The Pregnant Silk

The Pregnant Silk is a devotional form of music originally devised by the elf Yemi Rootedflutes. 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. The entire performance slows and broadens. The melody has short phrases throughout the form. Only one pitch is ever played at a time. It is performed using the aro scale.

• The chanter always does the main melody and should build as the performance proceeds.
• The Pregnant Silk has the following structure: an introduction and a brief passage.
• The introduction is to be loud. The chanter's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. The passage is performed in the datome rhythm.
• The simple passage is to be loud. The chanter's voice covers its entire range. The passage is performed in the amama 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 aro heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 3rd, the 4th, the 8th, the 10th, the 11th and the 13th.
• 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 datome rhythm is a single line with eight beats. The beats are named lari (spoken la), aratha (ar), imeri (im), thuna (thu), fidale (fi), tarathe (ta), cuthefi (cu) and cede (ce). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x x x X x x - x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The amama rhythm is made from two patterns: the fela and the datome. As stated above, they are to be played in polyrhythm.
• The fela rhythm is a single line with two beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

Events

• In midsummer of 180, The Pregnant Silk was created by the elf Yemi Rootedflutes in Gorgedstone