Contributions: Bulsink "Harry Partches' Diamond Marimba"

The Diamond Marimba by Harry Partch

Wilbert Bulsink

I was asked many times by the editors of this new publication to write something for the first edition. Finally, I agreed. Since I hate to write about music, I decided to make a diagram of Harry Partch's Diamond Marimba. In the margins I put some thoughts and remarks to clarify the diagram, and suggest ideas for further research.

The music of Partch sounds folkloristic, as if it comes from a different continent. Like folkloristic music from other continents, some parameters of Partch's music are very simple, whereas others are very sophisticated. The way he tuned his instruments is extremely intricate and differs very much from any other known microtonal system. Therefore the untrained ear won't be able to hear the nuances in his music, just like an untrained ear can't identify the delicacies, for instance, in Classical Indian music.

I wouldn't call myself a Partch expert, actually I hardly know his music, and have rarely listened to it. Since I have such a keen interest in microtonality, the Diamond Marimba was worth studying - and I happened to cross it on the internet. Of course this microtonal system looks extremely complicated in our equal tempered notational system. It breaks completely with the direction in which the notation in Western Music has developed. Partch didn't notate pitches with accidentals, but simply used fractions to indicate pitch. The numbers of these fractions are connected to overtone ratios. For instance: the '9/7' b is related to the '1/1' g (which is always the 'tonic' of Partch's system) as if the b was the 9th overtone and the g was the 7th overtone; giving a differene of 435 cents.

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To download full article, and a diagram of Harry Partch's Diamond Marimba go to: http://files-upload.com/files/660963/final partch article-1.pdf