The Couple of Smiling
The Couple of Smiling is a form of music used to commemorate important events originally devised by the human Omli Slingnobles. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. One to three singers recite nonsensical words and sounds while the music is played on a thrimes. The musical voices bring melody and counterpoint. The entire performance should feel agitated and is at a free tempo, and it is to become softer and softer. The melody and counterpoint both have short phrases throughout the form. It is performed using the stalcon scale. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to locally improvise. The voice stays in the middle register.
- The Couple of Smiling has the following structure: a theme and one to two lengthy series of variations on the theme possibly all repeated.
- The theme is voiced by the melody of the singers reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the counterpoint of the thrimes. Each of the singers' voices stays in the middle register and the thrimes stays in the rippling high register. This passage typically has some sparse chords. The passage is performed in the cadem rhythm. The passage should sometimes include a rising-falling melody pattern with mordents, arpeggios and legato and sometimes include a falling-rising melody pattern with glides, grace notes and staccato.
- Each of the series of variations is voiced by the melody of the thrimes. The thrimes covers its entire range from the muddy low register to the rippling high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. Each passage is performed in the hoth rhythm. Each passage should often include a falling-rising melody pattern with grace notes and trills, often include a falling melody pattern and sometimes include a rising melody pattern with mordents.
- Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student. Preferred notes in the fundamental scale are named. The names are ani (spoken an, 5th), shato (sha, 11th) and almef (al, 12th).
- The stalcon hexatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning two perfect fourths. These chords are named ilpi and dik.
- The ilpi trichord is the 1st, the 4th and the 6th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
- The dik tetrachord is the 8th, the 10th, the 11th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
- The cadem rhythm is made from two patterns: the noloc and the musda. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
- The noloc rhythm is a single line with three beats. The beats are named kes (spoken ke), suku (su) and rorec (ro). The beat is stressed as follows:
- | x X x |
- where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat and | indicates a bar.
- The musda rhythm is a single line with two beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | x - |
- where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
- The hoth rhythm is made from two patterns: the noloc and the onod. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
- The onod rhythm is a single line with thirty-two beats divided into four bars in a 8-8-8-8 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
- | - - x - - - - - | x x X x x x x x | - - - x - - x - | - x - - x X x - |
- where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
Events