Engaging creatively with hyperreality through music

Engaging with Hyperreality through Demonique and Angelique? (Part #13)

Angelic and demonic music? Whereas demonic entities figure extensively in video games, it is somewhat extraordinary to note the multitude of references to angels in popular song -- and to a far lesser degree in traditional hymns. The question is what intuitions are meaningfully cultivated and sustained through music in a world informed by the rational explanations of science? Any response must necessarily go beyond those offered with respect to the traditions of religious music and chant. Reference is appreciatively made to angelic music and to angelic song. The image is offered of heaven being characterized by the song of angels, notably framed as a choir of angels (William Saunders, Choirs of Angels, Catholic Exchange, 18 September 2014). According to Catholic tradition and theological commentary, nine choirs of angels are distinguished as being associated with the different orders of angels (Angels, Archangels, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim).

With respect to the demonic, also of relevance is the extensive condemnation from a religious perspective of music and song deemed problematic, as with earlier Christian concerns with diabolus in musica (The Christian's Guide to Detecting Demonic Music, The Landover Baptist Church Forum, 2012; David J. Stewart, How Can Music Be Demonically Inspired? Jesus-is-Savior; Donald Phau, The Satanic Roots of Rock, Dial-the-Truth Ministries).

Of relevance here is the nature of the insight into hyperreality enabled by music and song. Clearly the cognitive appeal of a "ninth choir" merits careful consideration, beyond the use of a linking octahedron in the mapping explored above. Extensive consideration has been variously given to the enneagram as a mapping of a 9-fold typology, including that relating to angels by Peter Collins (Angels on a Pinhead, 1994), and that of Anthony Blake (The Intelligent Enneagram, 1996). In a separate exercise, a visual rendering is provided of an enneagram embedded in 3D within an icosahedron in terms of circles (Correspondences between Traditional Constellations and Pattern Languages: requisite simplexity for sustainable comprehension of complexity, 2014). How such circles might be cognitively related to the sense of "choir", and musical cycles, is a matter for further consideration.

Sonification of the problematique (the "Demonique") and the resolutique (the "Angelique")? Whilst religions have for centuries made use of music to enable insight and discourse with regard to the heavenly, however explained, relatively little use has been made of music and song to convey insight with regard to remedial action in response to the problematique. It might have been expected that the resolutique would have evoked as much insight into the role of song as has been evident with respect to theological framing of angelic choirs. Although the question could be asked to what degree that framing inspired musical insight rather than verbal commentary and imagery.

Problems do indeed evoke songs, as do calls to action. This medium is however strangely dissociated from the modalities of international institutions in practice -- despite appropriation of Beethoven's Ode to Joy as the Anthem of Europe. However there is little evidence of music or song at international summits where they might have been used to articulate the concerns and opportunities in a complementary mode -- one potentially more widely comprehensible and communicable. This argument has been developed separately (A Singable Earth Charter, EU Constitution or Global Ethic? 2006). The latter notes as an the 12 songs of The Globalization Saga: Balance or Destruction, 2004, as a CD accompaniment to a book by Franz Josef Radermacher (of the FAW - Institute for Applied Knowledge Processing, in association with the Global Marshall Plan Initiative).

Given the importance attached to Beethoven's musical insight, the argument above invites attention to his capacity to generate the 32 Variations on an Original Theme in C minor (1806) following the earlier initiative of Johann Sebastian Bach (30 Goldberg Variations, 1741). These were a notably feature of the study on self-reflexivity by Douglas Hofstadter (Gödel, Escher, Bach: an eternal golden braid, 1979). As a pattern language, how is any "angelic" pattern of 30 to be distinguished from one of 32? From what is the coherence of the pattern composed and produced by composer Benjamin Mapochi (La Folia 72 Variations)?

The point may be made otherwise by reference to the increasingly recognized role of sonification as a means of enabling meaningful comprehension of patterns of a high degree of complexity, as promoted by the International Community for Auditory Display. Given the capacity of the ear to detect such patterns, it is regrettable that the focus on angelic choirs has been limited to overly simplistic hierarchical configurations, at a time when engagement with higher orders of complexity is seemingly required. It might even be argued that music perceived as demonic is currently valued because it reflects such complexity to some degree.

In a global civilization in which many constituencies favour expression with one voice -- their own, however -- the question of how many "voices" merit expression in a complex society suggests the possibility of articulating the challenge in musical terms. If the 9 angelic choirs represent distinct "voices", what insights are associated with their respective singing -- perhaps as archetypes implied by the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations? The argument with respect to the number of voices and their relationship in multi-part singing is explored separately (Enabling a 12-fold Pattern of Systemic Dialogue for Governance, 2011). Of further interest is understanding the conditions and modalities enabling improvisation (Multivocal Poetic Discourse Emphasizing Improvisation: clarification of possibilities for the future, 2012).

Just as experiments are undertaken with sets of musical variations, so could they be undertaken with classic patterns, as separately explored (Musical Articulation of Pattern of Tao Te Ching Insights: experimental sonification based on magic square organization, 2016).

