The Lignite Substratum

The Lignite Substratum is a devotional form of music directed toward the worship of Onspunuz the Unkempt originating in The Questionable Riverside. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. A speaker recites nonsensical words and sounds while the music is played on a oyifiya and a riraya. The musical voices join in melody and counterpoint, harmony and rhythm. The entire performance is to be in whispered undertones. The melody and counterpoint both have mid-length phrases throughout the form. Throughout, when possible, performers are to use mordents and play rapid runs.

• The speaker always should evoke tears.
• The oyifiya always does the main melody and should be graceful.
• The riraya always should feel mournful.
• The Lignite Substratum has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a first theme, a lengthy exposition of the first theme, a bridge-passage, a second theme, an exposition of the second theme, a lengthy bridge-passage and a synthesis of previous passages.
• The first theme is voiced by the melody of the oyifiya, the rhythm of the riraya and the speaker reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is moderately fast. The oyifiya stays in the wispy low register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage is performed using the ithi scale and in free rhythm. The passage should be performed using glides.
• The first exposition is voiced by the melody of the oyifiya, the melody of the riraya and the speaker reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is very fast. 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 seyawi scale and in the ezococa rhythm. The passage should be performed using glides.
• The first bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the oyifiya and the speaker reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is very slow. 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 umamalu scale and in free rhythm.
• The second theme is voiced by the melody of the oyifiya, the melody of the riraya and the speaker reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is moderately fast. The oyifiya stays in the wavering high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage is performed using the everinopefa scale and in the omarime rhythm.
• The second exposition is voiced by the melody of the oyifiya, the counterpoint of the riraya and the speaker reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage moves more quickly than the last passage. 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 and in free rhythm.
• The second bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the oyifiya, the harmony of the riraya and the speaker reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage slows and broadens. The oyifiya covers its entire range from the wispy low register to the wavering high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage is performed using the emayethi scale and in free rhythm.
• The synthesis is voiced by the melody of the oyifiya, the rhythm of the riraya and the speaker reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is slow. The oyifiya stays in the wavering high register. This passage typically has some sparse chords. The passage is performed using the everinopefa scale and in the oyathu rhythm. The passage should be performed using glides.
• Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student.
• The ithi hexatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning two perfect fourths. These chords are named oyifolewe and izeli.
• The oyifolewe tetrachord is the 1st, the 2nd, 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 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 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 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.
• 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 emayethi heptatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning two perfect fourths. These chords are named iwarivuli and ucame.
• The ucame tetrachord is the 8th, the 9th, the 10th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The ezococa rhythm is a single line with thirty-two beats divided into four bars in a 8-8-8-8 pattern. The beats are named ebecari (spoken eb), viceva (vi), moro (mo), wonethu (wo), bolo (bo), ocaquica (oc), slothepanine (slo) and feri (fe). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x X x x x x - x | - - - x - - - - | x x x - ! x x - | x x x X - - x - |
• where ! marks the primary accent, X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The omarime rhythm is a single line with twenty-five beats divided into four bars in a 8-7-5-5 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - - - - 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 oyathu rhythm is made from two patterns: the uwame and the tafalofi. The patterns are to be played in the same beat, allowing one to repeat before the other is concluded.
• The uwame rhythm is a single line with eight beats divided into four bars in a 2-2-2-2 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - | - x | - x | x - |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The tafalofi rhythm is a single line with twenty-seven beats divided into four bars in a 6-9-7-5 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - x ! x x | - - - - - - - - x | - x x - x - X | x - x X x |
• where ! marks the primary accent, X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

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