iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ives, Nancarrow? Outside of classical there's clearly Zappa (who even had a term for it, "conceptual continuity") and Christian Vander (Magma).

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just brought up the score, looked catchy enough, let’s see where it goes after the first verse… oh, it goes into five more verses.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Around one minute into Henrik Olsson's Antumbra Ensemble it was clear I was going to buy it. I didn't regret it. (First two influences listed: Henry Cow, Henry Threadgill.) cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/antumb...

cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com

Antumbra Ensemble [HD 24/96], by Henrik Olsson

8 track album

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It was traditional for a long time not to put key signatures in horn parts, even when they weren't playing in "their" key. I'm not sure how long this was the style so I don't know if this was still standard by this time or if Tchaikovsky was being retro.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Yeah, it's pretty square (lots of opportunities to flow more and be less homorhythmic). Feels like a student assignment working measure by measure trying hard to not break any rules. Still impressive that it can do that!

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I dunno, I'm pretty sure that if Orff felt it my way he would have barred it differently (2/2 not 3/2). It seems like he was intending hemiolas against what he thought would be the perceived meter, but at least for me I went straight to the new one instead of hearing the "metric dissonance".

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Yeah, the notes back us up, if not the bars. I think that emphasis we both perceive is not actually present but imposed by our take on the meter.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I've been hearing O Fortuna wrong my whole life?!? I always heard 3 groups of 2 but it's 2 groups of 3. I am genuinely shook. youtu.be/aZUSQUWLqj8?...

youtu.be

1.- O Fortuna (C. Orff) Score Animation

YouTube video by ScoreAnimation

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I’m just impressed that you have The Moody Blues and the Residents in the same list.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

The live version of "Crosseyed and Painless" is the second one that came to mind for me (after "Station to Station").

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I assume so, she explicitly compares it to the LBJ library.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I typed synth-, really? Ugh

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

F major is cyan, G major is the green one. I’m not actually very synthaesthetic but I do feel strongly that A major is red.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

It's weird how quickly I can vacillate between "there are already a million good songs in the world, it really doesn't need any more" and "what a tragedy for humanity it will be if no one ever hears my latest masterwork in progress".

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I think it has a lot more energy the way you wrote it (throw in the lone LH notes off the beat) than the alternate way (hit RH notes on the beat and fill in with the LH). Depends if you want to bring that out (I felt implicit accents on the LH notes as written, dunno if you intended it).

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Honestly, I was about to suggest the non-silly version of this.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

B for sure, although I'm not perfectly satisfied with it either. Will report back if I think of something I like more.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

It's nice if I'm transcribing something non-tonal or someone else starts playing something and I want to jump in confidently. But mostly it just gives me a shortcut to stuff I (or anyone skilled) could get to with relative pitch anyway.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

When I was a kid a friend's family had a disused very flat piano and if I tried to play something in C I would hear it in B and then automatically start playing in B and then hear it in Bb and so forth until I would fall off the left side of the bench

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

".. but it might work for us!"

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

I see people on both sides of the fetishization (e.g., insisting that it must be mostly a detriment) and I wish everyone would just chill out about it. I have absolute pitch and I am glad that I do but it's not actually particularly consequential most of the time

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Eagerly anticipating @ethaniversonpiano.bsky.social's next LP, "Sleek Within the Burble"

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Sandinista! is near the top of my list, like your commenter's. The way it dissolves by the time you reach Side 6 is fundamental to its structure. Many other favorites are on your list, but I'll add Game Theory's Lolita Nation, and yes, really, Tales from Topographic Oceans. (My Miles 2x is Big Fun.)

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

3, so as to put 4 on the Bb. Apparently I'm not the only pianist who does this but 5 definitely seems to be the norm.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

I've been playing the piano for over 50 years and today I learned that the standard fingering for a left hand F major scale starts with 5.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

The Mercury Tree is definitely worth checking out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBkY...

youtube.com

Recursed Images (Transcription)

YouTube video by The Mercury Tree

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

I am super impressed that you can read as fast as he can write.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I initially read the second word as rhyming with festooned and was briefly concerned. Glad you're unscathed.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

My Ship of Theseus is that he ends up with the Minotaur.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

I just watch all YouTube videos in private mode these days.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

The video is interesting but the title is stupid. He created a way to express an optimal strategy as a relatively small amount of information (as opposed to a gigantic lookup table). He does acknowledge the history of solutions.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

2008, same production. I liked it a lot more than my neighbor!

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

That's a drop in the bucket! One of my favorite classical music experiences was a mild-looking middle-aged man springing up amid the general standing ovation and lustily booing at the end of Satyagraha. I was honestly really impressed.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

and then your main task becomes to keep your brain turned off so it doesn't interfere with your hands, which are doing just fine as long as you don't distract them with conscious thought

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

I came back to this today (BWV 378 for anyone else wanting more context) and one downside I hadn't realized to the obvious alternative is that the alto part for the phrase becomes ultra boring (especially after the previous phrase). Still...

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Especially when there is a totally standard solution - G-F# in the alto (no octave jump) and C#-D in the tenor. (Surely he didn’t write this monstrosity just to get around unequal fifths?)

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

I have had the same experience!

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

They won't come back, but I miss the (knockout) long candidates matches of my youth.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

I was thinking harmonic.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

This is a terrible reason, but when I listen to a hour-plus symphony, I can really use a late scherzo to get my blood sugar going again. The second quarter is the best place to put a slow movement if you want my full attention.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

I love Bruce Fowler's work with Zappa but never thought to look him up outside of that! Looks like's had an interesting career.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Of course you're going to be back in time for the lead vocal, it's the lead vocal, but for backing vocals you're a lot more cavalier about it and maybe you're still getting into position during the first word or two, and that sort of sloppy + precise attitude is what rock is all about, to me.

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Dan Schmidt @dfan.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Yes!! I was totally unaware of this sketch.

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