NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

C o m b i n a t i o n To n e s a s H a r m o n i c M a t e r i a l

A PROJECT DOCUMENT

SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC

I N PA R T I A L F U L F I L L M E N T O F T H E R E Q U I R E M E N T S

for the degree

DOCTOR OF MUSIC

Program of Composition

By

Ben Hjertmann

E VA N S T O N , I L L I N O I S
March 2013

ABSTRACT
Combination Tones as Harmonic Material
Ben Hjertmann

Combination tones, also called sum/difference tones, heterodynes, or Tartini tones are
psychoacoustic phenomena created by the interaction of two sounds of sufficient
loudness. During the last half century, composers have been working with combination
tones as harmonic material. This document investigates Ezra Sims Quintet and my
own composition, Angelswort, exploring a few methods of deriving a harmonic language
from combination tones. Though most of the works that employ combination tones as
harmony are within the realm of electroacoustic music, the focus of this document is on
these examples of instrumental music. Methods of deriving harmony, and in some
cases melody, from combination tones are analyzed in these two works. Other topics
include tuning systems, contrapuntal motion, and consonance/dissonance as they relate
to combination tones.

Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s

Introduction: The Acoustics of Combination Tones" ."

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Analysis I: Ezra Sims Quintet"

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Analysis II: Ben Hjertmanns Angelswort! .!

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Epilogue: Comparisons and Conclusions! .!

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Bibliography " ."

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Introduction: The Acoustics of Combination Tones

Preliminary Terminology

"

Musicians have been aware of the phenomenon of combination tones for

centuries. Eighteenth-century composer and theorist Giuseppe Tartini is often credited

with the discovery of the phenomenon. While playing a double stop on his violin, Tartini
noticed a terzo suono, a third sound. He was hearing a combination tone, a resultant
sound of the two fingered pitches on his instrument, in this case equal to the difference
of the two frequencies. Furthermore, he noticed that the third sound could aid him in
tuning. By adjusting the two pitches on his instrument to create a consonance with the
third tone, he found the optimal tuning of the fingered pitches. Thus, the term Tartini
tone refers to a pitch heard below two sounding pitches, used as an aid in tuning. The
term generating tones will be used hereafter to refer to the initial sounding pitches, in
this case, the fingered pitches of the double stop.
"

Musicians are also familiar with the term beating, which refers to regular

fluctuations in the volume of two sounds whose frequencies of oscillation are similar. As
two sounds diverge from a perfect unison we hear an increase in beating. Performers
consciously or unconsciously adjust to eliminate beats as a method of tuning.
"

Arthur Benades seminal work Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics uses the term

heterodynes to refer to any sounds perceived as a result of two other sounds 1. In this
document, the general term combination tones will be used to refer to all of the above
1

Arthur Benade, Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics, 256.

phenomena as well as any other resultant frequencies from the combination of two
sounds. The terms sum tone and difference tone refer to distinct identities within the
larger category of combination tones.

The Production of Combination Tones

"

To demonstrate the phenomenon of combination tones, let us imagine that we are

holding two tuning forks near one of our ears. One of the forks is tuned to A 440 Hz,
meaning it oscillates 440 times per second when struck. The second fork, perhaps a
factory reject, is tuned to 441 Hz (or 441 cycles-per-second). In musical terms, this
disparity is about four cents, meaning 4% of one semitone. When both forks are struck
simultaneously and held up to the ear, the sound is perceived as a single pitch.
Humans can recognize a difference between two pitches that are three to six cents
apart 2 , depending on the individual. Since they are sounding simultaneously, the aural
effect is a unison.
"

The unison will beat (fluctuate in volume) at a predictable frequency equal to the

difference of the two generating frequencies, 1 Hz. Since the lower threshold of human
pitch perception is around 20 Hz, a sound oscillating at 1 Hz is not perceived as a pitch
(as in the Tartini Tone) but as a slow rhythm, like a metronome pulsing at 60 bpm, the
tempo equivalent of 1 Hz. This slow fluctuation can still be described as a difference
tone even though it is perceived as a rhythmic pulsing rather than a distinct pitch. The
process is the same. This experiment also demonstrates that the difference tone is not

Beatus Dominik Loeffler, Instrument Timbres and Pitch Estimation in Polyphonic Music, 15-26.

actually a separate sound, but rather, a fluctuation in the loudness of the composite
unison created by the two forks. They are beating at a rate of one beat-per-second.
"

In order to fully explain the phenomenon of this difference tone, we must first

understand the physics of sound waves and phase cancellation. One can observe a
sine wave on an oscilloscope tracing a path from its highest amplitude (peak, or +1), to
its lowest amplitude (trough, or -1) crossing zero in between. The path from zero to +1,
to zero, to -1, and back to zero completes one cycle of the sine wave. For our 1 Hz
difference tone, that process takes precisely one second. The amplitude of the sound is
perceived as the absolute value of the signal. Therefore, both the peaks and the
troughs are perceived as full volume, while the zero-crossings are perceived as silence.
"

When two sounds are simultaneously perceived, the loudness of their respective

sound waves are summed together. In our tuning fork example, when the two forks are
struck, the oscillations begin in-phase, meaning that the peaks and troughs are
aligned. At this moment, the composite sound is perceived as louder than the volume of
the single fork (Figure 1). The result of the summation is the absolute value of 1 + 1
and -1 + -1 at the peaks and troughs, which in both cases is two. Both signals cross the
0-axis at the same time. This is known as constructive interference. If our forks were
were both tuned to 440 Hz, the oscillation would continue this way. As the mistuned
forks continue to oscillate, they become increasingly out-of-phase until after one halfsecond, the peak of the 441 Hz fork aligns with the trough of the 440 Hz fork. At this
moment, the summation of the two signals equals the absolute value of 1 + -1 and -1 +
1, which in both cases equals zero (Figure 1). This phenomenon is called destructive

interference or phase cancellation. Since the two oscillators cancel each other out, the
net result is silence.

Fork A
440Hz

Fork B
441Hz

Composite

"

"

0 seconds!

0.5 seconds!

1 second

+1

+1

+1

-1

-1

-1

+1

+1

+1

-1

-1

-1

+2

+2

+2

+1

+1

+1

-1

-1

-1

-2

-2

-2

"

"

"

"

Figure 1. Composite Loudness of Two Sound Waves, Phase Cancellation

"

The two moments described above occur for only about a millisecond. The two

mistuned forks begin in-phase, gradually move out-of-phase at 0.5 seconds, then
gradually move back into phase in order to start the cycle again at the end of one
second. Therefore, the amplitude of the composite sound scales from two to zero and
back to two every second. We perceive the composite sound as beating, or pulsing at
the frequency of the difference between the two input signals.
"

Imagine we performed the same experiment again using our standard 440 Hz

tuning fork but replaced the 441 Hz fork with a fork tuned to 495 Hz, approximately an

equal-tempered B. If we struck the two forks simultaneously we would perceive the

interval of the major second instead of a composite unison. We also notice that the
beating disappears and is replaced by another phenomenon, the so-called Tartini tone.
Again, we would hear a frequency equal to the difference of the two sounds. In this
case, the difference tone is A 55 Hz, three octaves below A 440 Hz. The two pitches are
far enough apart that their interference is perceived as a pitch rather than a rhythm.
"

These two tuning fork examples produce two different perceptual results through

the same physical process. In the second example we still perceive fluctuations of
loudness in the composite major second, but they are rapid enough to be perceived as
a separate pitch. The difference tone, the specific combination tone perceived by Tartini
and used in our tuning fork example is often the most readily audible of all combination
tones. However, there are an infinite number of combination tones that could be
perceived depending on the acoustical circumstances, though many of them will be
extremely quiet.

The Importance of Tuning Systems

"

All individual acoustic3 sounds are actually a composite of many constituent

frequencies called partials. The lowest (and usually loudest) partial in a sounds
spectrum is referred to as its fundamental, which we perceive as the sole pitch. As we
move up the frequency spectrum, the partials become quieter. In most sounds4, the

3
4

As opposed to synthesized sine waves.

Those with partials that are not whole number multiples of a single fundamental are referred to as
inharmonic.

partials are harmonics (or overtones) that are whole number multiples of the
fundamental pitch5 .
"

Except for the octave, there is no interval shared between the harmonic series and

our 12-Tone Equal Temperament tuning system. This discrepancy has lead some
composers to use tuning systems based on harmonic ratios, also called Just Intonation.
This term refers to any tuning scheme derived from harmonics, not a single scale or
tuning system. The rudimentary pitches in Just Intonation are harmonics labeled using
whole numbers. Intervals and chords are described using whole number ratios, such as
the major triad 6:5:4 and the dominant-7th chord 7:6:5:4.
"

With Just intervals, combination tones reinforce the larger tonality. Since all

harmonics are multiples of a given fundamental, all combination tones created from the
interaction of harmonics will result in other harmonics above the same fundamental. In
the second tuning fork example above, the two forks, 440 Hz and 495 Hz have a
frequency ratio of 9:8, also called the Just major whole tone6, so the difference tone of
55 Hz is exactly equivalent to the fundamental. Since harmonic ratios are equivalent to
frequency ratios, 495-440=55 can be simplfied in Just Intonation as 9-8=1.
"

Equal-tempered intervals, on the other hand, create combination tones that often

bear no resemblance to the generating tones and are not themselves equal-tempered.
Equal-tempered intervals vary in their deviation from harmonic intervals. Certain equaltempered intervals, such as the perfect 5th, are fair approximations of harmonic
intervals, and produce combination tones that reinforce a kind of quasi-harmonic

Franois Rose, Introduction to the Pitch Organization of French Spectral Music, 6.

Kyle Gann, Anatomy of an Octave, http://www.kylegann.com/Octave.html

10

system. The equal-tempered P5 is only two cents lower than the Just 3:2, which is a
virtually imperceptible difference to the ear. Other equal-tempered intervals, such as
the major third, are more noticeably inharmonic. The equal-tempered major third is 14
cents above the Just 5:4. In Figure 2 below, these two intervals are shown, first in Just
Intonation and then in Equal Temperament. The sum and difference tones are shown
above and below each pair of input pitches.

"
Figure 2. Just Vs. Equal-Tempered P5 and M3 with Combination Tones.

