The development of a notation system for overtone music has not reached unanimous agreement as to standardization. Since the earliest composers of western overtone music started immortalizing it on paper, most of them have more or less invented their own way of conveying it.
In the late 60′s, early 70′s, both Folke Rabe and Karlheinz Stockhausen had elaborate scores that more resembled hieroglyphics to describe ‘events’.
Stockhausen did not rely on numbers of harmonics, and instead used a system of vowels according to the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Coming up to the present day, with a few more polyphonic overtone composers on the scene, it is beginning to take some shape that skilled overtone singers can follow.
The way I write has the following components:
*The overtone part, whichever range (SATB), has two staves, with the lower representing the fundamental pitches
*The upper stave represents the pitch of the overtone
*The overtone pitches have diamond shaped heads
*The numbers beneath the fundamentals represent the numbers of the overtones in the harmonic series
*The upper stave notes (pitches) are usually written one or two octaves below the actual sounding pitch. This is for convenience of sight reading, and our ears tend to perceive them as being lower anyway.
*The upper stave uses the treble clef with a small 8 above it to indicate the pitches sound an octave higher.
*In some cases, the treble clef with the number 15 above it indicate the pitches sound 2 octaves higher.
The number system used for the overtones has generally come to agreement that the 2nd harmonic is the octave above the fundamental, the 3rd is the fifth above that, the 4th is in the 2nd octave, etc.
Tuvan throat singing, as it appeared in their folk music, was never formally written down. It was not until the latter half of the past century that attempts were made to transcribe it by outside music scholars. Understandably, it was quite a difficult and obtuse representation that included numerous odd time signature changes. I’m sure that the original singers of these ‘pieces’ of music never once considered these elements.
Here’s some transcribed scores of a few of the Tuvan styles and sub- styles, with titles in Russian.
part 1
part 2
Other modern composers you can check out are:
Christian Bollmann (Germany)
Stuart Hinds (USA)
Baird Hersey (USA)
Sarah Hopkins (Australia)
And especially exciting for all you modern overtone singers (and aspiring ones) is a collection of 8 free scores of my music for overtone choir. I hope you will learn your parts (either regular or overtone parts), and join the virtual choir.
CommentI’ve compiled a body of work for overtone choir. These pieces have parts for all voice ranges (SATB). In most cases, there are also regular sung parts with lyrics. The lyrics are mostly English, with a few exceptions. (Latin, Martian, and imaginary language…those 3 are separate!)
Here are some of the reasons and methods behind adding overtone parts to choral compositions.
Why do it?
Well, it sounds phenomenal. It really reaches out and grabs the listeners in ways they may never have experienced before.
Though It’s like a special spice. Not to be overused, and certainly not simply for the sake of throwing it in there. The music has to call for it. I believe any song should speak for itself, and not be coerced into existence for some acrobatic demonstration.
Indeed, some of the songs have overtone parts that are completely optional. The song will not suffer for its absence. This proves to be advantageous if your choir has not yet developed any singers towards successfully singing those parts. You can still perform them. And look forward to the day when that extra part or two comes floating in.
Now for some ‘rules’. Although I hate to use that term, as I’ve always been a fan of learning the rules, so that they may then be broken. But alas, there is the physical law of the harmonic series, which refuses to be bent.
So, we are stuck with a certain order of available pitches for any given ground pitch (fundamental).
Basses and tenors have a bit of an advantage over the alto and soprano voices. This is because they have a lower starting pitch, therefore they are able to produce more of the series, up to the 14th overtone in some cases. The pitches of the overtones get closer and closer together as you move up the series.
Females can still accomplish much with overtone singing, with beautiful effects using ‘falsetto’ fundamentals. Altos usually have a wide range of possibilities as well.
There has been a lot done with overtone music using a single drone for the lower pitch. This commonly occurs in new age type music. The type I am referring to in my own writing is polyphonic, in that the fundamental moves around, allowing the singer to move the 2 pitches apart in opposite directions. This opens up a vast array of possibilities harmonically. Sure, it can get a bit mathematical and complex, but nothing too unworkable usually. Just maybe it takes a bit more time going over the vertical relationships in all the intervals. For me, Sibelius notation software is a gift from the universe. Others use Finale, and there are several other lesser known options. Even some basic ones for free…
So for starters, here’s a score for one of those pieces that have ‘overtone optional’ parts. This one is called ‘The Dawning of the New World‘, an uplifting global anthem for SATB. The overtone part is written for tenor, and could be a solo part. (Give that person a microphone if necessary!)
Note: Post a comment here and I’ll give you the score for free.
