Interview: Jacob Collier (Part 1)
Why Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange recommends it
Music Stack Exchange users link it as a source for Collier's explanation of negative harmony and his example of microtonal voice leading, both of which come up in theory questions.
Recommended by 2 people across 1 different months, 2017 to 2020.
What it is
A 12-minute interview with musician Jacob Collier, recorded in Chicago in February 2017, with audio examples, transcriptions and annotations by June Lee. It covers topics such as Lydian extensions, negative harmony, a 5th and 4th theory, harmonizers, and microtonal voice leading.
What people said
Recommends blueskiwi · 2017-04 · Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange · on “What is the correct process for deriving the 'mirror' or 'negative' harmony of a progression?”
In addition to Richard's excellent answer, which I've accepted, I just wanted to highlight some other approaches to this question I found on the internet. One problem in investigating this subject, as a casual musician rather than music theory major, is a) not having the Levy book b) not sure if I'd understand it anyway and c) of the few internet sources discussing the topic that aren't way over my head, hard to judge if they're getting it 'right'. So for point c) I'm going to assume that musical prodigy, Jacob Collier, having apparently discussed it with Herbie Hancock (!) knows how this is supposed to work. With that in mind there's some clues in this video: He talks about using a C/G "axi
Recommends Richard · 2017-04 · Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange · on “What is the correct process for deriving the 'mirror' or 'negative' harmony of a progression?”
As luck would have it, I just discovered a very recent video where Jacob Collier explains negative harmony: [this video]
Cites krismath · 2017-05 · Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange · on “How do I aurally recognize microtonality?”
In this music interview with Jacob Collier [this video] , Jacob gave an example of microtonal voice leading. The example song was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer , in C, specifically the ending of the song. He sang a minor third divided into 4 notes, which should normally be 3 semitones. I immediately recognize this pattern, similar to which I have heard while trying to transcribe some songs in the past. The transcriptions were a failure, mainly because I was unable to find the right notes on a piano. How do I recognize these microtonal notes/patterns in general?
Cites jdjazz · 2018-01 · Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange · on “Do all modes make another mode when mirrored (i.e., intervals reversed)?”
Mirror Scale This is called a mirror scale [LINK] : [LINK] [LINK] This form of mirroring doesn't have any underlying harmonic significance. For example, the ionian mode doesn't have any unique harmonic similarity or special relationship with its mirror, phrygian. The diatonic scale is built from a symmetric pattern of half/whole steps (which is easiest to see with the dorian mode, WHWWWHW). However, there is another type of mirroring that does have harmonic significance, and it's called "negative harmony." Negative Harmony Instead of making a single note the reflection point, we can use the range of notes extending from C to G as the reflection point. [LINK] B is one semitone below C . So to
Cites sporkl · 2020-03 · Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange · on “Notation for Equal Division of an Interval?”
In an interview, Jacob Collier talks about microtonal voice leading (dividing a minor 3rd into 4 equal parts): June Lee notates this with a horizontal bracket and a description. Is there any other way to notate this sort of thing? Some more specific questions: What if I want to continue down using the same microtonal interval after I hit the target note? What if I want to skip some notes in the division? How would I notate a passage of notes that isn't a scale (for example, starting on Bb, going ~66 cents down from that, then ~33 cents up from that, then landing on A, for a half tone split into 3 equal parts)? How would I notate a series of chords on a keyboard-like instrument where only one