The Songs of Ringing

The Songs of Ringing is a form of music used during marches and military engagements originating in The Pulley of Strategies. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A singer recites nonsensical words and sounds while the music is played on a kudar and a merseth. The musical voices bring melody, counterpoint and rhythm. The entire performance should be made with feeling. The melody and counterpoint both have mid-length phrases throughout the form. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to glide from note to note and alternate tension and repose.

• The Songs of Ringing has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a theme and one to two lengthy series of variations on the theme possibly all repeated, a lengthy bridge-passage and a finale.
• The theme is voiced by the melody of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds, the counterpoint of the merseth and the rhythm of the kudar. The passage is at a free tempo, and it is to be very soft. The singer's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage is performed using the izeg scale and in free rhythm.
• Each of the series of variations is voiced by the melody of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the melody of the merseth. Each passage is slow, and it is to be moderately loud. The singer's voice covers its entire range. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. Each passage is performed using the emar scale and in the ugath rhythm. Each passage should be composed and performed using trills.
• The bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the merseth, the rhythm of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the rhythm of the kudar. The passage is slower than the last passage, and it is to be loud. The singer's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. This passage typically has some sparse chords. The passage is performed without preference for a scale and in free rhythm.
• The finale is voiced by the melody of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds, the melody of the merseth and the rhythm of the kudar. The passage is moderately paced, and it is to be in whispered undertones. The singer's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. This passage typically has some sparse chords. The passage is performed using the kulet scale and in the ngarak rhythm.
• Scales are conceived of as two chords built using a division of the perfect fourth interval into eleven notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
• As always, the izeg hexatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords drawn from the fundamental division of the perfect fourth. These chords are named bidok and ustos.
• The bidok trichord is the 1st, the 7th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.
• The ustos tetrachord is the 1st, the 3rd, the 7th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.
• As always, the emar heptatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords drawn from the fundamental division of the perfect fourth. These chords are named anam and zustash.
• The anam tetrachord is the 1st, the 6th, the 8th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.
• The zustash tetrachord is the 1st, the 2nd, the 5th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.
• As always, the kulet pentatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords drawn from the fundamental division of the perfect fourth. These chords are named gatal and mabdug.
• The gatal trichord is the 1st, the 4th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.
• The mabdug trichord is the 1st, the 7th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.
• The ugath rhythm is made from two patterns: the ish and the ugog. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
• The ish rhythm is a single line with sixteen beats divided into two bars in a 8-8 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - - - - - 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.
• The ugog rhythm is a single line with five beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | X x - - x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The ngarak rhythm is made from two patterns: the feb and the berim. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
• The feb rhythm is a single line with nine beats divided into three bars in a 3-3-3 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x x - | - x - | - x x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The berim rhythm is a single line with eight beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - - x X - x x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

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