The Mountainous Drinks
The Mountainous Drinks is a devotional form of music directed toward the worship of Romimi Larkearthen originally devised by the goblin Nguslu Lizardghoul. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A singer recites any composition of The Larks of Teaching while the music is played on a gasnasp and a odsnen. The musical voices bring melody, counterpoint and rhythm. The entire performance should feel mournful. The melody has phrases of varied length, while the counterpoint has short phrases throughout the form. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to use mordents and syncopate.
- The gasnasp always does the main melody and plays rapid runs.
- The Mountainous Drinks has the following structure: a passage and a coda.
- The simple passage is voiced by the melody of the gasnasp and the rhythm of the singer. The passage is at a walking pace, and it is to fade into silence. The gasnasp stays in the strident high register and the singer's voice ranges from the low register to the middle register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed using the usnusp scale and in free rhythm.
- The coda is voiced by the melody of the gasnasp, the counterpoint of the singer and the rhythm of the odsnen. The passage is fast, and it is to be very loud. The gasnasp covers its entire range from the watery low register to the strident high register and the singer's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage is performed using the xenmu scale and in the uto rhythm.
- Scales are constructed from eighteen notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1xxxx-xx-x-x-xxxxx-x-xxxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student. Preferred notes in the fundamental scale are named. The names are ekxox (spoken ek, 4th), asmuk (as, 5th), ok (ok, 11th) and slulasp (slu, 12th).
- The usnusp pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 5th, the 10th, the 13th and the 17th.
- The xenmu hexatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 4th, the 7th, the 11th, the 14th and the 15th.
- 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 uto rhythm is made from three patterns: the odu, the nuklat and the slusna. As stated above, they are to be played in polymeter.
- The odu rhythm is a single line with seven beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | - - x - x x x |
- where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
- The nuklat rhythm is a single line with eight beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | x - x x x x x x |
- where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
- The slusna rhythm is a single line with three beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | - - x |
- where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
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