"

The two-cent deviation in the perfect fifth generating interval creates a negligible

one-cent deviation in the sum tone and a barely noticeable six-cent deviation in the
difference tone. The 14-cent deviation in the major third generator creates a smaller
ten-cent offset in the sum and an enormous 67-cent deviation in the difference.

11

"

The discrepancy between the relative tuning of the sum tone and difference tone in

Figure 2 is caused by our hearing mechanism. We perceive frequency logarithmically,

meaning that each doubling in frequency is perceived as a linear change in pitch of one
octave. Therefore, an identical variation in frequency equates a larger pitch offset in low
registers than in high.

Combination Tone Orders

"

In discussing combination tones it will be useful to develop a nomenclature that

points to their origin. Hereafter, [P]7 will refer to the lower-pitched and [Q] will refer to
the higher-pitched of the two generating tones. These are the variables used by Arthur
Benade in Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics. These letters are somewhat arbitrary,
but they avoid conflict with note names and common mathematical variables.
"

In the process of calculating combination tones one may encounter a negative

answer for a difference equation. The case is similar to the amplitude of a sine wave
oscillating between -1 and 1. Only the absolute value is relevant8. In other words, if [PQ] is negative, we can substitute [Q-P], which is positive. Since we are only considering
absolute value, the four possible equations, [P+Q], [Q+P], [P-Q], and [Q-P], result in
only two answers.
"

When discussing combination tones, I will refer to orders of component

frequencies, as suggested by Benade in Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics. The first

The brackets are used to enclose a single perceived pitch, the contents of the brackets illustrate its
origin in relation to the generating tones, P and Q.
8

Arthur Benade, Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics, 257.

12

order is comprised of the two original fundamentals, [P] and [Q]. The second order
contains the combinations of those two pitches, [P+Q] (also called the sum tone) and
[P-Q] (also called the difference tone).
"

As previously discussed, in an acoustic system the harmonics of both

fundamentals will always be present as well. Therefore, [2P], [2Q], [3P], [3Q], [4P],
[4Q], etc. are assumed. The third order involves the interactions of one fundamental
with a second harmonic, [2P+Q], [2Q+P], [2Q-P], and [2P-Q]9 . Keep in mind that [Q-2P]
and [P-2Q] are identical to [2P-Q] and [2Q-P] respectively, because of the absolute
value rule described above. These same combination tones could also be described as
the interaction of one combination tone from the second order and one generating tone.
For example, if [P+Q] is combined with [Q], the resulting combination tones would be
[2QP]. Third-order combination tones are less discussed, because they are less often
audible.
"

The fourth order consists of [2P+2Q] (or two times the sum tone), [2P-2Q] (or two

times the difference), [3PQ], and [3QP]. These are derived using two elements from
the second order, or one element from the third order and one element from the first
order. The fifth order contains [2P3Q], [2Q3P], [P4Q], and [Q4P]. This process
continues through an infinite number of orders.

This particular combination tone [2P-Q], has earned its own name, the cubic difference tone, because
it is often easily perceptible.

13

Audibility of Upper Orders

"

Benade explains the first three orders, and states that higher orders are musically

negligible10. Indeed, most musical examples do not reach beyond the third
combination tone order, but in certain acoustic and compositional scenarios, which will
be discussed in the following analyses, higher orders are absolutely relevant.
"

Because they involve harmonics that are proportionally quieter than the

fundamental, the combination tones from the third order and higher are quieter than the
lower orders. Still, upper-order pitches are audible in certain circumstances.
"

A naturally occurring example of upper-order combination tones is the complex

timbre of woodwind multiphonics. Multiphonics are a result of the instrument attempting

to oscillate at two frequencies simultaneously 11. The clash of the two sounds result in
mathematically predictable combination tones. Similarly, when one whistles while
singing, or sings through an instrument while producing a normal tone simultaneously,
the same phenomenon occurs.
"

A recording of harmonic number 244 from Peter Veale and Claus-Steffen

Mahnkopfs The Techniques of Oboe Playing was analyzed for pitch in Max/MSP using
the ~fiddle object. This analysis yielded 29 specific pitches audible in the multiphonic.
Perceptually, the sound is a clangorous ringing, similar to that of a bell. Present in that
gestalt sound are the individual combination tones seen in Figure 3. I assigned P and Q
to the two loudest component pitches: P is 509 Hz and Q is 709 Hz.

10

Ibid., 256-257.

11

Peter Veale and Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, The Techniques of Oboe Playing, 69-71.

Frequencies: 509
Analysis: [P]

[Q]

[2P]

[P+Q]

[3P]

[2P+Q] [2Q+P]

[4P]

1018 1218 1527 1727 1927 2036

2236 2436 2746 2946

3146 3654 3963

4165 4471

4674 4872 5383 5895

6406

[3P+Q] [2P+2Q] [4P+Q] [3P+2Q] [3Q+2P] [3Q+3P] [5P+2Q] [4P+3Q] [6P+2Q] [5P+3Q] [4Q+4P] [5P+4Q] [6P+4Q] [7P+4Q]

2.
Figure
1. Oboe
Multiphonic
Spectral
Analysis
Figure 3. Oboe Multiphonic Spectral
Analysis
with
microtonal
symbols
from Hjertmanns Angelswort

909

[2Q-P]

709

bw nw J w nw #w K w
n
w
n
w
w
L
n
w
Bw Bw bw J w K w #w
K
w
&
B
w
w B w Jw
K
w
&B w

15

14

14

15

"

Notice the prevalence of sum tones in this example, and the absence of the

difference tone. The formants created by the physical shape and construction of the
oboe account for the particular collection of combination tones that are present12.
Because each instrument has unique areas of the frequency spectrum that are
prominent and others that are attenuated, the combination tones that fall within those
frequency bands are strengthened or attenuated respectively.
"

Given the presence of 3654 Hz [3P+3Q] and 4872 Hz [4P+4Q], we can recognize

the presence of whole number multiples of the sum tone, which could also be labeled as
[3(P+Q)] and [4(P+Q)]. The same can occur with harmonics of the difference tone. We
also notice a linearity to the combination tones, many of which are exactly 200 Hz apart,
the frequency of the difference tone. This provides yet another way to examine the
combination tone phenomenon. The harmonic series of the difference tone (200 Hz)
could also be described as a scale in which each step is 200 Hz apart. Most of the
multiphonics constituent pitches can be described as combinations of the difference
tone and [P]. The first eleven pitches in the figure above could be called [P], [P+Diff], [P
+2(Diff)], [2P], [2P+Diff], [3P], [3P+Diff], [3P+2(Diff)], [4P], [4P+Diff], [4P+2(Diff)].
"

Any given combination tone in a system, e.g., [3P-2Q], can be theoretically derived

from the interaction of the harmonics of P and Q, the interaction of another combination
tone and a fundamental or harmonic, e.g., [(2P-2Q)+P], or the interaction between
multiple combination tones, e.g., [(P-Q)+(2P-Q)]. Because all the heterodynes are
arithmetically related, one could assign the names P and Q to other pitches and still
12

ibid.

16

derive all the remaining pitches. In Figure 3 for example, one could assign [P] to 709
Hz and [Q] to 1218 Hz. The pitches could then be described in order from lowest-tohighest as: [P-Q], [P], [3P-Q], [2Q-2P], [Q], [3Q-3P], [2Q-P], [P+Q], [4Q-4P], [3Q-2P],
[2Q], [4Q-3P], [3Q-P], [2Q+P], [3Q], [5Q-3P], [4Q-P], [6Q-4P], [5Q-2P], [4Q], [5Q-P],
[6Q-2P], and [7Q-3P]. The initial analysis seen in Figure 3 is preferable only because it
involves lower harmonics and uses adjacent tones as the generators.
"

The generating interval in the multiphonic, 709:509, is about 9 cents smaller than a

Just septimal tritone13, 7:5 of a fundamental around 101 Hz. As in Figure 2, the ear
recognizes the close approximation and the listener may perceive a fundamental
around 101 Hz or second harmonic around 202 Hz. Some combination tone systems,
like this one, so closely approximate harmonic systems that they will be perceived as
stretched or colored harmonic series. In this case, we hear a relationship that suggests
a fundamental below the normal range of the oboe.

Compositional Applications of Combination Tones

"

The earliest compositional applications of combination tones date to the 1950s

with the use of amplitude modulation, also called ring modulation. Ring
modulation is an effect which modulates the amplitude of an input signal by the
amplitude of the carrier signal. This is the same type of interference which occurred in
the tuning fork example, generating sum and difference tones. These mixed with the
input signal, creating a harmonization of the input. Karlheinz Stockhausen was one of

13

Kyle Gann, Anatomy of an Octave, http://www.kylegann.com/Octave.html

17

the first composers to use this effect as an element in composition. The earliest
examples include Mixtur (1964), in which he applied live ring modulation to orchestral
groups using microphones and sine tone generators14, and Mikrophonie II (1965) in
which he combined the signals of a live Hammond organ with a choir of voices.
"

The bulk of compositional practice involving combination tones followed from the

use of ring modulation within the electroacoustic realm. However, the focus of this
document is two works for acoustic instruments that employ combination tones not as
an effect, but as a method of controlling harmony and counterpoint. Early experiments
with this approach include Grard Griseys Partiels (1975) that uses combination-tone
harmony as a means of transition from noise sounds to pitched sounds15. Tristan
Murails Ethers (1978) uses combination tones as a harmonic device controlling the
pitch of a solo flute and ensemble. Claude Vivier used a similar technique to create
what he called les couleurs in Lonely Child (1980)16 and many of his late works.
Maryanne Amacher used the microsonic inner-ear emissions (otoacoustics) of her
audience, including them as direct participants in the combination-tone harmony. La
Monte Young and Horaiu Rdulescu have capitalized on the shamanistic element of
combination tones as a musico-mystical entry point for composition. La Monte Young
refers to combination tones in connection with the Yogic concept of anahata nada17, the

14

Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Electroacoustic Performance Practice", 74-105.

15

Joshua Fineberg, Spectral Music: History and Techniques, 129.

16

Bob Gilmore, On Claude Viviers Lonely Child, 4-8.

17

La Monte Young, La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela at the Dream House: In Conversation with
Frank J. Oteri, 2.

