The Sound of Colours
Pablo Leñero Archer
March 2017
Dedicated to David and Don Krim for their valuable support

The Sound of Colours is a series of improvised pieces played by different people and instruments based on one graphic score that uses coloured circles of different sizes and positions to guide improvisation.


Different sounds can have different effects on us, to me, certain tonalities, scales and chords, create sensations that I often relate to colours. For example, a major pentatonic scale starting on G flat makes me feel the colour blue, a whole tone scale makes me imagine the colours purple and gray and a D major add4 chord sounds bright and warm so I relate it to orange or yellow. Essentially, this score attempts to recreate those effects on others, by doing the inverse, giving sounds to colours. Note that every person feels and perceives each colour different, so the experience will be different for everyone.

The notation of this piece is based on the combination and inspiration of two systems, one is an ancient Egyptian notation, mentioned in Musicologie Pharaonique by Hans Hickmann, that used 12 coloured circles to determine pitch, and a variety of sizes to indicate duration, although, others say that the size may indicate volume. The second one is Halim El-Dabh’s version of the previously mentioned system that uses paintings of coloured circles as scores. The main difference between the two is basically that the ancient Egyptian system is arranged chronologically, and Halim El-Dabh’s isn’t. Taking elements of both and adding new ones, this piece uses a painting or drawing of coloured circles that represent different sonorities as a guideline score for improvisation.

Album cover is the score.

Instructions

Player must improvise music using the painting, or drawing as a score.

Each colour represents a different tonality, chord, scale, cluster, or single note as follows:
Blue- Major Pentatonic scale starting on G flat
Green- E flat Dorian scale
Purple- Whole tone scale and augmented triads.
Brown- Octatonic scale any key
Orange- D major add 4 optional major 7th could be added.
Yellow- an A major scale, with emphasis on the notes B and F#.
Red- Phrygian Mode any key
Green Aqua- Lydian Mode any key
Black- each black circle must represent one of the following chords and clusters:
A,A#,B,C,C#,
Db minor major #11,
E, A#, D#, A,
C.F#,B, C#.

Motifs, dynamics and rhythms should to be improvised, however they can be related to the sensations each sonority produces on the performer.

The size of the circles indicates approximate duration.
The bigger the circle, the more time one should spend on the indicated tonality, chord, scale, note, or cluster.
Two equally or similarly sized circles, must have a similar duration, however extreme precision is not relevant.

The piece has no set duration, no fixed order, no starting point nor ending point and such must be improvised. However, player must go through all the circles at least once to end the piece.

If circles are overlapping or touching each other, they constitute a group.
Such group should be performed as a musical unity
there must be a smooth “harmonic” and/ or motivic transition when moving among the circles in the group.
Always move from one circle to next adjacent circle.
The degree of overlapping between circles, is related to how smooth the transition should be, and how much the player should go back and forth between the two circles before definitely moving to one of them.
If one circle is within another circle, such can be interpreted as a combination of both notes, scales, tonalities, chords, or clusters, and/or it can be an opportunity to constantly move back and forth between the two until the player moves to a different circle.


If circles are separated, transitions should be abrupt or disjunct.

Copyright © 2017 Pablo Leñero