That said, I’ll gradually make more scores available according to how crucial the overtone parts are. Thought this would be a good starting point.
To see some overtone notation at work, watch these videos for a clear audio/ visual experience:
Auralia choir sings Pink Floyd
O Come All ye Faithful
Note: The overtone pitches are written in the treble clef with an ’8′ above it to indicate the sounding pitch is actually an octave higher than what is written. This is for convenience of reading. Also, our ears tend to perceive the overtones as lower than they are anyway. The numbers below the lower pitches refer to the numbers of the overtones in the series, with the corresponding intervals they sound like shown below.
3= a perfect 5th
4= octave
5= maj 3rd
6= perfect 5th
7= natural seventh
8= octave
9= ninth (or maj 2nd)
10= tenth (or maj 3rd)
11= (not used much because it is too sharp for a proper 11th)
12= perfect 5th
Lastly, here’s an overtone composing tool from my colleague Wolfgang Saus.
CommentToday I will bring your attention to a few composers of overtone music. By this, I mean those that actually score their pieces. Mostly, these artists compose for overtones choirs, where some or all the singers are skilled in overtone singing. Often, the notation requires singers to be able to sing polyphonically, with fundamentals and overtones moving contrapuntally. Some of the pieces do not require a high level of skill and most singers are capable of the directions. And of course, there are those that score out solo pieces as well.
The genres covered by overtone composers also vary- from New Age to New Classical to pop/ experimental and beyond.
The styles of notation in overtone music vary slightly from one to the other, but perhaps in future there will be a universal standard set of ‘rules’ that everyone can follow. When Karlheinz Stockhausen composed his ‘Stimmung‘ in 1968, he used quite a different and complex system based upon vowels rather than a numbering system commonly used today.
So, besides myself being one of these composers, here is a partial list of some more. (I will eventually add more to this list in further blogs). I have sung compositions in overtone choirs from the first four mentioned here.
Sarah Hopkins (Australia)
Stuart Hinds (USA)
Linda Alexandersson (Sweden)
Baird HerseyUSA)
Lothar BergerGermany)
For examples of some of my overtone notation for choir, click here.
CommentSongwriting and composing methods are dependent on many different factors at any given time.
Throughout my musical life, I’ve gone through many stages of my approach to composing. There was a huge period where everything began using a Fender Rhodes sound (I owned the suitcase model in the late 70′s/ early 80′s, then began using the Rhodes patches on synthesizers). This sound never ceased to inspire me.
I’ve always been a big fan of Steely Dan, having learned several of their songs in various bands, and always sought to find the most unusual chord progressions, ones that folded my ears like origami.
As for lyrics, often it was a case of a phrase or a title that would be percolating for a while. Then, the chords I was cranking out would somehow mesh with more ideas about the phrase, and continue in a more or less synchronistic way.
I’d like to point out the composition of one of my songs ‘The Flip Side‘ from my CD ‘The Ladder‘, because it was so unusual. It started out as a cello track for my song ‘The Big Picture‘. Then we played it backwards, and I improvised vocals over it, without any reference point for what harmonies were coming up next.
Another composition of note was ‘Tuva on Rye‘, which started out as an impromptu a cappella performance of overtone singing in Tuva, only to be completed when I returned to Canada, with heavy instrumentation.
When I got around to writing for my second CD ‘Pulse‘, it involved a lot of different percussionists from various cultures (African, Latin, East Indian, middle Eastern, Caribbean). I found it inspirational to get a few 4 minute tracks from these guys, and take it from there. It would be easy for me to write the lyrics, melody or improvise along with what they provided. So these ventures were actually co-writes.
It seems so much depends on the type of equipment one is using, and how proficient one gets with a piece of gear. For a few years, I was using a digital 8-track by Roland. It was intuitive and fast. They are pretty much obsolete now, given all the recording software available. But so many of these programs are not that user friendly, and you need to be a sound engineer to operate them. A lot of musicians just aren’t engineers, and suffer for it. So much time is wasted that could be spent on creativity. Also, the fact that there are simply infinite possibilities for plugins, effects, sound sources, etc., one can get completely absorbed in these things and lose the initial inspiration. Spontaneity can go out the window.
These days, much of my composition involves writing for overtone choirs. For this, I use the Sibelius notation software. It is fantastic and fast for hearing complex combinations of voices in a vertical and linear way. I don’t even need much of an initial grain of an idea sometimes, it just takes off on its own. I often wonder how much more we would have gotten out of Mozart, for example, if he had had access to such amazing technology.
If you are new to notation software, or would like to start with a simple program, there are free versions available.
Starting songs is often easy, finishing them is a different matter. But, OH the satisfaction when they done!
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