18

unstroked sound, while Rdulescu invokes them as self-generative functions18, one of

many sound categories within his works. Hans Zender uses the technique in parallel to
other harmonic principles to create a harmony of opposing tensions 19. Ezra Sims has
taken the technique even further. It emerges as a guiding harmonic principle in his
1987 composition, Quintet.

18

Horaiu Rdulescu, The World of Self-Generative Functions as a Basis of the Spectral Language of
Music, 322.
19

Robert Hasegawa, Gegenstrebige Harmonik in the Music of Hans Zender, 9-18.

19

Analysis I: Ezra Sims Quintet

"

Ezra Sims began using combination tones through an intuitive process of

composing in Just Intonation.

...a strong - and unwilled - tendency, while composing, to hear the notes in my imagination
as if they were related by ideal harmonic ratios and creating (or at least strongly implying)
resultant tones - both difference and summation. This seems to happen in the case of both
harmonic and melodic juxtaposition. Indeed, the first instance of it that I was forced to notice
was melodic, and occurred while I was writing my first string quartet when a melodic
succession of an E and an F seemed to demand that the next note be a quarter-sharp E in
the octave above. This, I later decided, must have been an instance of a 16th harmonic
reacting with a 17th to demand a 33rd.20

"
"

Many composers and performers are familiar with more than twelve equal

divisions of the octave, using quarter tones and occasionally sixth tones creating 24tone and 36-tone scales. These tuning systems expand the interval palette
substantially and in some cases allow for better approximations of Just intervals. For
example, the Just 7:4 can be closely approximated with sixth tones. A more extreme
example is the 72-tone equal temperament used by Ezra Sims 21 in most of his mature
works, including his Quintet for clarinet, two violins, viola, and cello. This tuning divides
each half step of the chromatic scale into six equal parts with each discrete pitch 16.66
cents apart. When Sims approximates harmonics of a given fundamental there is only
an 8.33 cent maximum margin of error. Like the pioneering work of Harry Partch and
Ben Johnston, Sims uses an equal-tempered tuning scheme to approximate a Just
20

Ezra Sims, Harmonic Ordering in Quintet: A Use of Harmonics as Horizontal and Vertical Determinants,
1-7.
21

The same microtonal scale is used by Hans Zender in his works using combination tones, though the
symbology is different. See Zender, Die Sinne Denken.

20

ideal. This is a useful compromise between the ideal of Just Intonation and the
flexibility of Equal temperament. It also builds on traditional notation.
...it was necessary to have a division of the whole tone equal to the least common
denominator of the fractions, namely 12. This meant a 72-note octave, just as it had earlier
been necessary to have a division of the whole tone using the least common denominator of
1 and 1/2, that is, the chromatic 12-note octave, in order to transpose the collection of
(ostensibly) equal-tempered whole and 1/2-tones that is the diatonic scale to begin on any
member of itself and retain the proper succession of its intervals.22

Sims notates the 72-note system using the standard accidentals and three additional
symbols (Figure 4). Using these symbols in combination, the 72-tone chromatic
scale23 is assembled (Figure 5).

Figure 4. Four Inflection Symbols used in Ezra Sims Quintet 24.

22

Ezra Sims, Yet Another 72-Noter, 31.

23

Ibid., 28-31.

24

Figure is taken from Ezra Sims Quintet.

21

Figure 5. The Construction of a 72-tone Chromatic Scale 25.

"
"

From this, a diatonic scale (Figure 6) is assembled consisting of a fundamental/

tonic and 1/12-tone approximations of Just intervals from harmonic partials 16-32.

The music uses an 18-note subset of the 72 notes in the same way that tonal music uses
the 7-note diatonic subset of the 12. At any moment, there is in effect a transposition of that
subset that defines a unique tonal region in exactly the same way transpositions of the
diatonic scale do. ... This makes a full 18-note scale made up of a succession of six 1/3tones, two 5/12-tones, seven 1/3- tones, and two 1/4-tones.

25

ibid.

22

Figure 6. Sims Diatonic Scale 26.

Such scales were not entirely new at the time of the Quintet. Sims cites

similarities to Wendy Carlos harmonic scale 27, used on her Beauty in the Beast album
from 1986. This diatonic scale can be transposed to begin on any of the 72 chromatic
pitches, just as the traditional diatonic scale can be transposed to any of the 12
traditional chromatic pitches. Sims uses this flexibility to modulate not only to the key
area of the dominant (Just 3:2) but also to the key area of the Just lesser undecimal
tritone28 (Just 11:8) and other distant, yet related key areas.
"

Sims discovered a method of enriching tonality by expanding its breadth. The

category of relatively consonant intervals is extended to include any pitches that

correspond to harmonics 8-15, shown in Figure 6 with open noteheads. He views the
other pitches, corresponding to higher harmonics, as less stable, shown in Figure 6 with
filled noteheads.
26

This example is taken from Yet Another 72-Noter, page 31.

27

Dominic Milano, A Guided Tour of Beauty in the Beast, 1-2; and Dominic Milano, A Many-Colored
Jungle of Exotic Tunings, 1-2.
28

Kyle Gann, Anatomy of an Octave, http://www.kylegann.com/Octave.html

23

"

As in tonal music, it is important here to make a clear distinction between the

fundamental, analogous to the root of a chord, and the bass, or lowest note at any given
moment in the music, even though they are in many cases the same pitch.
"

The Quintet follows a succession of fundamentals, which are clearly labeled in the

score to provide harmonic context for all the pitch material. As is the case for much
music in Just Intonation29 , the fundamentals are well below the range of the lowest
instrument, in this case the cello. The bass pitch at any given time is a relatively low
harmonic of that fundamental. Sims considers the change of fundamentals as
analogous to a traditional key change30. Their order and relationship to the global tonic
are carefully planned. The first movement introduces a sequence of fundamentals
designed early in the process of developing the piece31. The sequence is G, D, B 1/12low, F 1/6-low, A, and C# 1/4-low. These pitches are the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th
harmonic partials of a global tonic G. At the beginning of the first movement these are
heard in measures 1-10. The same progression is then repeated in measures 11-20,
transposed to start on C# 1/4-low. The 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 progression is preserved now
with a different tonic. The second progression could also be described as 11, 33, 55,
77, 99, and 121 in relation to G. This figure is transposed several more times to other
harmonics of the global G fundamental. The first movement, however, is not discussed
in depth in this analysis because the approach to combination tones in that movement is
the same as in the second movement where it is more fully developed.
29

See works of La Monte Young, Harry Partch, Ben Johnston, Glenn Branca, Kyle Gann, Wendy Carlos,
and others.
30

Ezra Sims, Harmonic Ordering in Quintet: A Use of Harmonics as Horizontal and Vertical Determinants, 2.

31

ibid, 3.

24

"

The second movement of the Quintet provides a clear example of Sims use of

combination tones in this Just context. The final dyad (B, F) of the first movement is
held over as pedal tones in the viola and violin to begin the second movement. The first
fundamental of the piece is labeled as E, meaning these pedal pitches could be
labeled as harmonics [6] and [17]. Of course, one could as easily call them [12] and
[34] or [24] and [68], but since the lowest possible octave will always provide a simpler
solution, they are assigned to the lowest whole numbers which allow all voices to be
labeled.
"

Sims does not define the octave of the fundamental, only stating its pitch class in

the score. Because of this, the relative level of harmonic complexity in a given
frequency range is not defined. This ambiguity allows for the seamless reinterpretation
of pitches into a new octave of the same pitch, by multiplying or dividing by a power of
two. For example, if a pitch is defined as the 8th harmonic, Sims can only move up or
down by approximately a major second, to the 7th or 9th harmonics. At any time he can
choose to move the fundamental down an octave, making the same pitch the 16th
harmonic, which allows movement by approximately a minor second, to the 15th or
17th. Or he could transpose further still to the 32nd harmonic, now accessing quartertone intervals to the 31st or 33rd harmonics. All of this can be accomplished without
changing the pitch class of the fundamental. The amount of harmonic complexity in a
given octave can be doubled at any time by transposing the fundamental down an
octave.
"

Sims used the two initial pitches as generators for combination tones in the other

voices, assigning the sum tone to the solo clarinet (Figure 7). The second violin

25

remains constant as pedal, while the clarinet then moves in a melody of harmonics. As
the clarinet moves, it maintains its role as sum tone of the other two parts, which
creates a need for the lower part (viola and cello) to change. The assignment of the
generating tones in Sims work is flexible. If Sims composed the clarinet line first, then it
is just as easily labeled as the higher generating tone, paired with the second violin.
Then the viola/cello line takes on the role of the difference tone. The difference in
harmonic (frequency) between the clarinet line and pedal 17th harmonic in the second
violin creates the resultant bass line seen in Figure 7. Note that the clarinet is
transposed in all the score examples, sounding a major second lower than written.

Figure 7. Quintet, Beginning of Movement II with Annotated Harmonics.

"

The above method of composing is not so different from a traditional contrapuntal

approach in which the movement of one voice requires a resolution in another voice.

26

However, Sims method is much more stringent. He has no direct control over the
resultant line, so he makes decisions for both lines at once. The compositional process
is similar to writing a canon, where all resultant harmonies must be considered in the
construction of a single melody. The chief decision is which note to move. In the cello
at the end of Figure 7, the composer was compelled to return to the sixth harmonic (B)
to end the phrase, instead of the fifth harmonic (G-sharp), which would have been
required by the other two pitches (22-17) on the downbeat. The meant the second
violin needed to adjust.
Immediately, the clarinet wanted to enter on the [sounding] 1/6-high A#, which is the 23rd
harmonic, the summation tone of the B and F... This line made me hear the bass line... But,
as you will have noticed, the B at the end of the bass phrase implies, with the clarinet line, a
resultant not of the 17th harmonic, but the 16th: which made the moment seem to demand
an old-fashioned suspension - 17th holding past its generative context, then resolving to the
consonant 16th harmonic.32

"

This process continues for the rest of the movement, with each pitch harmonically

dependent on all the other pitches. In the next three measures (119-121), the process
is expanded to include all five parts (Figure 8a). The relationships are consistent, each
pitch being either the sum or difference of two other pitches.

32

Ibid, 3.

