Abstraction 6 Analysis

Here is an image with a bit of analysis of the pitch structure in Abstraction 6 for Saxophone and Electronics, specifically the opening few measures.  Based on a 9 -voice array.  Which is actually 3 3-voice all-partition arrays in counterpoint  ( 1 for the SHORT sax notes, 1 for the LONG sax notes, and 1 for the electronics ).

You can hear the piece here.

The row-class is represented by 4 9 6 0 8 3 1 10 7 5 11 2 ,  which contains a lot of dominant 7ths or their inversions (half-diminished 7ths) — 4960  |   6083   |    3 1 10 7   |  1 10 7 5   |    7 5 11 2  .   Those reflect the many 7-limit Just Intonation harmonies that are crystallized into JI tuning around the saxophone’s pitches.

(Clicking on the image should enlarge it)

Abs6_analysis

In case you are curious, when I wrote this piece (and this was true for a lot of my pieces up until maybe 2015), the array plan was on a long string of taped-together papers. Here is that that looked like for this piece (you can see the same pitch-classes as in the diagram above):

(click to zoom in)

Abstraction 6 Paper Array

Abstraction 6 Paper Array