I CONSIDER THE IDEA OF A 2-DIMENSIONAL RECTANGULAR OR HAXEGONAL LATTICE (THE LATTER IS MORE DENSE) AS KEYBOARD CONFIGIRATION OF NOTES AS BEST OPPORTUNITY OF TOUCHSCREEN SOFTWARE AND BEST WAY OF ARRANGING NOTES FOR PLAYING MUSIC ,IMPROVISING AND COMPOSING.
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THAT THE NOTES CAN CORRESPOND TO THE VERTICES OF A HEXAGONAL LATTICE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZczraF3dzU0&t=96s
ISOMPORPHIC 2-DIMENSIONAL LAYOUTS FOR KEYBARDS STRING INSTRUMENTS TUNINGS AND SOFTWARE PADS FOR ARRANGING THE MUSICAL NOTESAND THEIR IPORTANCE IN IMPROVISING.
THE TERM ISOMORPHIC REFERS TO THE CHORD-SHAPES THAT REMAIN THE SAME (ARE ISOMORPHIC) WHEN CHANGING THE ROOT NOTE AS LONG AS THE TYPE OF THE CHORD REMAINS THE SAME.
Isomorphic layouts: What they are and why they are awesome for your music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZczraF3dzU0&t=96s
FOR CHORDS THE BEST WAY SEEMS TO BE THAT OF NAVICHORD,, IN OTHER WORDS ONE AXIS BY FITHS AND IN ANOTHER AXIS BY 3RDS. FOR MELODIC IMPROVISATIONS ITIS INONE AXIS BY 5THS AND IN ANOTHER AXIS BY 2NDS.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274567781_On_the_playing_of_monodic_pitch_in_digital_music_instruments
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274567781_On_the_playing_of_monodic_pitch_in_digital_music_instruments
The Navichord (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRdH_6cxLRg) is a wonderful application that sets the notes in 2-dimensional hexagonic arrangment as in the Serpstra keyboard. The major and minor chords are triangles of notes in it, and are played by pushing in the cenrer of the triangle. The 3 local relations ofthe chords (chromatic=no common notes, melodic=2 common notes and harmonic=1 common note) are immeditely seen. The chord scales and chord progressions for composition are realized by the chord sequencer .
An interesting question when designing settings for grid use of the fretboard in the Artiphon is "What is a geometric arrangement of notes of the 12-notes scale, that allows fast and easy “In the flow” playing and improvisation of melodies , especially tonal melodies with many intervals of 3rd 4th and 5th? (that is within the harmony of one scale) ?
The answer seems to have been given by the design of the next instruments
- The Handpan and Hang
- The thump piano
- The double series of pipes zampona Pan-flutes.
Before this post the reader must study the posts 79 about the 2-octaves 7-note scale by alternating mainor and major 3rds (Small wheel of 3rds).
This scale is also the Harmonic tuning of the guitar (see post 1 and post 90 ) which is optimal when chord playing is mainly the target and not soloing so much
THE MELODIC CORRIDOR
Constructing therapeutic harps, or similar instruments (e.g. thump pianos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbira or hang and handpans or zamponas diatonic double row pipes, pan-flutes ) or such keyboards with this scale, has the property that almost what ever we play sounds harmonic as 3 or 4 notes in sequence are well known cords, and overlapping such triads , are relative chords. In fact we may design such an harmonic diatonic double row keyboard
as follows
-D3-F3-A3-C3- E4-G4-B4-
-C4-E3-G3-B3-D4-F4-A4-C5-
Similarly this can be a beautiful , practical and harmonic tuning for harmonicas.
The blue is blowing and the red is draw. Then with the key we may have the sharps too thus in total
-D3#-F3#-A3#-C3#- E4#-G4#-B4#-
-D3- F3- A3- C3- E4- G4- B4-
-C4- E3- G3- B3 -D4 -F4- A4- C5-
-C4#-E3#-G3#-B3#-D4#-F4#-A4#-C5#-
OR
-C4#-E3#-G3#-B3#-D4#-F4#-A4#-C5#-
OR
-D3#-F3#-A3#-C3#- E4#-G4#-B4#-
-D3- F3- A3- C3- E4- G4- B4-
-C4#-E3#-G3#-B3#-D4#-F4#-A4#-C5#-
-C4- E3- G3- B3 -D4 -F4- A4- C5-
This type of tuning can be applied also as setting to 4 strings frets of the fretboard of the artiphon the midi-controller, and give it sound of adouble diatonic harp or flute etc.
