The Birdseed of Coffee-Cherries

The Birdseed of Coffee-cherries is a form of music used during marches and military engagements originating in The Sightless Procedure. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A chanter recites any composition of The Finger-Millet-Grain of Passion-Fruits while the music is played on two got. The music is melody and rhythm without harmony. The entire performance should feel mysterious. The melody has short phrases throughout the form. It is performed using the piaki scale and in the akoi rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to alternate tension and repose.

• The chanter always does the main melody.
• The Birdseed of Coffee-cherries has a well-defined multi-passage structure: an introduction, a lengthy first theme, a brief exposition of the first theme, a second theme, an exposition of the second theme and a synthesis of previous passages.
• The introduction is voiced by the melody of the chanter and the rhythm of the got. The passage slows and broadens, and it is to be soft. The chanter's voice stays in the middle register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals.
• The first theme is voiced by the melody of the chanter. The passage accelerates as it proceeds, and it is to be in whispered undertones. The chanter's voice stays in the middle register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage.
• The first exposition is voiced by the melody of the chanter and the rhythm of the got. The passage is half the tempo of the last passage, and it is to become louder and louder. The chanter's voice ranges from the low register to the middle register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage.
• The second theme is voiced by the melody of the chanter and the rhythm of the got. The passage is slow, and it is to be in whispered undertones. The chanter's voice stays in the low register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage.
• The second exposition is voiced by the melody of the chanter. The passage is at a free tempo, and it is to be moderately soft. The chanter's voice stays in the high register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage.
• The synthesis is voiced by the melody of the chanter and the rhythm of the got. The passage is fast, and it is to be very loud. The chanter's voice ranges from the low register to the middle register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage.
• Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
• The piaki heptatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning a tritone and a perfect fourth. These chords are named opoq and uki.
• The opoq tetrachord is the 1st, the 2nd, the 5th and the 7th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The uki tetrachord is the 8th, the 9th, the 10th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
• The akoi rhythm is made from two patterns: the edo (considered the primary) and the paciyq. The patterns are to be played in the same beat, allowing one to repeat before the other is concluded.
• The edo rhythm is a single line with fourteen beats divided into seven bars in a 2-2-2-2-2-2-2 pattern. The beats are named dodap (spoken do) and qahpa (qa). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - x | x x | x x`| x - | x x | x - | x x |
• where ` marks a beat as early, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The paciyq rhythm is a single line with twenty-eight beats divided into three bars in a 12-11-5 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | X - - - x x x x - x - x'| - - x x - - x`- X - x'| x X x x x |
• where X marks an accented beat, ` marks a beat as early, ' marks a beat as late, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

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