27

Figure 8a. Quintet, Movement II, Measures 119-121.

Figure 8b. Quintet, Movement II, Measures 119-121, Harmonic Abstraction.

28

"

Figure 8b is a harmonic abstraction of measures 119-121 (excluding the final

eighth note), written homophonically to simplify the progression of combination tones.

The five instruments are represented by the horizontal rows. The first five chords are
the same as in Figure 7, described here as [P], [Q], and [P+Q]. The next five chords are
identical with the addition of the [P-Q], and the final chord adds the [2Q-P]33 . This is
one of only a few cases in the Quintet in which Sims uses a pitch from the third order of
combination tones.
"

This music illustrates again the interconnections in combination tone systems.

Beginning with any two harmonics in the system, one can generate all the others.
Furthermore, each pitch contributes to the acoustic resonance of the chord, because
every added tone provides further reinforcement of the others through arithmetical
combination. The more nodes of the system that are present, the more connections
can be drawn to reinforce the system34 (Figure 9).

33

The five pitches in the final chord could alternately be labeled (bottom-to-top) [P], [Q], [P+Q], [2P+Q],
[2Q+P]. As discussed in the introduction, the arithmetical relationships are more important than the
assigned variables.
34

The amount of connections (sets of two) can be expressed with the following formula when x=number
of pitches: x!/2(x-2)!

29

Figure 9. Connections in Combination Tone Systems.

"

As previously discussed, the fundamental for any given section in the Quintet is

treated similarly to a key in traditional tonal music. Just as tonal composers would
modulate to a related key (dominant, relative minor, etc.), Sims modulates many times
to related fundamentals. The first modulation occurs in measure 123 from the global
tonic, E, to B (Figure 10). The composers choice of the dominant, B, is not a holdover
from the tonal tradition, but is a Just 4:3 (inversion of 3:2) the closest relationship of two
pitches excepting the octave. Because B is the third partial of the E harmonic series,
any harmonic above E that is divisible by three will also belong to the B harmonic
series. In the beginning of measure 122 (Figure 10) there is a four-note combinationtone chord above the fundamental E. On the downbeat of measure 123, there is
another four-note combination-tone chord, now above a B fundamental. On the last
eighth note of measure 122, there is a four-note combination tone chord, spelled as
48:36:24:12 above the E fundamental (Figure 10). Since all of these are divisible by
three, the same chord could be written above B as 64:48:32:16. This chord can be
more easily understood if reduced by two octaves to be written as 12:9:6:3 in E and

30

4:3:2:1 in B, but is labeled in the higher register to show its relationship to the
surrounding harmonies. Just as any diatonic chord can function as a pivot chord
between two related keys in tonal music, so can any common chord between two
related fundamentals in this music.

69

45

27

Figure 10. Quintet, Movement II, Measures 122-123 with Annotated Harmonics.

31

Counterpoint
"

As shown in Figure 7, Sims work bears a resemblance to traditional Sixteenth-

century contrapuntal techniques throughout the Quintet, whether consciously or

subconsciously. The classification of consonance and dissonance is imperative to
countrapuntal technique. In this work, one can understand a combination-tone chord as
consonant and all other harmonics which are not combination tones as dissonant. In
doing so, one must disregard the accepted standards of consonance and instead favor
the internal logic of the combination tone harmonies, which can range from traditionally
consonant-sounding (e.g., the 48:36:24:12) to a clangorous bell-like timbre (e.g., the
69:54:39:15).
"

Composers working with harmonically-driven materials, such as combination tone

chords, need to be mindful to avoid excessive parallel homophony, which may sound
too blocky. Throughout the Quintet, Sims minds his Ps and Qs to find clever methods
of incorporating elegant counterpoint into his harmonic textures. Most of these methods
can be easily described using traditional non-chord tone terminology.
"

In Figure 10, one can identify several non-chord tones. The 52nd harmonic in the

clarinet does not fit with the 45:33:21:12 chord (which would have required a 54th or a
57th harmonic) and thus it creates a dissonance. The pitch does not resolve in the
following chord but remains until it is recontextualized as a consonant 69th harmonic
above a B fundamental. The dissonance could be explained then as an anticipation of
the third chord. The 27th harmonic that appears in the viola could be described as a
passing tone leading toward the consonant downbeat. In the final eighth note of

32

measure 123, the second violin resolves from a 54th to a 52nd harmonic, creating a
suspension.
"

The only unexplained dissonance here is the 60:54:8 trichord. The use of a 62nd

harmonic in the first violin would have solved this problem, but presumably the
composer felt that the escape tone figure in the last two beats of that measure would be
more effective with the semitone descent rather than a quarter-tone descent. At the
same time, the composer could have moved the 8th harmonic down to a 6th harmonic,
but he likely wanted to preserve the dominant-7th arpeggiation in the cello and that
change would have created a leaping line. Presumably, Sims wanted to avoid similar
motion between three voices on that eighth note and instead opted to hold the second
violins 54th harmonic as a suspension which would resolve to a 52 harmonic.
Interestingly, the resolution does come, but the pitch is recontextualized as part of a
66:52:14 trichord, instead of the expected 60:52:8 trichord.
"

As was demonstrated in the introduction, there is a disparity of exact intervals

between parallel harmonics due to the logarithmic nature of our perception of pitch.
Parallel motion in Just Intonation implies two voices moving in the same direction, by
the same amount of harmonics. Sims employs this approach beginning in measure 129
(Figure 11).

33

Figure 11. Quintet, Movement II, Measures 129-130 with Annotated Harmonics.

"

In this section, the composer keeps the clarinet and the viola in parallel motion in

order to synthesize a consistent difference tone in the cello line. With the exception of
the few moments when the cello changes pitch, the clarinet and viola maintain the same
distance from one another and move in the same direction by the same number of
harmonics. In this register (harmonics 29-48), the interval maintained between the two
parts ranges somewhere between a major 3rd and a tritone, and has a smoother sound
than the exact parallel intervals with which we are accustomed. In a higher register,
keeping the same cello difference tones, the intervals between the clarinet and viola
would be smaller. In a lower register the intervals would be much larger. This could be

34

described as logarithmic parallel motion, which adjusts for the non-linearity of the
human auditory system and Just Intonation.

Implicit Combination Tones

"

Another example of parallel motion occurs in the third movement. In this case, the

violins play in close parallel motion for the opening of the movement. In measures
158-159, for example, both parts alternate between two harmonics of a C# 1/4-low. The
first violin alternates between harmonics 23 and 24, whereas the second violin
alternates between harmonics 21 and 22 (Figure 12).

Figure 12. Quintet, Movement III, Measures 158-159.

"

As in the previous example, the two parts maintain a consistent distance from

each other, in this case two harmonics. Unlike the previous example, the difference
tone is not played outright. The 2nd harmonic would be a C# 1/4-low three octaves and
a fifth below the violins at the bottom of the piano, unreachable by the cello. Sims
remarked about this section of music that the consistent use of parallel seconds,

35

however, must no doubt have the effect of suggesting the tonic...35 This is a more
subliminal use of a difference tone pedal than the example from the second movement,
here the difference tone is intended to be synthesized in the listeners ear as a terzo
suono, instead of being performed outright in another instrument.
"

In the fourth and final movement of the Quintet, measures 248-252, Sims takes yet

another approach to deriving harmony from combination tones. In this section, he

creates a homophonic chord progression in which each harmony is derived from a
different fundamental, using the original progression (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 of G) from the
beginning of the piece. Up to this point, most adjacent chords in this work have been
comprised of different harmonics from the same fundamental. Chords culled from
different fundamentals provides a new challenge to the composer, even though the
fundamentals are harmonically related.
"

Though none of these chords themselves are composed of combination tones,

Sims used the difference tones of each vertically adjacent pair of pitches to guide the
progression (Figure 13).

35

3.

Ezra Sims, Harmonic Ordering in Quintet: A Use of Harmonics as Horizontal and Vertical Determinants,

36

Figure 13. Quintet, Movement IV, Measures 248-252, Chords and Difference Tones.36

"

This low chorale is never played outright by the instruments, but is implied.

Sims states [It] seem[ed] to help if the adjacent notes of these complex chords related
in such a way that, in isolation, they might produce difference tones that would, in the
aggregate, form clear and simple chords. It seemed further desirable that those implied
resultant chords should relate smoothly and directionally, if the actual ones were to do
so...37
"

Composing a microtonal chorale is a tricky business, especially when the

harmonies are only logical insofar as their fundamentals are harmonically related. So,
36

This example, in the composers own hand, was also taken from Ezra Sims, Harmonic Ordering in
Quintet: A Use of Harmonics as Horizontal and Vertical Determinants, 4.
37

Ezra Sims, Harmonic Ordering in Quintet: A Use of Harmonics as Horizontal and Vertical Determinants, 4.

37

by carefully controlling the voice-leading of the difference tones, Sims found he could
ensure a healthy mix of contrapuntal motion types and reinforce the smoothness of the
sounding chord progression. In a way, this is simply an extension of the original
application of combination tones used by Tartini. Here, instead of helping tune Just
intervals, they are used to compose a more complex chorale. This section of music is
possibly the most complex, and yet surprisingly consonant, harmonic progression in the
piece. It is a fitting ending.

