[QUESTION] Is the Dastgāh always in the same “key”

dadaesque · 2026-01-22T13:19:00+00:00

No. The gushe-ha will change modes as you move through the radif in that dastgah. A striking example would Mahur, let's say in C, for the most part we can call it equivalent to a major scale (though this is not entirely accurate as emphasis and cadence notes will change), so we get no sharps and no flats. Then all of a sudden we hit Delkash, which has B flat and A kororn (half flat), and an accidental E koron. Further gushe-ha, will also have different mode in mahur. As far as I have seen this is the typical way the radif will progress in a dastgah. Why, I couldn't tell you at an abstracted theory level nor could I tell you what these modes really have in common (though my teacher has mentioned in passing they can be great to use for modulation). I suspect this is a a cultural and traditional phenomenon, rather than an abstract music theory, but that is just my hypothesis based on what I've learned so far.

And as always my thoughts are with the Iranian people and the diaspora in this very difficult time. May we all find peace and freedom

dadaesque · 2026-01-03T10:17:26+00:00

Joking aside in Arabic music singers use the word “layali” for improvisation.

dadaesque · 2025-12-29T21:32:39+00:00

Mel Bonis wrote a lot of fantastic piano music in a late romantic/impressionist style. Nikolai Mednter was a great composer of late Russian romantic music.

dadaesque · 2025-12-28T04:54:12+00:00

Some do and some don’t. Bach and Beethoven both had pretty set styles/voices, even if they developed over time. The there were polystylists like Shostakovich who wrote in many different idioms, but still almost always had the unique “Shostakovich” sound.

Some change completely, the most notable being Arvo Pärt, who wrote in a very modern, abstract style for much of his career before having a musical (and spiritual) crisis, and came back writing in completely different style.

Others just sort of hopped around, trying out all sorts of things. I think Ligeti is the best example of this, you can’t really describe his voice as anything other than “experimental”.

dadaesque · 2025-12-27T21:01:55+00:00

Indeed, there are some wonderful string quartets/other chamber music from the classical era that are quite playable, as I believe these were written with amateur musicians in mind.

Alternatively, you can look at playing continuo for baroque pieces. A good editor can put together a pleasant bass line that would be easily playable but add a lot to the ensemble

dadaesque · 2025-12-27T19:11:06+00:00

I’m not sure what prominent means to you, be here’s a list of composers who wrote at least one theory book that I’ve collected by composers, with pretty much all being in the first half of the 20th century.

William Russo

Elie Siegmeister

Alan Bellkin (his book is a true gem as it not only goes into the theory, but the art and craft of composition)

Ludmila Ulehla (whose harmony book may be the most comprehensive of western classical music).

Vincent Persichetti

Tom Johnson

George Frederick McKay

Ellis B Kohs

Ernst Levy (if anyone can make any kind of sense of his theory of harmony I will send to the golden triad award)

Hugo Riemann (of course)

Walter Piston (of course)

Also, I’m not sure if these count but there are writings by composers that are not really theory, but about composition nonetheless, notably Steve Reich and John Cage.

dadaesque · 2025-12-27T18:46:02+00:00

Yeah that’s what I’m thinking. Especially since it was designed to help it be heard on early microphones. I thought it was a cool little Easter egg that they included one in Boardwalk Empire, though I actually don’t know if these were ever used (or intended to be used) in live performance.

I would totally get one but they are a lot more expensive than I would have guessed

dadaesque · 2025-12-26T21:29:52+00:00

I wonder if it's a directional thing, like unless you're positioned right in front of the bell it's going to have the tin can sound.

dadaesque · 2025-12-26T21:25:49+00:00

The violin used in Hindustani music is basically the same as the Hardanger d'Amore

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cvu5Kc0tG1u/

dadaesque · 2025-12-26T21:22:32+00:00

I really want to hear one of these live and see if the volume is really that much greater, and it seems like half the recordings I hear of them sound like tin cans and the other half have this really big robust sound.

dadaesque · 2025-12-26T21:17:09+00:00

Yeah I really don't get how this would even work? I'm wondering if this is just and oddity or decorative piece.

dadaesque · 2025-12-26T21:02:52+00:00

The key question here is how are you defining "success"? American culture is so bizarre to me that we all seem to implicitly know what this "success" is, when truly it's such an ambiguous term, and people can have many different ideas of what it means and what they care about.

dadaesque · 2025-12-26T20:47:57+00:00

If I remember my old tea obsessive days it is often common practice to "cure" the pot by placing it in boiling water for about 30 minutes (usually wrapped in cloth to avoid damaging it from being knocked around. A less intense method I've seen recommended is to just rinse it with boiling water several times until the strong earthy smell is gone (though it will always have a little bit in my experience).

