The Melodic Watermelon

The Melodic Watermelon is a form of music used to commemorate important events originating in The Regulation of Maize. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. A chanter recites nonsensical words and sounds while the music is played on a etaduwuv. The musical voices bring melody with harmony. The entire performance should bring a sense of motion. The melody has short phrases throughout the form. It is performed using the ohural scale and in the othdo rhythm. Throughout, when possible, performers are to play arpeggios.

• The chanter always is to be in whispered undertones.
• The etaduwuv always is to be moderately loud.
• The Melodic Watermelon has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a first theme, a lengthy exposition of the first theme, a second theme, a brief exposition of the second theme, a bridge-passage, a brief synthesis of previous passages and a finale.
• The first theme is voiced by the melody of the chanter reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the melody of the etaduwuv. The passage is extremely fast. The chanter's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals.
• The first exposition is voiced by the melody of the chanter reciting nonsensical words and sounds and the melody of the etaduwuv. The passage is extremely fast. The chanter's voice ranges from the low register to the middle register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals.
• The second theme is voiced by the melody of the chanter reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is very slow. 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 exposition is voiced by the melody of the chanter reciting any composition of The Mineralogical Rose and the melody of the etaduwuv. The passage is moderately fast. The chanter's voice stays in the middle register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals.
• The bridge-passage is voiced by the melody of the chanter reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is very fast. The chanter's voice stays in the middle register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage.
• The synthesis is voiced by the melody of the etaduwuv and the harmony of the chanter reciting nonsensical words and sounds. The passage is very fast. 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 finale is voiced by the melody of the chanter reciting any composition of The Pond-grabber of Bull-sharks and the melody of the etaduwuv. The passage gradually slows as it comes to an end. The chanter's voice stays in the low register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage.
• Scales are constructed from twenty-one notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1xxxx-xxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
• The ohural heptatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 4th, the 6th, the 9th, the 12th, the 16th and the 19th.
• The othdo rhythm is a single line with twenty-five beats divided into three bars in a 5-9-11 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - x x - | - x - x - - - - - | x x - x x x x x x x - |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

Events