Diabolus in Musica
Volume 16: It's Just Another Tritone
Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh-oh-oh
Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh, oh, oh, oh
Ay-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya, ooh
Talking Heads --Psycho Killer (1977)
The last we spoke, I promised a new issue would show up in just a few weeks’ time…that was 23 weeks ago. At this time, life has gotten complicated — a lot more fun and enjoyable, but still more complicated! At least the promise that this would be an occasional newsletter has remained consistent! As always, this is a collection of random articles and music chosen at the last moment focusing on a specific theme. Today is Halloween in the witching world, so let’s get on with it! Or if you are not in the witching world, just do like the Japanese do and be as boring as possible! (I think I’d like to go as the “Man Woken Up By Amazon Delivery”)
Ok…let’s make this quick!!!
Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima for 52 strings by Krzysztof Penderecki
I’ve always been fascinated by this piece having heard it years back as recommended after buying a Kronos Quartet album. It’s beautiful and horrifying at the same time. — ccm
Krzysztof Penderecki was born in Debica, Poland in 1933 and he studied composition at the Conservatory of Music Society in Krakow, today’s Academy of Music Krakow. In the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music from 1956 to 1958 he had contact with works of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Stravinsky, Bartok, Hindemith, Stockhausen, Boulez, Berio, Nono, Dallapicola, Carter, and Cage. In 1957 he worked at the Polish Radio Experimental Music Studio and made experiments on extended techniques for strings, clusters and noises in acoustical pieces.
In 1959 he won the first, second and third prizes of the second Competition of Young Composers of the Polish Composer’s Union with the compositions Strophes, Emanations and Psalms of David submitted under different pseudonyms and in 1960 he finished Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, started in 1958 and originally called 8’37”.
“The piece existed only in my imagination, in a somewhat abstract way. When Jan Krenz recorded it and I could listen to an actual performance; I was struck with the emotional charge of the work. I thought it would be a waste to condemn it to such anonymity, to those “digits”. I searched for associations and, in the end, I decided to dedicate it to the Hiroshima victims.” (Tomaszewski, 1998)
Read more at the Music 7703 Blog.
Note: Krzysztof Urbanski was the principal conductor at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra between 2010 and 2021 in my hometown— ccm.
Want to create your own rendition? The Spitfire Audio Bernard Herrman Toolkit ($499) would be the first stop for me along with the CAGE Strings collection at 8DIO ($400).
Both of these libraries are PRICEY…luckily enough they both have amazing free or cheap libraries as well even if they don’t match these libraries!!! Spitfire currently has the free Gaelic Voices Labs release:
“Six traditional Gaelic singers recorded inside the ruins of a 1960s seminary. Originally a training campus for catholic priests, St Peter’s Seminary shut down in 1980 and fell into disrepair. In the concrete skeleton of the former chapel, the LABS team captured a small group of singers performing a captivating range of aleatoric techniques, inspired by Celtic vocal traditions.”
The Devils Chord
Why do we have to blame the devil for the tritone? Let’s just blame Ronnie James Dio!!! Fender explains it all…
Like the Beast, it goes by many names: Diabolus in musica(devil in music), the devil’s interval, the tritone, the triad and the flatted fifth. As its Latin moniker suggests, it’s an evil sounding combination of notes that’s designed to create a chilling or foreboding atmosphere.
Read more at Fender’s Blog.
This Song Kills!!!
Frank Sinatra is responsible for more karaoke murders than any other tune ever. Mental Floss explores this phenomenon.
In 2007, a man was performing the song in San Mateo in the Philippines when a security guard loudly informed the singer that he was off-key. When man continued to croon, the guard pulled out a .38 caliber pistol and shot the performer in the chest, killing him.
