LIMIT YOUR IMAGINATION TO SET IT FREE - Using "Tonepad"
Often, the most daunting claim that a proponent of a new musical technology can make is that "the only limit is your imagination"! To have limitless possibilities at one's disposal might seem to be a worthy point from which to start a process of free-form play or experimentation, however, for the purposes of more structured musical activity, a limitless horizon can be intimidating to say the least. (The story of the incapacitated centipede trying to remember how to walk comes to mind.) To focus the creative impulse it is often best to limit the range of options at our disposal.
Even a severely limited musical palette can serve to focus the mind to a creative end by providing a starting point which serves to "refract" possibilities - as light is refracted through a prism. Today I'd like to introduce you to some of the creative musical possibilities I've found to be inherent in a fun app for the iPhone/iPad called "Tone Pad". This app has a very limited feature set: only a single sound is available and the interface is based on the simple organisational principle of a 16x16 grid arranged with pitches represented vertically (a D pentatonic scale) and sequence steps represented horizontally (as left-to-right grids). Patterns can't be readily recalled, so sequencing of the patterns is not easily achieved. And, tempo is fixed. So, what is to be achieved with such a simple musical tool which is, in all honesty, little more than a musical toy?
Let's begin by listing our limited musical resources:
- A five note pentatonic scale (d, e, f#, a, b) spanning three octaves
- Polyphony up to 16 notes
- Tempo is 81 bpm
- Patterns can be flipped, rotated, shifted and shuffled
- And, thankfully, patterns can be saved.
Several possibilities reveal themselves within the interface itself, and beyond that there is usefulness in combination with other tools:
- Ostinatos are easily created. (You could argue that's all the program does.)
- Tonality is consistent and can be expanded upon to imply other key centres and tonal ambiguity.
- The 16 step cycle can be easily subdivided into cells to create compound time signatures.
- By recording the output of the program into an audio editor (I prefer and recommend the open source "Audacity") the resultant waveform can be readily edited and recombined since the individual sequence steps are easily identified.
With 2-pitch subsets, the following chords and scales are implied:
- As and Bs yield D6, B7, Bm7, Bm7-5, Dm6, Esus4, A wholetone
- Bs and Ds yield Bm, G, D6, Em7, G#m7-5, E7, B dim
- As and Ds yield D, Dm, Dm7, Asus4, Bbmaj7, D dorian
- As and Es yield A, Am, Esus4, C6
- F#s and A yield D, F#, Bm7, Gmaj9, F#m7b5
- Bs and Es yield Em, G6, E, Bsus4, Cmaj7
- Bs and F#s yield B, Bm, D6, F#sus4
- Ds and Es yield E7, Em7, G6, Bsus4, D wholetone
- Ds and F#s yield D, Bm, Gmaj7, F#+, Em9, Cmaj7#11, D wholetone
Rhythmic subdivisions of the sixteen uniform steps into discreet rhythmic cells can suggest a complex metric structure. Possibilities include:
- 3+2+3+2+3+3
- 2+3+3+3+3+2
- 3+2+2+2+2+2+3
- 3+3+3+3+2+2
- 2+2+2+2+2+3+3
- 2+2+3+3+3+3
A favourite musical application of mine is to use the resources outlined above to create two complimentary ostinatos which will function as inner voices in a four-part composition. Once I've recorded the inner parts I use other instruments to add a melody and a bass line (the outside parts). There is considerable scope for developing interesting and varied compositions by focussing on limited musical resources to a creative end.