The Umber Chants

The Umber Chants is a form of music used for entertainment originally devised by the elf Muya Drivenflights. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A chanter recites nonsensical words and sounds while the music is played on a icami. The musical voices bring melody and counterpoint. The melody and counterpoint both have short phrases throughout the form.

• The chanter always does the main melody and should bring a sense of motion.
• The icami always should evoke tears.
• The Umber Chants has the following structure: a verse and a chorus all repeated one times.
• The verse is voiced by the melody of the chanter reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the counterpoint of the icami. The passage is at a hurried pace, and it is to be very loud. The chanter's voice ranges from the low register to the middle register. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage. The passage is performed using the fena scale and in the ile rhythm.
• The chorus is voiced by the melody of the chanter reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is slow, and it is to be moderately loud. The chanter's voice stays in the low register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed using the datome scale and in the etini rhythm.
• Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
• The fena hexatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning two perfect fourths. These chords are named eyo and thili.
• The eyo tetrachord is the 1st, the 3rd, the 4th and the 6th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The thili trichord is the 8th, the 12th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The datome hexatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning two perfect fourths. These chords are named adi and thili.
• The adi tetrachord is the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd and the 6th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The ile rhythm is made from two patterns: the timafi and the amama. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
• The timafi rhythm is a single line with eight beats divided into four bars in a 2-2-2-2 pattern. The beats are named emu (spoken em) and upe (up). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - | x - | x x | - x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The amama rhythm is a single line with five beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x X x x x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat and | indicates a bar.
• The etini rhythm is made from two patterns: the otoga and the cede. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
• The otoga rhythm is a single line with three beats. The beats are named dinade (spoken di), cenopu (ce) and ele (el). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - - x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The cede rhythm is a single line with eight beats divided into four bars in a 2-2-2-2 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - | x - | x - | - x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

Events

• In midsummer of 154, The Umber Chants was created by the elf Muya Drivenflights in Lightbeard