Reversal of music: Known as reverse tape effects, as might be expected, experiments have been made with reversing the direction in which music is played, including the controversial use of so-called backmasking, as popularised by the Beatles. More recently this has become possible with the aid of reverse music players, notably as apps for smartphones. Given the argument above for reading boustrophedonically, the possibility has inspired experimental music (Boustrophedon by Evan Parker - Transatlantic Art Ensemble), with a website offering music under that name (Boustrophedon), and another offering classical music played in reverse (Reverse Music).

Classic composers, including Mozart, Bach and Haydn created pieces in which time, pitch and/or melody was reversed at some point -- a technique known as crab canon -- leading to studies on retrograde performance (Yingshou Xing, et al, Mozart, Mozart Rhythm and Retrograde Mozart Effects: evidences from behaviours and neurobiology bases, Scientific Reports 6, 2016). As noted by the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, in three canons, including the Crucigeros, Bach employs an especially rigorous procedure in which intervals not only reverse direction but also strictly maintain quality as well as number. The follower voice of these "mirror" canons may be discerned, quite literally, in the reflected images of their leaders (The Crown of Thorns, 1997). Given the significance of the sets of variations, it is unclear what musical significance their reversal would have -- bringing the total to 60 or 64, in the light of the above argument.

Despite the experiments, the issue is only partially addressed by the response of Bill Morrissey as one of many relevant comments on the question (Why does music sound bad when played backwards?, Music Practice and Theory Stack Exchange, January 2012 ):

"Why does music sound "negative" when played backwards. This allows a much simpler explanation being "because it is "negative" The same as a ligt image reversed is a "negative" image. Looking "Bad" "Strange" and "Demonic". Nothing is created in its negative state. Music is creation. It is created. When played or listened to backwards what we are experiencing is negativity which is degenerative,we are hearing creation decay or more descriptively speakin death. We as living creatures seek life and accept life. Death, decay, pestilence, disease, all negativity is rejected and knoen to be "bad" "Strange" and even "demonic". It sounds that way because it is.

In a period in which there is concern with cultivation of a culture of fear, the use of music to that end merits exploration, as in the compilation by Neil Lerner (Music in the Horror Film: listening to fear, 2009). The Oxford Companion to Consciousness (2009) makes the point:

The musical function of an event also depends on its rhythmical position. Modifying the temporal structure of a melody suffices to alter the musical function of its notes, and this results in a radically new percept. For example, the pitches B C D E F G imply a major key, with the B as a unstabile leading note and the C as the most referential tonic. Played in reverse order, G F E D C B, these pitches imply the key of B major, with the C being perceived as an unstable tone anchored in the referential tonic B. (p. 459)

Complementary insights are offered in the detailed analysis by Stephen McAdams (Psychological Constraints on Form-bearing Dimensions in Music, Contemporary Music Review, 1989). An online experiment has been offered by Daniel Ross (Can you tell what pieces of classical music we've reversed? Classic fm, 18 January 2016).

Given the role of Beethoven's 9th Symphony -- an "Ode to Joy" -- as the anthem of Europe, it could be fruitfully asked what might be learned collectively by playing it in reverse, especially in a time of crisis of evident disconnect of governance from experiential reality. Perhaps as a "Requiem to Joy " or a "Lament for Misery"? The experiment could be relevant to the use of many national anthems in times of crisis -- as with the significance of flying a flag upside down. A version reversed in this way is now readily accessible on YouTube. (where other classical pieces played in this way may also be heard).

Despite the continuing controversy about such reversal, might critical appreciation of the alternative perspective then suggest means whereby Europe could come fruitfully to terms with its own demons? As previously suggested by Jacques Attali, social organization is significantly determined by that of classical music (Noise: The Political Economy of Music, 1977). A form of "pattern exhaustion" may becoming evident (William Caplin, Classical Form: a theory of formal functions for the instrumental music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, 1998). Is it possible that there are strategic dependencies which merit being called into question -- as explored in the parallels between music and quantum theory (Scott Shoger, Quantum Theory and Classical Music, Nuovo, 23 April 2014)?

Possible learning is indicated by Kate Bevan-Baker (Critical Backwards-Listening, Ampersand, 15 November 2015) with respect to performance of a folk song, The Blacksmith:

Though I have only selected one verse above, listening to it in its entirety provided me with a new view of the song, and I will never perform it the same way again now that I have heard and seen what it sounds and looks like in reverse... In a recording, the lyrics are totally morphed and cannot be made out in reverse. It gives the piece a completely different character when the lyrics cannot be heard or understood. Instead of telling a story through words, the piece becomes purely a musical statement on a different level.

Amongst other sound samples, that document provides access to an unusual piece by Mozart that can be played in either direction:

There have been pieces written that sound the exact same played in reverse -- musical palindromes. Mozart even composed a duet that can be played with one player reading the music right-side-up, and another reading from upside-down.