Freak occurrence? Nope. Since 2000, at least half a dozen people have been murdered after (or while) performing the Sinatra classic. Dubbed the “‘My Way’ Killings,” the strange phenomenon has gotten so bad that some bar owners have removed it from the selection list entirely.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62773/karaoke-song-kills
Behind The Scenes with Audacity, the Free Opensource Audio Editor
The classic open source audio editor Audacity has been around for over two decades, but the Muse Group and product head Martin Keary only came onto the project within the last two years. In this ep we talked to Martin about his extensive background in UX and how he's bringing that expertise to a project as old as Audacity, its recent rapid growth and future roadmap, the bumpy public relations issues that occurred around the Muse Group taking ownership of the project, and more.
Listen with your favorite Podcast Software here: https://fosspod.content.town/episodes/audacity-with-martin-keary
And download Audacity here: https://www.audacityteam.org
What I’m Watching: Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror
Released 100 years ago:
“Nosferatu” begins with an unsuspecting young couple. Thomas Hutter leaves his wife, Helen, and his home in Wisburg, Germany, to sign a property deal with Orlok, a mysterious count living in a castle in the mountains of Transylvania. Orlok is eccentric, then sinister. He refuses food. He sleeps by day, in a coffin, atop a pile of other coffins. When Hutter accidentally cuts his finger, Orlok tries to suck blood from his hand. The last straw is when Orlok catches sight of a picture of Hutter’s wife; praising Helen’s “lovely throat,” he sets off by boat for Wisburg to stalk her and feast on the blood of the townspeople.
While almost laughable by today’s standards, a century later, this classic had been remastered and reissued with an updated recording of the score. An older copyright-free version has been posted above, but you’d do yourself a disservice if you didn’t try to find the new one.
Read more at https://www.nytimes.com/ (NYT Gift Article)
What I’m Reading: How to Leave Dying Social Media Platforms (without ditching your friends)
Cory Doctorow writes:
The Big Tech platforms style themselves as “benevolent dictators.” Sure, they have the final say over your digital life, but they only wield that power because they want to help you.
That’s the story whether it’s Facebook or Twitter blocking you from posting a link to a site like Distributed Denial of Secrets, or Gmail blocking independent mail-servers from reaching your inbox, or Apple blocking alternative Instagram apps that shield you from tracking and ads.
Sometimes, these companies really are looking out for your interests. They have armies of moderators and security experts who block innumerable threats to your data, your identity, and your physical safety. But those companies will never block you from their own leadership: when your interests conflict with their plans, the fortress walls that keep bad guys out become prison walls that lock you in.
As with most of my posts, I can’t stand Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Substack. They are all evil and bad for you. You should not be using any of them if you care about your freedom.
https://doctorow.medium.com/how-to-leave-dying-social-media-platforms-9fc550fe5abf
BTW You can find updated Sonikmatter posts at https://twitter.com/sonikmatter.
What I’m YouTubin’: Machine Learning, Neural Networks, and AI
In a recent conversation with Nick Batzdorf and Jim Aiken on AI, Nick suggested that I check this out. I’ve been slowly digesting this as I get a chance. As a former AI developer with an actual shipping project, I like the idea of AI. Then again, I spent twice as long ensuring my AI wasn’t racist as I did writing the damn thing…so your mileage may vary!
Via: https://synthandsoftware.com
Ordered: MNTRA’s Kymera-CE
Kymera is a macabre collection of haunted sounds for the next generation of horror. Building on years of R&D in creating custom instruments for award-winning horror video games and films, we spent weeks in the studio experimenting with unconventional sound objects and techniques to bring you a horror toolkit unlike any other.
I love everything about this company! The plugins are animated and busy and overbearing and feel like a sculpture. Kymera is currently $25 for the next few days, and their Deathwhistle is only $10. Amazing for horror-based tunes.
Final Thoughts: Would You Want To Live Here
Via Joe at the aptly named BookofJoe.com (currently having technical difficulties but his site has never not inspired me for almost two decades!)
Sonikmatter: Mind + Music + Technology
An occasional newsletter. Barely fact-checked and often wrong.
Additionally, if you’d like your music or project to be featured old-skool style, call (415) 683-1381 and sing, rawk, or prog into the answering machine! We will post it!!!
Mail to the Editor: Zampino @ sonikmatter.com