The Satiny Skirts

The Satiny Skirts is a form of music used to commemorate important events originating in The Jump of Bristling. 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 should bring a sense of motion, and it is to be soft. Only one pitch is ever played at a time. It is performed in the emudi rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to use grace notes and alternate tension and repose.

• The chanter always does the main melody.
• The Satiny Skirts has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a first theme, an exposition of the first theme, a second theme, an exposition of the second theme, a bridge-passage and a synthesis of previous passages.
• The first theme is very fast. The chanter's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. The passage has long phrases in the melody. The passage is performed using the datome scale.
• The first exposition is at a hurried pace. The chanter's voice stays in the high register. The passage has mid-length phrases in the melody. The passage is performed using the aratha scale.
• The second theme is very slow. The chanter's voice covers its entire range. The passage has short phrases in the melody. The passage is performed using the imeri scale.
• The second exposition moves more quickly than the last passage. The chanter's voice stays in the middle register. The passage has mid-length phrases in the melody. The passage is performed using the adi scale.
• The bridge-passage gradually slows as it comes to an end. The chanter's voice stays in the middle register. The passage has phrases of varied length in the melody. The passage is performed using the arazi scale.
• The synthesis is at a hurried pace. The chanter's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. The passage has phrases of varied length in the melody. The passage is performed using the lari scale.
• Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
• The datome heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd, the 4th, the 5th, the 6th and the 8th.
• The aratha heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd, the 4th, the 5th, the 7th and the 8th.
• The imeri hexatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning a tritone and a perfect fourth. These chords are named warere and fena.
• The warere tetrachord is the 1st, the 3rd, the 4th and the 7th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The fena trichord is the 8th, the 9th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The adi hexatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning a tritone and a perfect fourth. These chords are named datha and thili.
• The datha trichord is the 1st, the 3rd and the 7th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The thili tetrachord is the 8th, the 10th, the 11th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The arazi pentatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning a tritone and a perfect fourth. These chords are named datha and fena.
• The lari heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd, the 4th, the 5th, the 7th and the 9th.
• The emudi rhythm is made from two patterns: the fidale and the cida. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
• The fidale rhythm is a single line with two beats. The beats are named tarathe (spoken ta) and cuthefi (cu). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The cida rhythm is a single line with seven beats. The beats are named lolama (spoken lo), itho (ith), lebeyu (le), efeye (ef), abure (ab), camaba (ca) and afatha (af). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - X x - - - |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

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