 6th, the 9th, the 12th and the 16th.
- The rhythm system is fundamentally polyrhythmic. There are always multiple rhythm lines, and each of their bars is played over the same period of time, regardless of the number of beats. The rhythm lines are thought of as one, without a primary-subordinate relationship, though individual lines can be named.
- The rhythm system is fundamentally polymetric. There are always multiple rhythm lines, and the beats are always played together, even if one rhythm line completes (and then repeats) before the other is finished. The rhythm lines are thought of as one, without a primary-subordinate relationship, though individual lines can be named.
- The atho rhythm is a single line with twelve beats divided into four bars in a 3-3-3-3 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | ! x x | - x x | - x - | x X x |
- where ! marks the primary accent, X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
- The aweme rhythm is a single line with four beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | x X x x |
- where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat and | indicates a bar.
Events