We define
Music as a dough of elements that, to be explained, need to refer to one other. At the root there is
the sound that, for it’s nature, implements them all. So, with music, we mean an harmonic set of sounds, in which, for ‘
harmonic’, we mean with a predictable and definable mathematical order (that, in the end, is what let’s us distinguish it from
noise). The concept of order involves the ideas of
space and
time, for this reason we distinguish on the axes of the
x, in horizontal,
the rhythm, the evolution of music; on the axes of the z, in deepness, the melody, the order of parts; in vertical, on the y ax, the relation between rhythm/melody, the harmony.
This are the 3 objective features of music. The common element between this three parts is silence, the interval.
To distinguish a sound event from another, we need to admit the existence of emptiness between one another. That is only thinkable at a mathematical level, in which 1 and 2 are actually two distinct events. For the same reason C and D are two different notes because they have 1 interval of difference. So we arrive to define silence as the movement of changing, that moment in which we are no more in 1 but not yet in 2, in conclusion an intuition.
Rhythm distinguishes an horizontal continuity, Melody a depth continuity, Harmony a set continuity.
Apart the continuities there are the singularities that distinguish a specific sound event from another.
The peculiar characteristics of a sound are 3 fundamental, for this reason we distinguish on the axes of x, in horizontal,
the stamp, the peculiar shades of sound; on the axes of the z, in deepness, the tonality, the speed in which that sound vibes; on the axes of the y, in vertical, the relation between stamp/tonality, or intonation, the way in which that sound is issued.
This 3 characteristic mark phisically a sound from another. the common element is the physical object it’s self that issues the sound.
The Stamp distinguishes the sounds released from different sources. It depends on the nature, form and composition, of the sound source.
The Tonality, pertinent to the melody, sums up the possibilities of a specific sound wave, including it’s harmonics and variations.
The Intonation regards the colour of the sound, it’s qualities. It refers to it the notes on the pentagram
(
forte, fortissimo, piano, pianissimo, mezzo-forte, …
).
