Schillinger Harmonization of a Diatonic Melody, Part 4/4 Symmetric Harmonization

This is Part 4 in the series on Harmonization of a Diatonic Melody, as discussed in Book 6 (The Correlation of Harmony and Melody), Chapter 3 from the Schillinger System of Musical Composition. In the final episode you'll learn about the symmetric harmonization approach. The basic elements are extended chords in thirds from the S13 families. Choose a specific musical style and harmonise a melodic phrase with one or two such chords. This episode presents symmetric harmonization examples with four to seven part settings in various styles and we discuss the chord root selection, root movement, chord voicing ad voice leading.
Contents:
00:00 Opening titles
00:29 Section 1 Introduction: what this video is about
01:15 Section 2 Subject overview and the diatonic melody
01:22 Section 2.1 Schillinger System of Musical Composition context
02:25 Section 2.2 The diatonic melody, pitch curve, resistance increasing techniques
03:29 Section 3 Symmetric harmonization fundamentals
03:38 Section 3.1 Difference with the Schillinger Symmetric System of Harmony
05:43 Section 3.2 The S13 chord structure families. Stacking major/minor third intervals
07:02 Section 3.3 Apply S13 to melody harmonization, limited set, harmonic style
08:22 Section 4 Application of symmetric harmonization to the diatonic melody
08:41 Section 4.1 Example, symmetric harmony system failure, 4-part S(4p), three roots R4i
11:27 Section 4.2 Example, S(4p), single S13 chord structure
14:17 Section 4.3 Example, S(5p), two S13 chord structures, fusion jazz
17:02 Section 4.4 Example, symmetric harmony system, S(4p), multiple root systems and S13
18:54 Section 4.5 Example, S(5p) hybrid harmony, two S13 chords, fusion jazz
20:32 Section 4.6 Example, S(5p) hybrid harmony, two S13 chords, synthesizers
22:17 Section 4.7 Example, S(7p), 3 strata, two S13 chords, density control, orchestral
27:30 Summary and conclusion
#SchillingerSystemOfMusicalComposition #SymmetricHarmonization #DiatonicMelody
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[@afrigal2420]

love it!!

[@FransAbsil]

@afrigal2420 Thanks for the positive feedback. Hopefully you found the other episodes in this series equally valuable.

[@auedpo]

Always good to see a new video from you Frans. :) One of my favorite chapters from the book! (7:00) It is very insightful to see some clarification on how Schillinger intended for S(x) families to be used. That portion of the text always confused me.
That Gb+#7|Am chord is absolutely brutal! I enjoyed hearing the final excerpt, although I am not too fond of the sounds from that Spitfire library. I think many of your past mock-ups have had a better sound.

[@FransAbsil]

@auedpo Thanks for the comment; the four-part series on harmonization was another major effort. The Schillinger book is very concise on this subject and hopefully now a wider audience is inspired to try these techniques. In the final example I deliberately chose the combination of an extended diatonic chord in thirds and a highly dissonant polychord. I appreciate the feedback on the orchestral example; probably the Lyndhurst Hall ambience is affecting the sound. Indeed it is not my usual set of virtual instruments, but the updated release of the Spitfire Symphony Orchestra has these performance patches that I wanted to try out. No need for the many tedious articulation key switches any longer. I might have tried a different microphone mix though.

[@auedpo]

@@FransAbsil I must certainly commend and congratulate you on completing this series. It is no doubt that the effort adds to the sparse Schillinger landscape (as we have both remarked before).
I spent the evening reading about strata harmony and made it to three part harmony before my mind started to boggle.. do you have any advice for how you went about getting through a Schillinger concept when it was new to you? I've had good success in working out the examples at the keyboard. I would like to practice the concepts in my own music, but sometimes the topic is so dense I'm not sure how to execute it properly!

[@FransAbsil]

@auedpo One of the stumbling blocks of the Schillinger System of Musical Composition is the frequent return of him listing (almost) all options, combinations and permutations (overwhelming on first read). That also happens in the General Theory of Harmony / Strata Harmony Book (Chapters 1-6). My approach is to try and structure the information. What are the independent design parameters? In the case of strata harmony these are the number of layers, parts per layer, chord structure, part transformations. Then try and understand his listings: is he showing all options or a limited set of examples? Then find the chapters with application examples and composition techniques (in the case of state harmony I would recommend Chapters 7, 9, 10 and 15).
I add many annotations in text and score examples, plus cross-references. I add warning signs, NBs and question marks (potential errors or missing information). I copy some examples to notation software and/or DAW in order the better understand the musical effect.
Then just create an example and try to convert that into a 'full' composition. Take a basic cell (starting with melody or harmony, depending on the subject), create a continuity, instrumental forms and implement the piece in music software. At any stage I might reject or accept the source material, restart (iterative process). And, of course, verify the assumption that writing music with the Schillinger System has deterministic quality and style characteristics (which hopefully is the case, but not always). For most tutorials this process is easier as I limit the boundary conditions and focus on a specific technique or aspect. Along the way I move from the scientific approach to the creative artist mindset. And with the production of every tutorial I learn new things about the system that slipped through in earlier reading. Does this help?