1Dynamic Tonality: Extending the Framework of Tonality into the 21st Century

This paper describes Dynamic Tonality, a system of real-time alterations to tuning and timbre that extends the framework of tonality to include new structural resources such as polyphonic tuning bends, tuning progressions, and temperament modulations. These new resources could prepare art music for the 21st Century. Author Keywords Music, tonality, music control interfaces, alternative controllers, tuning, temperament, non-Western music, alternative tunings, microtonality. CRISIS IN ART MUSIC Many leading academics believe that art music is in crisis. For example, the Call for Papers for the 2008 annual conference of the College Music Society [4] states “Some…suggest that what is happening in music today is not at all dissimilar to a global warming crisis for our field. If a certain desperation is detected in this call, it is meant only to break through the encrusted proprieties of academic pretension. Ideas that may have served us well in the past [may] now hold us back. The Program Committee invites new, thought-provoking, even revolutionary ideas.” This paper suggests that this self-described crisis can be addressed, at least in part, through the exploration of novel musical resources—including polyphonic tuning bends, tuning modulations, and temperament modulations—collectively called Dynamic Tonality [14]. By expanding the framework of tonality to include these new resources, Dynamic Tonality may help to prepare art music for the 21st Century. INVARIANCE AND ISOMORPHISM Dynamic Tonality is enabled exposure of invariance (i.e., consistency under transformation) in musical data through isomorphism (i.e., consistency of mapping). Isomorphic button-fields, discussed below, expose the musical properties tuning invariance and transpositional invariance. Transpositional Invariance It is well-known that the familiar interval patterns of music theory1—such as the diatonic scale, the major triad, the V–I cadence, the ii–V–I chord progression, etc.— have the property of transpositional invariance: they do not change when transposed to a different key