Reverse speech and doublespeak? If the current inadequacy of political and other authorities is in some way due to having their thinking "back-to-front". this may be strangely related to what has long been labelled doublespeak (Enabling Suffering through Doublespeak and Doublethink, 2013; Occupying the Moral and Ethical High Ground through Doublespeak, 2013). Intriguing in that regard is the research on reverse speech inspired by controversial backmasking in music and song. This research, itself controversial, was originated by David John Oates (About Reverse Speech, ReverseSpeech; Beyond Backward Masking, 2013). The criticism of that research and the response are themselves interesting (John Shirley, Reverse Speech, Sceptical Inquirer; Matjaz Kranjec, Response To The Skeptical Believer Article About Reverse Speech, Reverse Speech).

Musical tradition: Of great potential value to any clarification of the distinctive voices are the studies by the musicologist Ernest G. McClain (The Myth of Invariance: the origin of the Gods, Mathematics and Music from the Rg Veda to Plato, 1976; The Pythagorean Plato: prelude to the song itself, 1978). These were initially inspired by work on the tonal "languages" of the Rg Veda by Antonio de Nicolas, as reviewed by the latter (Meditations through the Rg Veda: a retrospective, Philosophy East and West, 1999), and discussed separately (Tonal patterns of Rg Veda poetry, 1984).

McClain's discussion of the "tone number field" and the "tone mandala" is an inspiration to further research. He notably discusses how a tonal system is engendered by prime numbers 2, 3, 5, and 7, especially in their relation to polyhedral patterns framed by 2^p3^q5^r < 60. He frames the tone number field and mandala by what he terms the Holy Mountain, presented in various charts (Meditations through the Quran: tonal images in an oral culture, 1981). Central to this are the five tones C, G, D, A, E and their smallest integer form as being the only invariances in the mandala (1976, p. 75-76):

ratios	72	81	96	108	128	144
rising	D	E	G	A	C	D
falling	D	C	A	G	E	D

Elsewhere he notes, with respect to a more complex version of that table, that:

To define that same scale as string-length ratios on the monochord requires in terms of smallest integers a set of Platonic "friends" in the 72 : 144 octave. Thus New Jerusalem's "wall" of 144 cubits is musically inseparable from the Rig Veda's opposite limit of 30; anyone concerned with numerical sequences which increase and decrease symmetrically had to know both the basic Hindu set and its "Christian" transformation (1976, p. 109)

He notes that 72 begins this symmetric pentatonic scale form, and 10 72 = 720 defines the "Just" limits within which it arises. These digits play a prominent role in Hindu, Hebrew, Christian, and Chinese arithmology. With respect to the tonal form of the Holy Mountain, he later draws attention to the manner in which 2x36 = 72 elements are paired around its centre, and hence to its importance (1981, p. 143).

McClain comments further that 72 figures more frequently in Jewish legends than in the Bible (1981, pp. 143-144):

at the time of Noah, there were 72 nations "each with a language of their own"
Adam masters "all of the seventy-two kinds of wisdom"
the number of diseases which man suffers because of the "fall" is sometimes given as 72
72 elders translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek
work on Solomon's temple stopped only after its 72 towers had been completed

The implication of "translation" merits consideration in terms of "transformation" -- as in the role of "voices" with distinctive functions in a musical work. As with the work of McClain, such arguments are given further significance by the recent discovery of Jay Kennedy (Plato's Forms, Pythagorean Mathematics, and Stichometry, Apeiron: a journal for ancient philosophy and science, 2010) of the use by Plato of a regular pattern of symbols to give his books a musical structure (Manchester historian deciphers hidden 'Plato Code', BBC News, 29 June 2010; Julian Baggini, Plato's Stave: academic cracks philosopher's musical code, The Guardian, 29 June 2010).

Geometry of musical chords: A distinct, but implicitly related, approach to music has been elaborated by Dmitri Tymoczko as follows:

A musical chord can be represented as a point in a geometrical space called an orbifold. Line segments represent mappings from the notes of one chord to those of another. Composers in a wide range of styles have exploited the non-Euclidean geometry of these spaces, typically by using short line segments between structurally similar chords. Such line segments exist only when chords are nearly symmetrical under translation, reflection, or permutation. Paradigmatically consonant and dissonant chords possess different near-symmetries and suggest different musical uses. (The Geometry of Musical Chords. Science, 313, 2006):

In terms of any engagement with hyperreality, the application to music theory associates orbifolds with hyperbolic space, as indicated in Wikipedia.

The approach was later developed in book form (A Geometry of Music: harmony and counterpoint in the extended common practice, 2011), reviewed by Steve Olson under the title A Grand Unified Theory of Music (Princeton Alumni Weekly, 9 February 2011), making the point that chords have not only sound but shape. Tymoczko has subsequently developed his work in terms of the hypercube (The Generalized Tonnetz, Journal of Music Theory 56, 2012, 1)