The Offbeat Heather

The Offbeat Heather is a form of music used during marches and military engagements originating in The Irrefutable Wills. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. The music is played on a doqi, a ikoiq and three rieke. The musical voices bring melody, counterpoint and rhythm. The entire performance is to fade into silence. The melody and counterpoint both have long phrases throughout the form. It is performed using the kiqo scale and in free rhythm. Throughout, when possible, performers are to add fills, alternate tension and repose and play staccato.

• The doqi always does the counterpoint melody.
• The ikoiq always does the main melody and plays arpeggios.
• Each rieke always provides the rhythm.
• The Offbeat Heather has a well-defined multi-passage structure: an introduction, a verse and a chorus all repeated two times, a bridge-passage and a verse and a chorus.
• The introduction should be fiery and is very fast. The doqi stays in the rippling low register and each of the rieke ranges from the buzzy middle register to the strident high register. This passage is richly layered with full chords making use of the available range. The passage should be performed using glides.
• The first verse should be made sweetly and gradually slows as it comes to an end. The doqi stays in the sparkling middle register and each of the rieke ranges from the buzzy middle register to the strident high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals.
• The first chorus should be made with skill and is very fast. The doqi ranges from the rippling low register to the sparkling middle register and each of the rieke stays in the buzzy middle register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage should be performed using glides.
• The bridge-passage should be spirited and is very slow. The doqi stays in the sparkling middle register and each of the rieke stays in the strident low register. Chords are packed close together in dense clusters in this passage.
• The second verse should be made with feeling and is at a free tempo. The doqi stays in the strident high register and each of the rieke ranges from the strident low register to the buzzy middle register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals.
• The second chorus should sparkle and is fast. The doqi ranges from the rippling low register to the sparkling middle register and each of the rieke ranges from the buzzy middle register to the strident high register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage should be performed using glides.
• Scales are conceived of as two chords built using a division of the perfect fourth interval into eleven notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
• As always, the kiqo hexatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords drawn from the fundamental division of the perfect fourth. These chords are named axod and ahdid.
• The axod tetrachord is the 1st, the 2nd, the 7th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.
• The ahdid trichord is the 1st, the 9th and the 11th degrees of the fundamental perfect fourth division.

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