URL:

files/proceedings/2010/68.pdf

Abstract:

Wepresentinthispaperanoriginalapproachoftheuse of tonality for composition and improvisation, developed by the French flute player, composer and improviser Ma- lik Mezzadri. The main concept is about finding a min- imal group of notes which acts as a signature of a given scale in the major-minor tonal system. We will first define the notion of tonal signatures in the tonal system and ex- pose its principles. Among the possible way to solve our problem and find all the tonal signatures, we define some constraints and we use a constraint solver implemented in Open Music[1], a computer assisted music and composi- tion environment. We provide some examples of origi- nal compositions along with improvisation playing based on the tonal signature concept. Malik Mezzadri’s music counts already a rich discography with players from the international jazz scene.