OCR Text |
Show 2 0 8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ TOLL 75 the drumbeat follows the voice by 0.12 second in 12 cases, and in no instance does the interval differ from this by more than 0.02 second. A comparison has been made of a portion of the photographic record, about 20 feet long, between drumbeats © and ® , with the phonograph reproduction timed with a stop watch. In this manner it was possible to locate the principal notes in exact time. Figure 1 [ pi. 15] is the music as originally submitted, transcribed from the phonographic record. The letters A, B, C, etc., indicate certain distinct notes of the phonographic rendition; the corresponding portions are marked with the same letters on the upper edge of the photograph. While listening to the phonograph the relation of the pairs of drumbeats to the music was noted by ear and roughly marked on the score thus: D% D% D% D% D\ Thirty- four of these beats are numbered on the score, and the same beats were identified on the photograph and correspondingly numbered. By noting the relation of the drumbeats to the notes of the score and by observing the variations in the width ( loudness or rhythm) of the photographic record as related to the corresponding drumbeats on the photograph it is possible to locate the beginning of each note of the music. The corresponding notes of the score and the photograph are lettered a, b, c- p, q, r. Figure 2 [ pi. 15] is a diagram showing the exact time relations of the drumbeats and notes, as determined by counting the hundredths of seconds on the photograph. The spacing along the staff shows the exact time value of each note and the relation of each note to the drumbeats. The bars [ marked ® , ® , ® , etc.] are the drumbeats, numbered as on the photograph, thus ( 8). The numbers between the circles are the intervals, in hundredths of a second, between the drumbeats. The numbers above the notes are the intervals, in hundredths of a second, between the beginning of the notes and the succeeding drumbeats, as counted on the photograph. The numbers below the staff, as 109, 39, 27, etc., are the intervals between notes ( length of notes) in hundredths of a second. Inspection shows that 9 is approximately a common divisor of this number, and for purposes of comparison they were divided by 9, the approximate results being given in the next row of figures, as 12, 4$, etc. These numbers are proportional to the lengths of the notes. Assuming 8 to correspond to a quarter note, the first note is a dotted quarter, and the second is an eighth note, etc. The interpretation of the lengths of the note in musical notation may then be written as in the last line of figure 2 [ pi. 15], and inspection of this series enables the division of the notes into appropriate groups for the bars of music. This latter operation should properly be done in connection with the phrasing and rhythm of the words. |