Ruminations on the Brian Eno A#$!-hole chord: Alternative Voicings
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- A conversation between musicians James Blake and Brian Eno triggered this episode on what the latter calls 'the arsehole chord'. This video discusses the chord structure: an incomplete extended chord in thirds, or, equivalently a form of tetrachord Pitch-Class Set
4-18. A voicing with an exposed open minor 9th interval yields a highly dissonant chord. Orchestration, timbre and register affect the perceived chord tension level. Alternatively close the minor 9th interval by inserting a new pitch-class and obtain extended chords in thirds, pentachord sets and two-layer polychords. These alternative voicing options are illustrated with short musical examples.
Companion document (text, diagrams and score fragments, PDF, 24 pp., A4) available on Patreon.
Contents:
00:00 Opening titles
00:28 Section 1 Introduction: what this video is about
01:22 Section 2 The Enochord characteristics, source material, G#o/G, exposed minor 9th
01:41 Section 2.1 Interpretation as incomplete extended chord or as tetrachord 4-18
04:46 Section 2.2 Orchestration and register, effect on dissonance level perception
07:28 Section 3 Alternatives with modified chord voicings, close the minor 9th interval gap
08:04 Section 3.1 Bass part octave doubling, variable density voicing, minor 2nd interval
09:25 Section 3.2 The dominant 7 chord S7b9, insert F, jazz idiom voicing
12:00 Section 3.3 Polychord voicing G|E, insert E, stacking two consonant intervals
13:53 Section 3.4 Polychord G|Abm, SLIDE Riemannian transformation
16:51 Section 3.5 Polychord G|Ab, insert two pitches, add modal scales
19:14 Summary and conclusion
#BrianEno #ChordTensionLevel #Polychords
Article Music Radar: James Blake reminds Brian Eno that he once accused him of using ‘the arsehole chord’ and demands to know what it actually is. (September 2023)
www.musicradar.com/news/james...
CZcams movie: Talking Robots Into Heaven - A conversation between James Blake & Brian Eno (September 2023)
• Talking Robots Into He...
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I don't understand the point of disquisition. I call this the flamenco chord and I think that is the most popular genre of music to which that sound is associated. It is weird to me that they discuss over such a common sound
@NicoBellisarioMusic Thanks for pointing out the common use of this chord structure in flamenco music. I assume then that my video severely adds to the disquisition degree. Still hope that there is some contribution to the learning of handling open dissonant intervals.
@@FransAbsil i think your video is useful because it is not common knoweledge. What I want to say is that it is strange and somewhat amusing that an experienced musician like Brian Eno has issues against such a popular sound. I say flamenco...but actually a lot of Pop and Hip pop use that sound
Interesting video Frans! This reminds me of some of the rabbit holes I would go down while studying scores in University. It is always interesting to theorize what the composer was thinking when writing a piece / chord change / melody / etc. In this instance we are lucky enough to have James Blake himself to talk about it!
I believe that I would have been beneficial to show how he utilizes the chords in question in his original work to give some context to your further elaborations. I find your most salient points to be the section in which you discuss the modal aspects and the phrygian feel of the chord changes. Looking at the opening chords of the work we hear GM-Cm-D64-FM-DM-GM. James establishes the tonal center with a borrowed iv chord (and other color tones on each chord). Looking at the chorus and its sound design/orchestration choices, these serve to solidify the phrygian sound - the detuned saws waves in the upper register resolve from their detuned G/G# sound to a G unison while the bass plays the oscillating G/G# phrase.
This isn't to say that it is not interesting to look at how to mitigate the potential perceived dissonance with the use of post-tonal and set-theory techniques. In fact, I quite liked the application of the Ulela tension scale seeing the move from dissonance I to dissonance IX. All of the included processes are interesting to hear discussed and see especially when viewed as a point of inspiration for further composition. I don't believe that the James Blake piece strives to let the listener hear an incomplete polychord or a potential riemannian transformation - as his bio says he is known for his 'gently sung R&B vocals around the deep bass and minimal rhythmic elements of dubstep.'
I would be interested in seeing more videos like this in the future! It reminds me of an advanced version of the 12Tone videos where they break down a concept or song in popular music with a theoretical lens. Take care!
@auedpo An impressive and most detailed analysis of the full James Blake piece, I must say. Great to put the use of the highly dissonant structure within the harmonic context of the rest of the song. I did not get that far and indeed focused on the high dissonance degree of the local two-chord harmony. So yours is a most valuable addition to the discussion. Thanks for the comment!
Wonderful ruminations!
It might be worth mentioning that the implicit context in which this exploration is taking place seems to be mainly where the ear is not expecting the dissonance to be resolved, i.e., is used for color, or what could be called "structural color", rather than in a functional harmony context. In the functional context, the ear expects all dissonances to be resolved into something relatively less dissonant, and this expectation softens the dissonant effect. We can hear this readily in jazz, where all the harmonies are dissident to one degree or another, and the most confident chord might be a I 6/9. And then, of course, the perceived level of dissonance is affected by whether it occurs on a strong beat or a weak beat, or, in other words, whether it's emphasized or is merely passing from one relative consonance to another. But Frans’s ruminations are highly relevant because nowadays, we routinely shift contexts, and functional and non-functional harmony are just elements in the composers palette.
@musimedmusi8736 Thank you for a most nuanced contribution to the discussion, pointing out the use of dissonant structures for colouring effect vs. structural harmony functions.
Thank you!
@logman5357 You're welcome. Hope you enjoyed watching and found something useful about voicing highly dissonant intervals.
The Eno 'oh no' chord.