The Ripe Bitter-Orange

The Ripe Bitter-orange is a form of music used for entertainment originating in The Questionable Riverside. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A singer recites nonsensical words and sounds while the music is played on a oyifiya, a osani and a apapa. The musical voices join in melody and counterpoint, harmony and rhythm. The entire performance is slow. The melody has mid-length phrases, while the counterpoint has phrases of varied length throughout the form. It is performed in free rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to glide from note to note, add fills and play arpeggios.

• The singer always should evoke tears.
• The oyifiya always should feel mournful.
• The osani always should perform expressively.
• The apapa always should feel mysterious.
• The Ripe Bitter-orange has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a verse and a lengthy chorus all repeated up to two times, a bridge-passage and a verse and a lengthy chorus.
• The first verse is voiced by the melody of the oyifiya, the melody of the apapa, the harmony of the osani and the rhythm of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is to be very soft. The oyifiya stays in the wispy low register, the apapa covers its entire range from the buzzy low register to the floating high register and the singer's voice stays in the low register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed without preference for a scale.
• The first chorus is voiced by the melody of the oyifiya and the melody of the osani. The passage is to be soft. The oyifiya covers its entire range from the wispy low register to the wavering high register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed using the mila scale.
• The bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the apapa, the counterpoint of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the rhythm of the oyifiya. The passage is to be in whispered undertones. The apapa stays in the buzzy low register, the singer's voice ranges from the low register to the middle register and the oyifiya stays in the wispy low register. This passage typically has some sparse chords. The passage is performed using the umamalu scale. The passage should be composed and performed using frequent modulation.
• The second verse is voiced by the melody of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds, the melody of the apapa, the rhythm of the oyifiya and the rhythm of the osani. The passage is to be moderately loud. The singer's voice covers its entire range, the apapa ranges from the slicing middle register to the floating high register and the oyifiya stays in the wispy low register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed using the seyawi scale. The passage should be composed and performed using frequent modulation.
• The second chorus is voiced by the melody of the osani, the melody of the apapa and the rhythm of the singer reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is to become softer and softer. The apapa covers its entire range from the buzzy low register to the floating high register and the singer's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. This passage is richly layered with full chords making use of the available range. The passage is performed using the everinopefa scale.
• Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student.
• The mila pentatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning two perfect fourths. These chords are named ipila and izeli.
• The ipila trichord is the 1st, the 3rd and the 6th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The izeli trichord is the 8th, the 9th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The umamalu heptatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning two perfect fourths. These chords are named iwarivuli and bone.
• The iwarivuli tetrachord is the 1st, the 2nd, the 4th and the 6th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The bone tetrachord is the 8th, the 9th, the 11th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The seyawi pentatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning two perfect fourths. These chords are named izela and izeli.
• The izela trichord is the 1st, the 2nd and the 6th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The everinopefa heptatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning two perfect fourths. These chords are named iwarivuli and ifiyo.
• The ifiyo tetrachord is the 8th, the 10th, the 11th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.

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