Quintet Summary
"

Ezra Sims employs combination tones from the lowest two or three orders in

several different harmonic schemata in his Quintet. He uses a contrapuntal method

similar to traditional Sixteenth-century species counterpoint. The paradigm alteration in
his counterpoint as compared to traditional counterpoint hinges on the interpretation of
consonance and dissonance. In species counterpoint unisons, thirds, perfect fifths,
sixths, and octaves are considered consonances while seconds, fourths, diminished
fifths, and sevenths are considered dissonant. In the Quintet, the intervals from the
bass are not the defining factor but rather, the arithmetic relationships between voices,
which are quantized to harmonics of a given fundamental. The combination tones are
consonant, all other harmonics are dissonant.
"

Sims controlled the fundamentals in the work by selecting a global tonic, G, and

choosing a progression of new fundamentals from closely related (i.e. relatively lower)
harmonics of the global tonic. Because of this hierarchy, every pitch in the piece could

38

be named as a harmonic of the global tonic of G. One would simply find the harmonic
in relation to the notated fundamental: the initial pitches in Movement II (Figure 7) are
harmonics six and seventeen. Since E is the 27th harmonic of the global tonic G, these
pitches could be called 162 and 469 respectively. This is less elucidating than the
analysis in E and requires a fantastically low fundamental G 1.5 Hz, more than four
octaves below the bottom of the piano. The relationship, however extreme, provided
Sims with a frame of reference for how far away from the global tonic he wandered at
any given time.
"

After composing generating tones in certain instruments, in most cases Sims used

the combination tones directly as the pitches in the remaining instruments, as in Figures
7-11. In other cases, however, Sims merely suggested the difference tone, allowing for
its spontaneous creation in the inner ear of the listener, as in Figure 12. At first this may
seem quite a stretch for the composer, but we must remember that this phenomenon
provided the initial impetus for Sims to work with combination tones in the first place.
His intuition guided him to compose the initial sum tone in the second movement. It is
only fitting that at some point the listener should also be invited to perceive the phantom
tones without them being explicitly performed. In the most extreme case, in Figure 13,
Sims used the combination tones as a compositional guide creating an implied
harmonic structure of difference tones that is not meant to be perceived.
"

Ezra Sims has developed a tonal language in his works using Just Intonation,

approximated by a 72-tone Equal Temperament. In his Quintet, the harmony is

controlled by combination tones between harmonics of a series of related fundamentals.

39

The work was composed carefully so that the pitches maintain combination-tone
relationships giving an inherent logic to the harmony of the piece.

40

Analysis II: Ben Hjertmanns Angelswort

"

My composition, Angelswort (2012), is a seven-movement recorded work following

a dream-like, mythological narrative. The piece is scored for voices, saxophone, viola,
electric bass, piano, electronic organ, and sampled sounds. The harmonic language of
the entire work is structured using combination tones. For the sake of clarity and
brevity, only two movements are explicated in the following analysis, Passacaglia:
LHomme Arm and Chorale: Angelswort. All of the melodic and harmonic combinationtone techniques used in the larger work can be explained using the techniques
described in these two movements.

Passacaglia: LHomme Arm

"

LHomme Arm is a short movement for three male voices, soprano saxophone,

viola, organ, and piano. The original LHomme Arm is a French secular song dating
around the turn of the 15th century that became one of the most popular cantus firmi
used in polyphonic masses in the Renaissance and continues to be used today.
Famous settings include those by DuFay, Ockeghem, Josquin, and Palestrina 38. The
text the armed man should be feared... was likely intended to create an allegory, but in
my piece the text is interpreted literally, contributing to the larger narrative. The

38

Alejandro Enrique Planchart, "The Origins and Early History of 'L'homme arm'", The Journal of
Musicology, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer, 2003), pp. 305-357.

41

character of the music is evocative of a Renaissance secular song and is also described
as a passacaglia, because it is in a triple meter and has a repeating bass line.
"

The LHomme Arm melody is used as a cantus firmus ostinato in lowest register

of the piano. The piano is hidden in the recording using a tight, high-frequency bandpass filter. It is played at a low volume in order to provide a quiet impression of the
cantus firmus melody. LHomme Arm uses two tuning systems simultaneously. The
piano is performed in 12-Tone Equal Temperament, maintaining a consistent ground.
The vertical harmonies created above each chord are tuned in an idealized Just
Intonation in which each pitch is tuned to harmonics of the piano line. Therefore, the
horizontal (melodic) intervals in any given part are in many cases not defined by a
single tuning scheme. They can only be explained vertically (harmonically) in relation to
the current fundamental pitch.
"

The notation system contains quarter tones and sixth tones in addition to

traditional accidentals (Figure 14).

42
Figure 14. Angelswort, Microtonal Symbols.

Like Sims Quintet, the vertical sonorities are composed in Just Intonation. Here, the
accidentals are not as specific, and are rounded to the nearest sixth tone or quarter
tone to simplify the written notation. However, neither the accidentals, nor the natural
written pitches adhere to any equal-tempered scale. Because the LHomme Arm
movement was intended for recording, the players performed along with perfectly-tuned
synthesized recordings of their lines. No artificial ex post facto tuning effects (e.g.,
autotune) were used on any of the recordings. With the exception of the organ, all lines
were executed by human performers. Since the guide-tracks were part of the initial
conception of the piece, using the above tuning system was logical. Performers who
are not well-versed in the twelfth-tone system of Sims may find this notation more
comprehensible because it more closely reflects the common accidentals.
"

Unlike Sims, I placed the fundamentals in a particular register, two octaves below

the piano bass line, to preserve the melodic contour of the cantus firmus. This allowed
for a greater variety of harmonics that would be playable by the instruments, and
therefore, a larger variety of combination-tone harmonies. It is worth noting that while
the fundamentals themselves fall below the range of human hearing, the remaining
(higher) spectrum of a sound within this range is certainly audible.
"

Part of the rationale behind the use of harmonics in this movement is that it

creates an artificial formant of the cantus firmus. Every pitch we hear in this movement
would already be present in the Lhomme arm melody if it were played in this extreme
low register. Therefore, all the instrumental and vocal lines in the movement could be

43

seen as a heavily-filtered, and amplified recreation of the fundamental bass, which is

otherwise inaudible. In a sense, it is a vertical canon that uses a single melody to
derive a much larger work, following a strict harmonic rule.
"

Like Sims Quintet, LHomme Arm uses harmonics that are combination tones to

create harmonies. Unlike the Quintet, LHomme Arm includes all the pitches from the
third order of combination tones discussed in the introduction, and unlike the Quintet
uses only combination tones for all the harmony in the movement, not just the
consonances.
"

To begin composing, I constructed a harmonic limit of combination tones chosen

from the lowest three orders, that is, P, Q, PQ, 2PQ, and 2QP, eight pitches in all.
Intrinsic to each of those combination tones is a relationship to the motion of generating
tones. As in species counterpoint, the motion of the generating voices can be contrary,
oblique, similar, or parallel. Figures 15a and 15b demonstrate the relationships
between motion types of the combination tones in the lowest three orders. In this
example, A110 Hz is used as a fundamental to demonstrate a Just context. However,
the same motion types would apply with any tuning system used between the two
generating voices. Figure 15a demonstrates two examples of oblique motion between
the generating voices. Note how the direction of motion in [Q-P] and [2Q-P] remains
consistent while the rest change between the first and second halves of the example.
With oblique motion between the generating voices, only one or two (depending on
which generating voice moves) of the combination-tone voices move in contrary motion
while the rest move in similar or parallel motion.

[2Q+P]

[2P+Q]

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Figure 15a. Lowest Three Orders, Generating Voices in Oblique Motion.

660

44

45

"

As stated in the analysis of Sims Quintet, parallel motion outside of an equal-

tempered system takes on a different meaning. Parallel motion between harmonics

implies a consistent distance between the harmonics. In the first half of Figure 15b, the
generating voices move in this way. With parallel motion between the generating tones,
all of the combination tones move upward, except the difference tone which remains
static. In a texture with six voices, parallel motion between most or all voices quickly
becomes monotonous, sounding similar to an electronic harmonizer. Similar motion is
largely the same except the difference tone is not static. Both parallel and similar
motion were avoided between the generating voices in LHomme Arm.
#

Contrary motion between the generating voices, as exhibited in the second half of

Figure 15b, provides the greatest variety of motion types in the combination tones. If
the voices move by the same number of harmonics in either direction (here moving by
one harmonic) then the sum tone remains static. Four voices move up, two down, one
remains, and one, [2P-Q], changes direction. Because of the greater variety of motion
in the combination tones available, contrary motion was preferred between the
generating tones in the piece. The same preference also exists within traditional
counterpoint.
"

In each of these examples a pedal tone was generated in one of the voices. As in

traditional counterpoint, this pedal gives a sense of grounding useful in an otherwise

tumultuous microtonal texture. Of course, one can compose in similar or contrary
motion without maintaining a consistent interval between the parts, and thus not
creating a pedal tone. The resultant motion is mostly the same.

[2Q+P]

[2P+Q]

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[Q]

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Figure 15b. Lowest Three Orders, Generating Voices in Parallel and Contrary Motion.

47

"

In orchestrating LHomme Arm, the generating tones, P and Q were assigned

strictly to the tenor and baritone voices throughout the movement. There are six
remaining combination tones and only four remaining voices in the movement
(disregarding the hidden piano): bass voice, soprano saxophone, viola, and
monophonic organ. The disparity is intentional. Two pitches from the second and third
orders were left out of each chord, which allowed me as the composer some control
over the voice-leading. Since the combination-tone assignments of each of the four
accompanimental voices was fluid, the inherent motion types described in Figures 15a
and 15b could be avoided when the instruments/voices switched combination-tone
assignments. This created an opportunity to eschew similar and parallel motion when it
was not desired.
"

Figure 16 displays the six performing instruments parts as well as the six

combination-tone lines and the piano continuo, which can be used as a reference for
the fundamental pitch in measures 9-12 of the movement. This elucidates the
orchestration process in LHomme Arm.

L'Homme Arme

48
9

T (Q)

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Org.

34

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16

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.

77

l .

24

53

67

56

K.

13

19

10

10

#.

72

24

107

94

67

14

125

106

128

K 56 .

72

l'homme

13

pno.

#.

2Q-P

l'hom

#.

48

58

40

27

2P+Q

me

10

16

128

2Q+P

24

24

l'hom

32

Vla.

l'hom - me

& #.

S Sx.

V .

Bari (P)

48

128

82

.
26

Figure 16. LHomme Arm, Measures 9-12, Orchestration and Third-Order Pitch Palette.

