Gender-species neutral group composition exercise
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,500
    Faith of our parents and dogs and cats...
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,460
    Faith fully free of both doctrine and hats.
    Thanked by 1Kathy
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,500
    Faith of mosquitos, fleas and gnats.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,706
    Walk toward the Sun no matter the pathway
    Thanked by 1Kathy
  • francis
    Posts: 10,706
    Destined for greatness in tennies or flats.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,001
    Exclusivists all. Where the hell are the fungi? Bacteria?

    Faith of our fungi, our mildews and molds....

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Tree_of_Living_Organisms_2.png/1022px-Tree_of_Living_Organisms_2.png

    Thanked by 3Kathy francis mrcopper
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,460
    Faith of our fungi, our mildews and molds....

    Corrupting, like they do, whatever is old.
    Composting to garbage all former traditions,
    but certain to lower our carbon emissions.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,169
    Faith of our parents, siblings, too,
    Grandparents in retirement years.
    O how our in-laws, cousins, too,
    Bring out our phobias and fears.
    Faith of our parents, holy cow!
    Dear Lord, we need you, hear us now.

    Faith of our pets, both dogs and cats,
    But also birds and guinea pigs
    Do not forget pet fish and rats,
    Rabbits and spiders in our digs.
    Faith of our pets, we need you all
    To bring us joy before we fall.

    Faith of our barnyard, where our hogs
    Wallow in mud once they are slopped.
    And on the range the cattle and dogs
    Roam o'er the plain where time has stopped.
    Faith of our barnyard, blissful ranch!
    Lord give us freedom from the stench.

    Faith of our insects, bees and fleas,
    Dragonflies, gnats, and head lice, too.
    Butterflies fluttering in the breeze,
    Where e'er you are, they will find you.
    Faith of our insects, biting bugs,
    Mosquitoes are as bad as slugs.

    Faith of our subterranean world,
    Where tunneling worms enrich the loam.
    Parasol mushrooms now unfurled,
    Rising above their earthy home.
    Faith of the vast microbial zoo!
    Darwin, they tip their hats to you.

    Faith of the world of sky and space
    Of planets, moons, and stars and more.
    Galaxies, black holes in their place,
    Who knows what heaven has in store?
    Faith of our far flung universe!
    Bless us on earth: it could be worse!

    Charles H. Giffen, 3 September 2013
    (Copyright assigned to the CMAA)
    Thanked by 7Salieri canadash ZacPB189 Jenny expeditus1 M. Jackson Osborn JulieColl
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    I think we have a winner!!
    Very funny! For me, Charles, you cinched it with your penultimate line. Cosmic.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,500
    Chuck, this is absolutely inimitable--well done!!
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,697
    A hymn as good as that deserves its own custom melody... I've been working on it. The first note is Ab. The last note is Ab. Lots of Ab.
    Thanked by 3Adam Wood Mad_Dan_Eccles Heath
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Mosquitoes are as bad as slugs.

    A truism as true as truth toots. However, it won't pass PETA muster (I've used that twice today!)
    Revision needed lest the PETA's and environmental scientists chastise us for intolerance of those specific pests while extolling head lice's (lice's?) faith.

    Meloche, outside of a tapeworm, maybe your tapeworm.....there are lots more objects in the cosmos that are #. Must sing G#'s! Ab is outrage!
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,169
    I did consider "deer ticks" or "wood ticks" instead of "head lice" at one point.
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Matthew, please do offer a high soprano key of your rendition, for concert purposes.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,169
    And I thought it would sound good to MELITA. Oh well ...

    Also, maybe MeloCharlie wjuld prefer "Mosquitoes are as good as slugs."
  • ddoyle1220
    Posts: 14
    Faith in me, only me...
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Are you asking for some Oingo Boingo contributions?
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    "Mosquitoes, wasps, yea all that buzz"
    You're welcome. That'll be $1K, and union dues, or a cask of Amantillado.
    And Chuck, how in the heck did you find out that I wjuld? I've never shared with anyone, not even my wife of forty years, nor MACW, Kathy or G that I am a preferred expert at wjulding!
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,169
    Haha ... I seem to have a penchant for hitting the j key at the wrong times, especially in "would, could, should" ... really I shjouldn't do that.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,181
    Hey, who's this giving Charles the wino reputation? Stop that.

    That'll be $1K, and union dues, or a cask of Amantillado.


    Oh, never mind.
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Not to be an interloper, but, ummmm, the cask was for me, as union boss.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Thanks, MA, I defer to your election (did I miss that?) I still am treasurer. Without resume or any credentials whatsoever. And Richard, I just forgot to capitalize "Cask of Amantillado," which was requesting a first edition copy of the Poe classic! Niener, niener, niener.
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,374
    It really must be Recto Tono, so that Adam can sing it.
    Besides, Melita is rather a sappy tune.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,181
    Melo, I thought it was just a typo and you wanted to order a case of mantillas for the ladies in your parish.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Yeah, dat's it, yeah you got it, Morgan Fairchild!
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,169
    It really must be Recto Tono, so that Adam can sing it.
    Besides, Melita is rather a sappy tune.

    Well, it is a rather sappy text.
  • BruceL
    Posts: 1,072
    Yes, has to be recto tono. Having different pitches would be so...unequal!
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,697
    People have JOBS and FAMILIES and children have HOMEWORK and retired people have DIFFICULT GOLF GAMES...

    Peoples' lives are FULL OF STRESS...

