GRGR: Of Andrew's Comments

[Dan Schmidt]

grip writes:
| On Tue, 24 Sep 1996 LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU wrote:
| 
| > Andrew wonders about the following:
| > 
| > `pixilated' apparently means deranged or disoriented and is derived
| > from `pixie-led'.
| > 	
| > 	Your definition is correct, but it's not listed in my ed. of the OED.
| > 	The term is used importantly, though, in Frank Capra's MR. DEEDS GOES
| > 	TO TOWN.
| 
| In modern times it is also an animation technique. Pixel from the dots on 
| your CRT has a similar root. Pixies are small movable objects in computer 
| games.

Hrrmm, I think you mean "sprites" in that last sentence.

To totally beat a recent subject into the ground, I am fairly certain
that the "triplets against 4/4" are not three beats to a bar against
four beats to a bar, but rather three sub-beats to a beat and four
beats to a bar (ergo twelve sub-beats to a bar), the reasons being:

1. Actual real 3 against 4 is quite rare in pop music.  3 against 2 is
   more common.  3 against 4 takes long enough to be more of a feat of
   musicianship than a normal rhythmic practice.

2. A musician hearing "triplets" and "4/4" would most likely assume
   the triplets to be triplet eighth notes (quavers).  I think the
   "against" is the result of Pynchon throwing in words he doesn't
   totally understand in a musical context (this happened in V.).

3. (most convincingly) The scansion of the song works with triplet
   eighths and not with triplet half notes (minims), which is what 3
   to a bar would imply.  I don't have the lyrics here, but the rhythm
   is something like

1      2      3      4      1      2      3      4
Yadada ya  da ya  da ya  da ya    (have a ba-na -na)

   Try to put it in triplet half notes and you'll fall all over
   yourself.

Here's the rhythm I hear for "The Sanjak of Novi Pazar," by the way
(accented syllables are in caps):

1     +    2   +    3       +      4  +
NO    -bo      -dy  KNOWS   where     it
IS    on   the MAP
WHO   ev       -er  THOUGHT it        could
CAUSE such a   FLAP

etc.  Does that sound right to people?  Maybe I'm going overboard, but
I think having an idea of how the songs sound is important.  You think
I'm being pedantic now, wait until we get to Rossini vs. Beethoven!

Just trying to put my music degree to good use,
Dan

Dan Schmidt  |  dfan at lglass.com  |  http://www2.lglass.com/~dfan