I was finally able to hear those Michael Harrison samples, and I think they suck. I doubt that I could listen to that kind of music for more than 5 minutes, and I like strange musical forms.
The problem is that this stuff is interesting in theory, on paper, but the sound doesn't live up the promise. Same with Harry Partch. Partch had some great ideas, but his music doesn't inspire me in the least.
I believe that the basic 12-tone western music system is the most expressive musical system ever developed. The interaction of scales, harmonies and chords in it are more than adequate to convey the entire range of human emotion.
That said, I must add that I don't believe that having 12 fixed pitches is a requirement of the 12 tone system. I believe that the 12 tone system sounds best when it uses notes that are pure harmonies, not equal temperament.
Lou Harrison's music, for example, is always represented on the standard musical staff. He specifies "this interval is a 5:4, this is a 6:5" etc. right up front, so that there's no ambiguity about where the harmonies should fall. Still, there are no odd, out-of-tune sounding notes in his music - it all falls comfortably into familiar-sounding scales. Microtonal music doesn't have to sound wierd.
Michael Harrison's music does sound wierd, though. You can't express any range of emotion when every chord is fighting against the listener's natural desire to hear real harmony.
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Michael Harrison's Revelation Tuning
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Orville Johnson
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i just listened to the music samples too and i didn't care for them either. it seemed to me that the tuning was actually too close to normal tuning so it really gives an impression of an out-of-tune piano rather than something new or interesting.
that said, i will give him some benefit of the doubt and say maybe just hearing a recording doesn't do his intentions justice. when i hear "avant- garde" or "outside" jazz on record a lot of times it fails to move me. but i've enjoyed many performances of that type of music in a live setting. i think the difference is that a lot of that type of music is very much driven by the emotion the player can bring to it and the interest in sheer sound manipulation and experimentation for its own sake. when i'm there in person watching the player's facial expressions, body language, projection of feeling i can relate a lot more to the most radical sound bending whereas when i'm hearing it on record in my room it can sound like just a bunch of squeak, squank, and skronk.
so i'm not saying his music is "bad" music but i wouldn't buy a CD of it. if he were playing it live somewhere i might check it out but as i mentioned earlier it isn't really radical enough to make me highly interested.
that said, i will give him some benefit of the doubt and say maybe just hearing a recording doesn't do his intentions justice. when i hear "avant- garde" or "outside" jazz on record a lot of times it fails to move me. but i've enjoyed many performances of that type of music in a live setting. i think the difference is that a lot of that type of music is very much driven by the emotion the player can bring to it and the interest in sheer sound manipulation and experimentation for its own sake. when i'm there in person watching the player's facial expressions, body language, projection of feeling i can relate a lot more to the most radical sound bending whereas when i'm hearing it on record in my room it can sound like just a bunch of squeak, squank, and skronk.
so i'm not saying his music is "bad" music but i wouldn't buy a CD of it. if he were playing it live somewhere i might check it out but as i mentioned earlier it isn't really radical enough to make me highly interested.