49

"

For the most part, the above rules were strictly followed in composing the

movement, but in some cases certain liberties were taken in order to smooth the
melodic lines and overall counterpoint. For example, the bass voice holds a suspension
between measures ten and eleven. In measure nine, the soprano saxophone uses
harmonics 88 and 96 as an escape-tone gesture between 80 and 128. In both cases,
as in the Sims, the combination tones are treated as chord tones, while 88 and 96 are
treated as non-chord tones. The two non-chord tones create a line with small integer
harmonic ratios to the fundamental, so the result will not sound shocking. The measure
could be reduced by three octaves to 10-11-12-16.
"

I began with the tenor melody, which was freely composed from the available

harmonics. If we allow a range of two octaves for the voice, A2-A4, in measure 9 above
an A fundamental, then it has access to harmonics 16-64, 49 distinct pitches. That is
double what the same range would accommodate in 12-Tone Equal Temperament, 25
pitches. Because of the logarithmic nature of the harmonic series, the lower octave
contained half the possibilities of the higher octave, and some intuitive pitches are
decidedly missing from this harmonic palette. Most notably, a traditional Fa is missing
in the harmonic series. A perfect fourth is a 4:3 ratio in Just intonation, so in most Just
systems, the scale is built as a 4:3 above Do, implying a Fa fundamental. However,
if working strictly within a stationary harmonic series, this fourth is between Sol and
Do, not Do and Fa, and one must use a very high harmonic in order to approximate
the Fa. In the lower octave of the tenors range, the 21st harmonic is closest, but is
about a sixth-tone lower than the equal-tempered Fa, as it is the 3rd harmonic of the
flat 7th harmonic. In the upper octave, the 43rd harmonic is closer, being only about a

50

12th-tone higher than the equal-tempered Fa. This draws yet another parallel between
Sixteenth-century species counterpoint in which perfect fourths above the bass were
considered dissonant.
"

Once the tenor line was complete, a contrapuntal voice was composed for the

baritone. The composition of these two parts determined the harmonic palette for the
entire ensemble. The next stage in the process was calculating the frequencies of the
six combination tones, seen in Figure 16 on staves 7-12. Then I made an initial attempt
to construct a viable organ part. Since the piano is almost inaudible, the organ is the
lowest instrument in the ensemble and the de facto bass line. This proved to be the
most difficult task in composing the piece. Because of the logarithmic nature of pitch,
as discussed in the introduction, minute changes in the generating tones [P] and [Q]
cause large changes in the difference tones. This is another reason why it was
necessary to have both the difference tone [Q-P], and the cubic difference tone [2P-Q]
available to construct a suitable bass line. The large leaps in each of the difference
tone voices, seen in Figure 16 on staves 11 and 12, attest to this problem. In many
cases, one of the generating tones needed adjustment in order to smooth the organ
part. I found that I needed to limit the movement of one of the generating voices for this
purpose. I continued this process building the chords from the bottom up, moving to the
bass voice, then the viola, and finally the soprano saxophone.
"

Then, I tested the homophonic chord progression with microtonal software 39. After

a final version of this progression was complete, I created polyphonic counterpoint in a

39

The microtonal harmonies were tested with the Little Miss Scale Oven software and some of my own
Max/MSP patches in conjunction with a MIDI controller.

51

traditional manner using passing tones, neighbor tones, anticipations and suspensions
culled from the unused combination tones.
"

As seen in Figure 16, the baritones A is labeled with three different harmonic

numbers. As the piano fundamental changes, a pedal tone is recontextualized as a new

harmonic. The frequencies of each of these harmonics differ slightly. They are 440.0
Hz (32nd of A), 440.5 Hz (24th of D), and 441.5 Hz (27th of C). The variation is equivalent
to a two-cent change for the first transition and a four-cent change for the second, both
of which are virtually indistinguishable to the ear.
"

Combination tones are also used melodically in LHomme Arm in some places.

Figure 17 shows a clear example of melodic combination tones. In this example, the
tenor voice sings three harmonics above an A fundamental. The two harmonics (30 and
34) create a sum tone (64) which is sung on the third beat of the measure. Because
they are not sustained simultaneously, they will not reinforce the acoustical combination
tones already present, except slightly through reverberation. However, the linear
combination tones are analogous to an arpeggio of a triad, which is not the same as a
sounding chord, but nonetheless implies it. Furthermore, hearing this structure
horizontally may serve to illuminate it for the listener, since it appears many other times
vertically. In the seventh movement of Angelswort, I expanded this melodic concept.

52
88

T (Q)

30

V #

que

88

64

34

32

chas

j #
K

24

21

V .

cun

40

20

Figure 17. LHomme Arm, Measure 88, Tenor Voice, with Harmonics.

Bari (P)

que

"

chas

cun

27

se

23

se

48

viengne

#
40

viengne

Perhaps the most fascinating element of this system of harmony is its relationship

sonorities of clustered harmonics, and the perfect

consonances of simple Just

19
to tonal music. In LHomme Arm,
a18middle ground
was24sought between
the clangorous
88
13
12

Bass

que

chas

cun

Intonation. It was my intention to create indisputable tonal cadences in this

movement, but using a

& K

method88that 84
would
S Sx.

76
place

se

them in
a new context. Figure 18k
104

52

73

excerpts a cadence from the piece, which is not unlike a traditional Imperfect Authentic
cadence.
Vla.

36

88

55

88

Org.

&K

84

2Q+P

138

88

2P+Q

&

54

89

76

55

32

viengne

88

[[bitonal mom

44

16

84

88

168

144

104

72

52

31

73

56

136

77

128

50

88

53

39

T (Q)

39

Bari (P)

20

#.

ter

16

24

doibt

16

& #

80

39

S Sx.

.
B K

39

Vla.

39

Org.

2Q+P

&

18

doibt

V .

39

Bass

32

on

on

48

K.

28

on doub

doibt

56

j
#

20

doub

32

ter

32

ter

16 (P)

doub

ter

80

48

.
.

128
76
88
Figure 18. LHomme Arm, Measures 39-41, with Harmonics.

K .
.
#

.
2P+Qtonal&
traditional
music: the flat-7 appearing in the first chord (creating a V7/IV - V7 - I
"

There are39only 80
two oddities in this example
that would not have112appeared in
68

#.

28

48

progression, instead56of I - V7 - I), and the 48

improper resolution of the80
sevenths in both

& K.

Sum
penultimate chords. Besides these oddities, it is remarkable that using a harmonic
39

40

& #.

technique as new and as strict as this could result in such a familiar tonal cadence. In
2Q-P
fact, familiar tonal chords are quite common in the collection of possible combination
tone chords.
Diff

2P-Q

?
?

16

K.
8

16

54

"

The prevalence of familiar chord progressions in LHomme Arm can be attributed

to two factors: simple bass relationships, and simple ratios between generating tones.
The tonality of the combination chords themselves is a product of simple relationships
between the generating tones. In Figure 18, the ratios of the generating frequencies are
as follows 4:3 (of A), 5:4 (of E), 2:1 (of A)40. (Make note that this is a rare exception in
which [P] is reassigned to the bass voice instead of the baritone.) These are reduced
(transposed down two octaves) from 32:24, 20:16, and 32:32 respectively. The distance
between the two numbers in the ratio accounts for the interval between them, but the
familiarity of these intervals is attributed to their relatively low prime factors41. The most
familiar sounding intervals and chords are those constructed from whole numbers with
prime factors of five or less. This is referred to as 5-Limit Just Intonation. La Monte
Young explains, It's interesting if we look at the history of Western classical music. If we
were to tune it in Just Intonation, it would all be factorable by 2s, 3s, and 5s: 2s being
octaves, 3s being 5ths, and 5s being the major 3rds.42 The lower the prime factors in
the generating interval, the simpler and more familiar the resultant combination tone
chord. The most extreme example would be one in which the generating interval is a
perfect unison, or 1:1, as would have occurred in the last measure of Figure 18 if P had
not been reassigned. If P=1 and Q=1, the set of pitches produced in the first three
orders would be: P+Q=2, P-Q = 0, 2P+Q=3, 2Q+P=3, 2Q-P=1, and 2P-Q=1, for a chord
of 3:2:1, which sounds like an octave and a perfect fifth. P was reassigned to the bass
40

Note that in measure 41 the generating tone P was relocated from the baritone to the bass voice.

41

James Tenney, A History of Consonance and Dissonance.

42

La Monte Young, quoted from La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela at the Dream House, In
Conversation with Frank J. Oteri, 58.

55

to use the generating interval of 2:1, which creates a full major triad, 5:4:3:2:1, which
was preferable in this context.
"

The other factor contributing to the familiarity of the progression is the melodic

interval sequence of the fundamental bass line. Just as with the ratios of the generating
tones, the melodic ratios between successive bass pitches contributes to the perceived
tonality. In the case of LHomme Arm, there is a prescribed bass line from a tonal
cantus firmus, but in any other case, the same guiding principles would apply. In Figure
18, the ratios of the consecutive bass pitches are: 3:2 and 3:2 again returning to the
original pitch. Because 1:1 and 2:1 creates no cadence at all, this is the lowest prime
factor ratio for cadential bass pitches, and therefore, the simplest cadential progression.
"

It is certainly no coincidence that the lowest prime factor bass motion creates all of

the most ubiquitous cadences in Western music 3:2, the Authentic cadence,
retrograded to 2:3, the Half cadence, and inverted to 4:3, the Plagal cadence.
"

The combination tone method of harmony and counterpoint used in LHomme

Arm draws unique connections between the so-called spectral43 school of

composition and the traditional counterpoint and harmony of Fux and Rameau. The
staple triads and seventh chords of Western music appear in progressions alongside
clangorous complexes of harmonics. The confluence of traditional and contemporary
harmonies in this unified context allows an auditor to perceive traditionally consonant
and dissonant sonorities as similarly constructed, existing on a continuum of harmonic
complexity. By extension, this continuum might provide a new vantage point from which
to examine other works of the recent or distant past.
43

Franois Rose, Introduction to the Pitch Organization of French Spectral Music.