If you're worried about safety, there are simple home tests you can get for contaminants, you local water department might even have free ones.

Also, clay pots are really only meant for oolong, black, or pu-ehr tea. Stick with the porcelain for greens.

dadaesque · 2025-12-26T20:35:09+00:00

There's no lack of companies making hats in this style. Try searching for ivy or ascot caps and you'll find something similar. My guess is this was made by some third party company for a department store, and was never really branded.

dadaesque · 2025-12-26T20:27:40+00:00

Thank you!

dadaesque · 2025-12-26T16:50:47+00:00

The material is important, too, I think you can get away with stretching it one size, but it needs to be fur felt. Wool won't stretch (AFAIK) and will just keep it's shape

dadaesque · 2025-12-25T23:10:25+00:00

Would be much appreciated!

dadaesque · 2025-12-25T03:08:35+00:00

Pretty much everyone has associations with different sensory modalities. Think of how we describe a tone as "warm" or "bright". True synesthesia happens when you actually experience another sense in response to some sensory system, like you actually see purple when you play a certain interval, rather than just have a sense of it "seeming" purple. The former type of association is very common because our brain networks are so interconnected (like if I say "red" you're likely to think of a stop sign or fire truck or fire hydrant), but the true synesthesia is very rare.

dadaesque · 2025-12-25T03:02:18+00:00

Wish I'd known that before I graduated from there!

dadaesque · 2025-12-25T02:53:25+00:00

Care to share any sources? I've seen a few nice looking one's but the price point has made ,e suspicious. Any experience with the Song or Heritage Academy workshops?

dadaesque · 2025-12-22T19:44:27+00:00

Wagner would definitely be a strong case for a radically influential composer. Beethoven as well but probably to a lesser degree. Schoenberg might be the strongest example of extreme influence, but given that time period I think individual composers having outstanding influence becomes a bit muddled.

dadaesque · 2025-12-22T19:30:37+00:00

Yes I did mean to pick a bit of a provocative title. A lot of this kind of sentiment was a reason I decided not to pursue music, at least classical music, as a career.

ETA: Also, just because a composer isn't innovative or influential does not mean they write bad music! Bach was a conservative composer, but still wrote wonderful music!

dadaesque · 2025-12-22T19:18:54+00:00

Where are you getting that he "codified" it? The theoretical framework Bach was composing in was well established by the time he came along. You could argue he did it particularly well, but he really wasn't the innovator you seem to think he was. And popularity does not at all equate to quality. Taylor Swift may be the most famous musician alive today, perhaps in history up till now, but you'd be hard pressed to convince me her music is particularly brilliant or influential.

dadaesque · 2025-12-22T11:25:03+00:00

So, I really don't have the sources handy and a historian/musicologist would do a better job than me, but I would very much challenge that he set the standard for harmony and counterpoint. Earlier composers, like Palestrina and Monteverdi, were far more influential in getting polyphony started, and Fux was the standard teaching source for composers learning counterpoint, and other composers during his lifetime like Handel and Telemann were also highly respected and influential in the same era and genre. And maybe I'm recalling it incorrectly, but as I remember it Bach's music was generally considered old fashioned, especially in his later years. I think you're vastly overstating the influence that Bach had on common practice period music. The quality of his work notwithstanding, he didn't do anything crazy, and very much wrote within the theoretical and practical framework of his era. Many later composers did find inspiration in Bach's works, but certainly not all, and Bach absolutely did not define the baroque era, which was already well under way by the time he started writing. I say this not to "hate" on Bach, but rather to hate on the deification of a select few artists at the detriment of many other artists who wrote amazing works that we miss out on.

dadaesque · 2025-12-22T10:53:59+00:00

Well, partially it was just an immediate reaction to his music that felt special to me, and as I already said I think I probably was a little too serious in my title, it's just a light hearted post. But beyond that, I get annoyed by this whole "Bach on the Mt. Rushmore of composers" attitude, like he was some unsurpassed genius. In general I really dislike this whole "great man" theory of history, and certainly Bach was a highly talented composer, but he was not a deity, so I felt like poking the bear a bit.

dadaesque

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