Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Map Music: SMB3 – World 6

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This object is rather simple in terms of construction, but trying to transcribe the exact rhythmic relationship between the two pulse wave tracks was a little more challenging than I had expected.

There are two dissonances at work in this object.  Rhythmically, the melody and pedal tone are just a fraction off in terms of alignment.  On top of that, our percussion tracks give us little structural definition, keeping measures 1 and 4 of each phrase silent, and having no rhythmic resolution to the riff in the third measure. 

The second dissonance is in the harmony itself.  Each four bar phrase outlines an augmented triad, and the phrases are a semitone apart.  It is also interesting that rhythmic dissonance of the two pitched lines create a stark dissonance at the moment when the harmony changes from G+ to G#+.  The G natural rubs up against the G# creating an even more striking dissonance.