56

Chorale: Angelswort, and the Golden Chord

"

The fifth movement of the piece is the titular movement, Chorale:Angelswort. It is

composed for lead voice, a chorale of voices, and rhythmically triggered sound samples
that are excerpted from other movements of the larger work. The lead voice and
triggered samples are only loosely related in pitch to the chorale. This movement
employs a markedly different approach to combination-tone harmony in the chorale,
approaching a Golden Chord. In order to explain the harmonic organization in
Chorale:Angelswort, the phenomenon of the Golden Chord must first be explicated.
"

If one begins by taking the sum of a unison and deriving the second harmonic,

then adds the second harmonic to the first, then adds the third to the second, then the
fifth to the third, etc., always taking the sum of the previous two harmonics, one
generates what can be called a Fibonacci Chord. This chord can be described as a
filtered harmonic spectrum in which the only partials present are the Fibonaccinumbered harmonics: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, etc., which will be shown in
Figure 24.
"

In mathematics, it is demonstrated that the ratio between adjacent members of the

Fibonacci Series converge upon the golden ratio, which is about 1.6180339...44 It can
be extended in the other direction as well, and the ratio between 0.610339... and 1 is
the same as the ratio between 1 and 1.6190339... This same phenomenon occurs

44

Both the Fibonacci Series and the Golden Ratio are recurrent themes across the arts for centuries.
These phenomena appear naturally in sunflower seeds, sea shells, and in many other places. In the
visual arts, the Golden Ratio has long been supposed to lend pleasing proportions to a work. In music,
Bartok, Rdulescu, and others have composed using the Golden Ratio to guide formal, harmonic, and
rhythmic motifs. See Robert Lawlors Sacred geometry : philosophy and practice.

57

between the Fibonacci harmonics. We notice that the distance between two adjacent
Fibonacci harmonics converges on 833 cents.
"

If we begin with A 440 Hz and multiply it by 1.6180339 we get F 711.93491 Hz.

This F is 833.09 cents above the A. This process can be continued up or down from
any frequency, and a scale can be created in which every step is 833 cents, the Golden
Scale, or if stacked harmonically could be called the Golden Chord. Because of our
logarithmic perception of pitch, the ever-expanding distances in frequency between
adjacent tones moving up the scale result in a perceived linear scale/chord. 833 cents
is a sixth-tone larger than an equal-tempered minor sixth. Three adjacent tones of the
Golden Scale create something quite close to a second inversion minor triad, which
could be called a Golden Triad that repeats up two octaves and a minor second (Figure
23).

w
? 44 k L w
#w

&

Kw
k w
w

!
Jw
j w
bw

Figure 23. Series of Three Golden Triads.

"

Since all the intervals are equal, this scale shares a similar disorienting quality with

the Whole Tone Scale, though the interval is four times larger. There are two distinct
Whole Tone Scales in 12-Tone Equal Temperament. Since the Golden interval requires
the use of sixth tones, there are 25 unique Golden Scales in 36-Tone Equal
Temperament. Similarly, a Golden Chord with 26 nodes (spanning 18 octaves) would

58

be required before a pitch would be repeated. Even then, the one cent that had been
rounded off for each Golden triad (833+833+833=2499 rounded to 2500 cents) would
add up to about 8.5 cents, a significant deviation. Since humans only perceive about
ten octaves as pitch, it is easier to say that the scale contains no duplicate pitch
classes.
"

The interval content of the Golden Chord starkly contrasts the harmonic series.

The Golden Chord is equally spaced in all registers and there is only one extant interval.
The harmonic series contains an infinite number of intervals which shrink as one
ascends the series, therefore creating an enormous disparity in the pitch density of
different registers of the same series. Any two adjacent pitches in the Golden Chord
can generate the rest of the chord through progressive addition or subtraction. Unlike
many other combination-tone harmonies, the generating tones are unimportant.
"

In contrasting the Fibonacci Chord with the Golden Chord, distinct differences can

be observed. The chords in Figure 24 are calibrated to possess an A 440 Hz in

common so as to illuminate their differences. The upper tetrachord in both harmonies is
approximately identical whereas the bottom tetrachord is quite different. Because the
Fibonacci series begins with small integers their approximation of the Golden interval is
quite poor at first, but as the numbers get higher and contain more digits, they begin to
more accurately approximate the Golden Ratio. This disparity could be removed by
beginning on a higher node of the series, for example, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 322, etc.
By contrast, the Golden Chord is accurate to the Golden Interval throughout all
registers.

144

15

&

&
?

89
55
34
21
13
8
5
3
2
1

nw
Jw
jw
bw
K w
w
w
#w
ww
w

59

nw
Jw
j w
bw
K w
kw
w
L
k ww
#w
Kw

Figure 24. Fibonacci Chord Compared to Golden Chord, with the Common Tone A440 Hz.

"

Hans Zender, a composer who works frequently with combination tones, discusses

this phenomenon in his article Gegenstrebige Harmonik. Zender states that one can
approach the Golden Chord by beginning with any interval, small or large, and adding
the sum of the previous two pitches (Figure 25). ...so we could continue to always add
the two highest resulting tones ... the peculiar result of this operation carried out in the
different intervals on our list, indicates that all the resulting spectra approach the
interval proportions of the golden ratio.45 The process is simple: begin with two tones
and add them together, then continue to add the highest tone to the tone just below it.
These can be referred to as progressive sum tones.

2011 by Ben Hjertmann

45

Hans Zender, Die Sinne denken, Texte zur Musik 1975-2003. (Page 122)

60

Frequencies: 55

?
Cents:

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56.6

50

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nw

Cents:

111.6

1150

760

187.5

638

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881

302

kw

nw

279.8

kw

Kw

123.5

1400

168.2

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448

&

&
800

Lw

kw

815

489.5

727.8

840

791.5

944

831

Kw

1281

2072.5

jw

Bw

nw

1175.8

829

835

Figure 25. Sum Tones Approaching Golden Interval (833 cents) Using Contrasting Generating Intervals.

"

Another way to summarize the progressive sum tones is by using higher-order

combination tones. Even though they are not harmonics of a common fundamental, as
in the LHomme Arm, the progressive sum tones could be calculated as harmonics of
the generating tones, as explained in the introduction of this document. Looking at the
frequencies in Figure 25, the first two tones in either example could be called P and Q.
The third tone is [P+Q], the fourth is [(P+Q)+Q] or [2Q+P], the fifth is [(P+Q) + (2Q+P)]
or [3Q+2P], the sixth is [(2Q+P) + (3Q+2P)] or [5Q+3P], the seventh is [(3Q+2P) + (5Q
+3P)] or [8Q+5P], and the eighth is [(5Q+3P) + (8Q+5P)] or [13Q+8P]. Each of the sum
tones in a progressive sum set could be described as higher-order combination tones of
2011 by Ben Hjertmann
the initial generating tones using adjacent
Fibonacci harmonics. Therefore, the

combination tone orders are less relevant in this context, because only the four

61

particular combination tones involving Fibonacci numbers in an order are used. For
example, in the third order, all four pitches are used: [2P+Q], [2Q+P], [2P-Q], and [2QP]. However, no pitches from the fourth order can be used, because they cannot
contain adjacent Fibonacci harmonics. In the fifth order, only [3P+2Q], [3Q+2P],
[3P-2Q], and [3Q-2P] can be used, not [4P+Q] or [4Q+P]. The sixth and seventh orders
contain no usable combination tones, and the eighth order again only allows four tones:
[5P+3Q], [5Q+3P], [5P-3Q], and [5Q-3P]. Not only are the adjacent Fibonacci
harmonics exclusively used in combination tones in the Golden Chord, but they can only
be found in Fibonacci orders.
"

Claude Vivier was wont to harmonize melodies with these progressive sum

chords, which he referred to as couleurs. In Lonely Child, for example, he uses the
soprano A4 and the G2 as generating tones and adds the frequencies of the top two
pitches progressively, generating five higher pitches (Figure 25). As discussed, the
seven pitches approximate a Golden Chord. Unlike Sims, Vivier does not place these
pitches in a larger Just Intonation context46, though one could interpret them over a
fundamental G as 92:57:35:22:13:9:4, which elucidates the similarity to
89:55:34:21:13:8:5, part of the Fibonacci Chord. The distinction is subtle, but
necessary. Viviers chord is always calculated from two 12-Tone Equal Temperament
pitches, which result in combination tones that do not belong to any particular tuning
system.

46

Bob Gilmore, On Claude Viviers Lonely Child, 66-78.

62

Figure 26. Claude Viviers Lonely Child, mm. 24-28, Fibonacci-Type Progressive Sum Tone Chord

63

"

Chorale:Angelswort takes this to a further extreme. Like Viviers practice,

movement V begins and ends with 12-Tone Equal Temperament chords, which are
extensions of the final chord from movement IV and the first chord from movement VI,
respectively. All of the pitches in the movement are derived from the combination tones
of the first harmony, and are unbound to any linear or over-arching tuning system. They
drift away from 12-Tone Equal Temperament immediately.

IV

&
?

#
#
#

l#
B
L

l
K#
k
n
L
k
#

kn
# #

VI

Figure 27. Angelswort, Movements IV-VI, Harmonic Reduction.

"

Figure 27 is a reduction of the transitions between movements IV, V, and VI in

Angelswort. There are two pitches in common with the movements on either side of
movement five. These were used as generating frequencies that resulted in the
combination tones that comprise the rest of the chords in measure two and four of
Figure 27. The initial generating interval is larger than an octave, which results in a
difference tone that is higher than one of the generating tones. By the time the Golden

64

Chord occurs in movement V, the lower generating tone has risen higher, within an
octave of the higher generating tone, creating a difference tone which is lower than the
generating tones. This causes the voice-crossings notated in Figure 27.
"

The Golden Chord shown in Figure 28 occurs in Chorale:Angelswort at the Golden

Ratio division of both the movement and the entire composition. The Fibonacci Chord
has a finite beginning with the first partial. The pure Golden Chord is limitless and
equal throughout all registers. In Chorale:Angelswort, the notated harmony contains 21
nodes, 15 of which are perceived by humans as pitches while the other six are heard as
rhythms. Figure 28 illustrates these 21 nodes as they appear in the piece, calibrated to
A 440 Hz.

Smp.

? 44

electric buzzing

B "
K w
kw
w
lw
15
l w
& 44 # w

B -

Kw
kw
4
& 4 n ww
L

35:32

B -

65

w
w
w
w

w
w
w
w

w
w

w
w

w
w
w
w

? 44 k w
K # ww
jw
nw

Chr.

43:32

33:32

13:8

w
w
w
w

5:4

3:2

Figure 28. Chorale:Angelswort, Measure 72, Golden Chord with 21 Nodes.

74

Tenor

"

The rhythmic layers in Figure 28 were used to amplitude-modulate the pitch layers.

The rhythms are not

?articulated by any of the instruments, but rather as rapid amplitude

Smp.

