The Coffee-Bean of Chestnuts

The Coffee-bean of Chestnuts is a form of music used for entertainment originating in The Splattered Orcas. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. The music is played on a bu, two cathe and three avero. The musical voices join in melody, counterpoint and harmony. The melody and counterpoint both have short phrases throughout the form. Never more than an interval sounds at once. The music repeats for as long as necessary. It is performed using the iwarivuli scale. Throughout, when possible, performers are to use grace notes, locally improvise and modulate frequently. From beginning to end, when improvising, artists should sometimes include a rising melody pattern with mordents, trills and arpeggios.

• The bu always should be melancholic.
• Each cathe always should bring a sense of motion.
• Each avero always should be delicate. The strident voice uses its entire range.
• The Coffee-bean of Chestnuts has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a brief introduction and a theme and one to two series of variations on the theme possibly all repeated.
• The introduction is voiced by the melody of the bu and the harmony of the avero. The passage is moderately paced, and it is to be moderately loud. The bu covers its entire range from the wispy low register to the strident high register and each of the avero covers its entire range. The passage is performed in the ucame rhythm. The passage should be performed using staccato.
• The theme is voiced by the melody of the cathe and the harmony of the bu. The passage is slower than the last passage, and it is to be in whispered undertones. The bu stays in the wispy low register. The passage is performed in the viceva rhythm.
• Each of the series of variations is voiced by the melody of the bu, the melody of the cathe and the counterpoint of the avero. Each passage is consistently slowing, and it is to become softer and softer. The bu covers its entire range from the wispy low register to the strident high register and each of the avero covers its entire range. Each passage is performed in the slothepanine rhythm.
• Scales are constructed from seventeen notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1-xx-xx-x-x-xxx-xx-xxxxxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student.
• The iwarivuli pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 5th, the 9th, the 13th and the 14th.
• The ucame rhythm is a single line with twenty-four beats divided into eight bars in a 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - x - | x - x | x - x | - x x | x - - | x - x | - - x | x x - |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The viceva rhythm is a single line with four beats divided into two bars in a 2-2 pattern. The beats are named moro (spoken mo) and ebalo (eb). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - x | x - |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The slothepanine rhythm is made from two patterns: the ebecari (considered the primary) and the ifiyo. The patterns are to be played in the same beat, allowing one to repeat before the other is concluded.
• The ebecari rhythm is a single line with twenty-nine beats divided into five bars in a 5-6-4-6-8 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - - x x - | - x - - - - | x - x - | x X x - - x | - X - x x x x x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The ifiyo rhythm is a single line with three beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x X x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat and | indicates a bar.

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