Minimalism for Modular #3: Arvo Part

There’s a tintinnabuli option hidden in Disting EX’s “chord engine” algorithm, and it’s led me down the Arvo Part rabbit hole. Here are some ideas on how his unique and beautiful approach to music might be implemented in a modular system.

0:00 Fur Alina
2:31 Arvo Part-inspired piece

This latter piece is inspired by Part’s “My Heart is in the Highlands” (2000). My favorite version is on this stunning album of guitar renditions of Arvo Part:
https://gunterherbig.bandcamp.com/alb...

NOTE: Although Arvo Part has never called himself a minimalist, and not all music critics embrace the term “Holy Minimalism,” I’m including him in this series on the basis of his return to tonality and to simple processes.

TECHNICAL NOTES FOR DISTING EX USERS:
For tintinnabuli, set the “Chord Engine” parameters as follows:
7: operation mode: chord
8: harmony mode: SATB
19: Cantus firmus: alto (but here, it’s set to bass; experiment!)
20: Position: select your T-voice (closest or second closest note; above or below)

NOTE: You might be wondering what Disting Mk4 is doing in this patch! It is set to “Euro to Buchla Converter” (updated version), to convert Bloom’s 0-5V output to the 0-10V needed for Step Fader’s cv inputs. I just realized how useful this algo is for scaling cv!

OTHER IDEAS FOR IMPLEMENTING TINTINNABULI IN YOUR MODULAR PATCHES:
1. For the M-voice, choose a “pitch center” that is NOT the root of the T-voice triad
2. Try a different scale or chord
3. Try a lower or higher T-voices (“2nd position, superior/inferior” – or -2/+2)
4. Transpose your T-voice up or down an octave
5. Introduce a second M-voice, transposed up an octave and a third
6. Try a different sequencing of T- and M-voice (e.g., a rest in between them; or have the M-voice precede the T-voice, as in Variationen zur gesundung von Arinuschka)
7. Assign a different timbre to each voice

READING
I’ve found these books particularly useful:
Paul Hillier, Arvo Part (1997)
Leopold Brauneiss and Saale Kareda, ed., Arvo Part in Conversation (2012)
Andrew Shenton, ed., Cambridge Companion to Arvo Part (2012)

#electronicmusic #ambient #ambientmusic #eurorack #modularsynth #minimalistmusic