B - of the
- Golden
B - Chord,
- just
B - as was
- demonstrated
B - - Bin- Figure
- 1 inB swells in the higher nodes
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
15
existing adjacent nodes
do notwcreate any new
w in the Golden Chord
w
w pitches,wbut only
w
w
w
w
&w
the introduction. The combination tones created through amplitude modulation of

Chr.

w
w
& ww

w
w
w
w

w
w
w
w

w
w
w
w

w
w
w
w

w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w

B -

w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w

66

reinforce the other nodes of the chord. This phenomenon is unique to the Golden
Chord: no other extant harmony is recursive in this way. Because of this fact, the
Golden Chord is a logical endpoint for the combination tone phenomenon; both suggest
one another.
"

Beyond the notated nodes in Figure 28, nine more can be perceived between the

durations ranges of rhythm, phrasing, and formal divisions of the movement. These
range from the speed of the half note ostinato to the distance from the beginning of the
movement to the Golden Chord. Beyond those, there are five more formal divisions that
correspond loosely with climaxes in the previous movements, and one final node
equaling the duration of the entire work, 26.9 minutes. These 36 total nodes47 of the
Golden Ratio provided an internal harmonic, rhythmic, and formal limitations that proved
fruitful in the process of composing the work.
"

In Sims Quintet all the instruments were assigned any harmonic of the given

fundamental and combination-tone chords were treated as consonances. In LHomme

Arm there are two generating voices and four other instruments that were freely
assigned one of six combination tones. In composing this movement, I only limited my
choices in assigning the instruments to the combination tones by attempting to create a
singable melody for each part without excessive leaps. In Chorale:Angelswort, each of
the seven voices in the chorale maintain their relationships to one another throughout.
Because the piece converges on the Golden Chord, it was necessary to maintain the
roles in the harmonic structure so that each voice would smoothly transition into and

47

A final node was calculated in the light spectrum (not adjacent, but many nodes higher) as a yellow
(FFCC00), which was included in the artwork for the movement.

67

away from the chord. It is my hope that the listener will intuitively expect the Golden
Chord, given that it is implied by the
relationships
between the voices, and therefore
Chorale:
Angelswort
Ben Hjertmann

perceive this cadence as a logical arrival.

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146.5

Kw

122

325.3

50

Figure 29. Chorale:Angelswort, Singable Frequencies.

"

In Figure 29, the singable frequencies for the entire chorale are displayed. With

the exception of the first two measures, each voice can be viewed as the sum of the two
voices below it and the difference of the two above it. In the first two measures, the

68

bottom pitch is the absolute value of the difference of the two above it, but cannot be
added to the voice above to create a sum tone on the third staff. This illuminates the
importance of distinguishing the generating tones, seen here on the middle two staves.
Because two pitches were retained as common tones between movements IV and V,
they were treated as generating tones for the initial chord of the chorale. In measures
3-12, any two adjacent pitches could be considered generating tones. In the first two
measures, the chords can only be generated by the pitches in the middle two staves.
"

The reason for this is that the generating interval is larger than an octave. The

interval of the octave receives no special significance in this context, but the ratio of the
octave, 2:1 is the dividing point for voice-crossings. If the generating interval is less
than an octave, the ratio between the two pitches is less than 2:1 meaning that the
difference tone will be between zero and the bottom generating pitch. The structure of
progressive sum tones is maintained. If, on the other hand, the generating interval is
larger than an octave, as in measure one and two of Figure 29, the difference tone will
be larger than the bottom generating tone that disrupts progressive sum tone structure.

Angelswort Summary
"

The LHomme Arm movement of the larger work Angelswort uses a fixed set of

combination tones with a somewhat flexible instrumentation. The tenor and baritone
voices were treated as [P] and [Q], while the bass voice, soprano saxophone, viola, and
organ were freely chosen from the remaining six pitches in the third order. The
fundamentals, which are never explicitly heard, are the Lhomme arm cantus firmus,

69

which repeats four times over the course of the movement two octaves below the range
of the piano. The composition of the tenor and baritone parts controlled the available
pitches for all the other instruments, as well as the implied directions of motion in the
other voices. Therefore, composing those two voices was a process of trial and error.
"

The relative complexity of the interval between these two voices, by extension,

controls the consonance of the entire vertical structure. In Figure 16, we can observe
this phenomenon. At the end of measure ten, the simplest possible generating interval
is used, 1:1. This generates a 3:2:2:1:1 combination-tone chord, with a highest prime
harmonic of only three. In measure nine of Figure 16, the generating interval between
the tenor and baritone voices is a 3:2. Because the interval is relatively consonant,
possessing low prime factors48, the combination tones are also relatively consonant.
The 3:2 interval results in a 8:7:5:4:1:1 combination-tone chord. The highest prime
factor in the generating interval is three, and the highest in the resulting combinationtone chord is seven. At the beginning of measure ten there is a more complex interval
of 17:12 between the tenor and baritone, which generates a 46:41:29:22:7:5. The
highest prime in this generating interval is 17, and the highest in the combination-tone
chord is 41. The results is a much more complex, dissonant harmony. In the LHomme
Arm, the relatively simple, consonant harmonies are used as arrival points for all the
cadences, and the complex, dissonant harmonies are used in the center of phrases.
"

The Chorale:Angelswort movement was constructed around seven voices, which

have a fixed combination-tone relationship in which each voice is the sum tone of the

48

Ludger Hofmann-Engl, Consonance/Dissonance - A Historical Perspective (page 853) interpreting

Leonard Eulers Tentamen novae theoriae musicae ex certissimis harmoniae principiis dilucide expositae.

70

two voices immediately below. This technique produces the same relationships as in
the Fibonacci Chord, a harmony comprised of the harmonic partials that correspond to
Fibonacci numbers (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc.) At the moment of the Golden
Ratio in the movement (61.8339% into the piece), the intervals between each of the
adjacent voices converges to exactly 833 cents, creating an equally spaced Golden
Chord. For this climax, additional voices were synthesized with sine tones above and
below the singable chorale to extend the Golden Chord throughout the range of human
hearing and further into the realm of tempo, rhythm, and form. In this movement, none
of the constituent pitches are related harmonically, nor as members of any scale. Each
pitch is generated using the frequencies of those immediately below it, without
conforming to any tuning system.

71

Epilogue: Comparisons and Conclusions

"

In LHomme Arm, I explored the relationship of combination tones to Western

tonality. Each phrase ends in a traditional Half or Authentic cadence, but the harmonic
progression leading there is markedly different. Similarly, in the music of Ezra Sims a
72-tone tempered notation is used to approximate harmonic partials of low
fundamentals. In his music, Sims creates a tonal hierarchy of key areas based on their
distance in the overtone series from a global tonic. In Sims system, a move from the
tonic key area to the dominant key area is just as logical as it is in traditional tonal
music.
"

Both Sims and I have employed a contrapuntal technique remarkably similar to

traditional Sixteenth-century species counterpoint. Both use passing and neighbor

tones, suspensions, and a balance of motion types. These contrapuntal methods
require a clear definition of consonance and dissonance, which are different between
Sims piece and my own. In Sims Quintet, all combination tones are treated as
consonances and other harmonics as dissonances.
"

Sims uses combination tones from the lowest two orders. LHomme Arm uses

combination tones from the lowest three orders, and treats harmonies with the simplest
integer ratios (i.e. low prime factors) as more consonant than those with more complex
ratios (i.e. higher prime factors). Chorale:Angelswort is not in Just Intonation and can
not be accurately reproduced with any tuning system. Instead it migrates freely,
maintaining only the combination-tone relationships between the lines. In a sense there

72

is only one consonance in this movement, the Golden Chord. This movement uses only
Fibonacci combination tones, four specific tones from the Fibonacci-numbered orders.
"

In Chorale:Angelswort the relationships between all the voices in the chorale are

maintained throughout the movement. In LHomme Arm, only the generating tones are
consistent throughout, while the other voices are freely assigned one of the six
combination tones from the lowest three orders. In Sims Quintet, no particular
relationship between the instruments is maintained. All are freely composed of
harmonics that constitute any set of combination tones over the given fundamental.
"

The goal of harmonic motion in LHomme Arm is tonal-sounding chords, while

Chorale:Angelswort uses the Golden Chord as the harmonic focal point. Though the
effect of the arrival is quite different, the process is related in that the harmonic motion
has a logical goal based on the chosen combination-tone structure. In LHomme Arm,
the chosen combination tones are [P], [Q], [P+Q], [P-Q], [2P+Q], [2P-Q], [2Q+P], and
[2Q-P]. The variety of multiple sum and difference tones with a tonal center of A, as
implied by the generating voices, allowed for a logical progression to an Authentic
cadence in which the combination tones resulted in the simplest harmonic relationships
between voices, as demonstrated in the cadence to 5:4:3:2:1 in Figure 18. In
Chorale:Angelswort, the cadence to the Golden chord, seen in Figures 27-29, is equally
logical given the progressive sum/difference tone approach. Since this method
approaches the Golden Chord no matter what the generating interval (see Figure 25),
the logical resolution is the arrival to the equally spaced Golden Chord in which all the
pitches reinforce one another.

73

"

Ezra Sims Quintet and my Angelswort both use combination tones as a guiding

harmonic principle. As in many aspects of the compositional process, the salient

differences between these examples stem from the precise limitations the composer
places upon him/herself. This evokes the oft-cited Stravinsky quotation: My freedom
thus consists in my moving about within the narrow frame that I have assigned myself
for each one of my undertakings. I shall go even further:my freedom will be so much
the greater and more meaningful, the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the
more I surround myself with obstacles.49
"

Since 12-Tone Equal Temperament has come into question in the most recent half-

century, many composers have sought new ways to create satisfying pitch relationships
using microtones. From the simple Ring Modulation used in Stockhausens
electroacoustic works of the 1950s and 60s, to Sims' contrapuntal combination tones
since the 1980s and more recently the inclusion of higher order limits in myAngelswort,
combination tones continue to provide harmonic material for composers. The
phenomenon is so innate to our perception of sound, it is not surprising that it has
attracted composers as a method of organizing harmony. Combination tones are
omnipresent in the acoustic world, and are reflected and amplified by composers.

49

Igor Stravinsky, Poetics of Music.

74

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