(for he artiphon see here https://artiphon.com/ )
THIS KIND OF KEYBOARD OR TUNING OF INSTRUMENTS (FLUTES, HARMONICA, ARTIPHON , KEYBOARD ETC) ALLOWS FOR MELODIES IMPROVISATION IN A FAST WAY EASILY WITHOUT COMPLICATED FINGERINGS OBSTRUCTIONS AS LONG AS THE MELODY IS A DIATONIC SCALE. IT IS A BIT BETTER THAN PIANO KEYBOARD AS IT FOLLOWS THE SHAPING OF CHORDS BY INTERVALS OF 3RDS. IT IS EVEN AEASIRT THAN SINGING OR WHISTLING FROM THE HARMONY POINT OF VIEW!
The advantages are
- The steps of the melody by intervals of 3rds are successive frets
- The steps of the melody by intervals of 2nd (one semitone or one tone) are zig-zag frets among the two central strings
- Steps of the melody by intervals of 4th or 5th are frets in the two central strings that have distance two only frets
The 1) 2) 3) are particular usefull when one wnat to improvise melodies with steps mainly intervals of 3rds ths and 5ths and less by intervals of 2nds (As e.g. in the Folk Irish and Celtic music).
HAVE A LOOK ALSO ON THE HARMONIC TABLE OR SONOME
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_table_note_layout
AND THE WIKCI-HAYDEN LAYOUT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicki-Hayden_note_layout
more such hexagonal layouts can be designed e.g. binding intervals by 3rds alternating major minor and intervals of 2nds in a single diatonic scale like in the melodic corridor. Such a hexagonal layout of the MELODIC CORRIDOR could be called HEXAGONAL DIATONIC MELODIC LAYOUT
A simpler uniform version of the Melodic Corridor is the Lippens Keyboard, which is considered to be at least 20 times easier than the usual piano keyboard. It is based on the whole tones scale .
A pan-flute tuned to whole tones instead of a diatonic scale is already a simple Lippens Keyboard
Here are two relevant videos
Here are two relevant videos
https://youtu.be/SGGpQoI01Wc?t=71
ALSO THE TERPSTRA KEYBOARD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb_TQpwam54&t=464s
ALSO THE TERPSTRA KEYBOARD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb_TQpwam54&t=464s
About the whole tone scales and similar symmetric scales (e.g. By O. Messiah and Jazz) on the whole tone panflute see the next
The melodic corridor can be also be spotted on the fretboard of the standard tuning 6-string guitar. It will also define an unusual shape of the diatonic scale with 2 only notes per string. More on that on the post 94.
We give the diagram on the fretboard here of a the c-major melodic corridor in the 6-string standard guitar.
The melodic corridor can be used also to define both the harmonic simplicial andthe bridges between its notes that give the full melody
Harmonic simplicial sub-melody. Probably best method of creating first the simplicial sub-melody is based on preferring intervals distances of the notes of the simplicial sub-melody (opposite to the previous method) that are large intervals ,namely intervals of 5ths , 4th 6th or 8th. . The simplicial sub-melody is somehow the centers of the final melody and most often it is one note per chord of the chord progression . It can also be considered as a very simple bass line parallel to the melody. So the rule to choose the simplicial sub-melody is the next
3.1) If we have two successive chords X(1) -> X(2) in the chord progression, and a is the note of the simplicial sub-melody belonging to chord X(1) , and b is the not of the simplicial sub-melody belonging to the chord X(2), then a->b is an interval in the following order of preference 5th, 4th, 8th, 6th.
If the X(1) -> X(2) are in the relation of resolution (succesive in the wheel by 4ths) e.g. G->C then we have 3 choices for a->b, the g->c, or b->e, or d->g. If the X(1) -> X(2) are in the relation of relative chords (two common notes) e.g. C->Em then we have 2 choices for a->b,
c->g, or e->b. And if the X(1) -> X(2) are in the chromatic or complementary relation of chords (roots that differ by one step of the scale) e.g. C->Dm, then we have one only choice or a->b, here the c->f. After we have defined the simplicial sub-melody then we create bridges between its notes by smaller intervals e.g. 3rds or 2nds.
ARAY ORGAN (by Bill Wesley)
The aray kalibra is essentially an Octaves x Fifths arrangement (Vertically X Horizontally)