    The last thing we want is parishioners sitting at their desks at work WORRYING about the perfect 4th jump in MELITA. Or children biting their nails after a test with their head full of concerns regarding how long to hold the 8th note in MELITA. We don't want our seasoned citizens getting even more gray hair because rather than sipping a nice glass of iced tea they're busy worrying about whether or not they'll come in on verse 2 in time.

    All of this STRESS and DISTRESS and HORROR can be avoided by just singing everything RECTO TONO all the time. People have LIVES - we can't expect them to chant, learn hymn tunes, juggle and still exist in the real world.
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Wow, what moxie, what insight, what problem-solving acumen!
    Forget Mat-tyoo for Prez of NPM, I declare Meloche Emporer of San Francisco, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Palm Beach and Atlantic City! And he should be installed as Obama's CoStaff post-haste as well.
    I feel better already.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,169
    Okay, okay already. You compose a RECTO TONO setting, and I'll compose RECTO TONO descants No. 1 for the 3rd stanza, No. 2 for the 5th stanza, with both No. 1 and No. 2 for the 6th stanza.
    Thanked by 2Adam Wood BruceL
  • ronkrisman
    Posts: 1,391
    It seems to me that too much faith is being placed in matthewj's assertion that his compositional technique is stress-reducing. There remains the question of how long to chant each note, whether it is notated either as //O// or as one of those square thingies. And I know that this grey haired no haired chanter would still wonder when to come in, even with a DM waving his or her arm(s) frantically. And determining the right pitch would still cause me a panic. IMO, there would have to be a key signature; moveable doh won't cut it. I would need to see where the reciting note falls in the particular key chosen. And then I would have to know if that reciting note is tuned in just or equal temperament.

    RECTO TONO singing is no picnic.
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    We chanted the Sanctus and Agnus Dei (in Latin) recto tono (no, really, we did) this past Sunday. It actually worked very well; though it would have been better with organ.
  • Mad_Dan_EcclesMad_Dan_Eccles
    Posts: 51
    All of this STRESS and DISTRESS and HORROR can be avoided by just singing everything RECTO TONO all the time. People have LIVES - we can't expect them to chant, learn hymn tunes, juggle and still exist in the real world.


    This topic appears to be crossing neatly into the ground covered under the topic called "Everyone can Sing"
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,181
    I'm going to produce a declining pitch edition of the Recto Tono Propers; some singers are a natural (no pun intended) at this style.
    Thanked by 2Adam Wood CHGiffen
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    I would watch out if I were you, Richard. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,955
    Most recto tono singers are in need of a declining volume edition.
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,697
    I already own the copyrights on the SLOW GLISSANDO PROPERS, KYRIALE AND HYMNAL. Sorry, Richard, I'm going to have to begin litigation against you.
    Thanked by 1Kathy
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,169
    Be prepared for a counter suit ... PEDAL POINT was invented and copyright ages ago and has passed into the public domain. RECTO TONO is simply a repackaging for rip-off purposes. CPDL might not be pleased with that.
    Thanked by 1Gavin
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Chuck, first comes the descants, now the pedal point. Don't forget isons for Charles W. I'm starting to think you're the reincarnation of whoever that first monk was that sang the cantus at a P4/P5 and said, "Hey guys, check this out. This is cool. I call it 'organum.'" And it all went downhill after that.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,181
    Call off the dogs, MJM; the pitch changes in my declining pitch edition are stepwise, placed after the breath marks. There is plenty of prior use documented for this performance practice, and I and my students will be completely desirous to leave "slow glissando" to such that want it.
    Thanked by 1Gavin
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,185
    I say NO to RECTO TONO.

    The LAST thing we want is parishioners agonizing over whether they are singing on the same pitch with their neighbor. Men trying to sing falsetto in order to match the pitch of the women around them. Twelve-year-old boys trying to sing like basses and ending up sounding like…twelve-year-old boys trying to sing like basses. And heaven forbid anyone worry about declining pitch at the same rate as their neighbors.

    Introducing the TONE CLUSTER® MISSAL, KYRIALE, HYMNAL, GRADUAL, PSALTER, and ANTIPHONARY. A compleat solution for all of your church music needs. Soon to be available in DIATONIC, MICROTONAL, and NOTATION-FREE editions. The ACCOMPANIMENT edition is compatible with ALL instruments, regardless of their concert pitch, condition or even tuning (because tuning takes too much time).

    Completely compatible with the RECTO TONO and SLOW GLISSANDO series for those who spent the money on it (and their publisher's legal team), but much more forgiving for those who found the content (and the copyright restrictions) far too intimidating.

    TONE CLUSTER®…because EVERYONE can SING.™
    Thanked by 11Spriggo melofluent ronkrisman CharlesW Kathy Adam Wood Ben CHGiffen Gavin M. Jackson Osborn Salieri
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    We invite you to turn to hymn number 666 in the TONE CLUSTER HYMNAL® and sing "Atmospheres" by Georgy Ligeti, arr. by A. Esguerra.

    (Wouldn't it be great if some folks from NPM are taking all this in seriously?)
    O wait, Fr. Ron already did that. Nevermind! ;-)
    Thanked by 1Gavin
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,460
    THIS IS AN AMAZING IDEA.
    Thanked by 1Ben
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,460
    I want mrcopper to collaborate on this project, so that we can be sure that all the dissonances are properly tuned.
    Thanked by 2Ben Gavin
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