TheLabyrinthofLimitations

Version1.0Copyright2021ThomasEchols

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TableofContents

Introduction 3QuickStart 3MemoriesintheLabyrinth 5OverviewofModules 8

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WelcometotheLabyrinth

ThankyouforyoursubscriptiontoTheLabyrinthofLimitations!TheLabyrinthisanapplicationforexploringharmonicimprovisation.ItusesthenuancedandinnovativeideasofDr.BarryHarristoplayoverharmonicprogressions,evenbeingabletoconvincinglyplayoverentirejazzstandards.WhilethemainfocusoftheLabyrinthiseducational,italsofunctionsasa“soundart”installationofsorts,andacreativecollaborator.TheLabyrinthisalsoalivingeducationaldocument.ItservesasaninteractivecomplimenttomyYoutubechannelbythesamename,whereIexploretheimplementationofBarryHarris’steachingsontheguitar.TheLabyrinthwillbeperiodicallyupdatedwithnewsongs,andlessonsexploringtheessentialconcepts,andservesasawayformetomeaningfullyengagewiththeLoLaudience.Additionally,thisisthebeginningofanewsuiteofcreativeandeducationalappsthatwillallbeeventuallyavailableunderthesamesubscription.

Thismanualwillgooverthemainfeaturesandworkflow.Feelfreetoexploretheapprightawaywithoutreadingahead,butI’dsuggestholdingoffonusingtheoptionsintheRepertoiremenuuntilyou’vereadaboutthemhere.

QuickStartTheLabyrinthmighttakeamomenttoengagewithyourspeakerswhenfirstopening(possibly20seconds).Afterithasopened,youwillseetwowindows:

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FirstMoves

Usetherightandleftarrowsonyourkeyboardtoexploretherangeoftheguitarfretboardwhilelisteningtothesoundofthesynthesisengine.Usetheupanddownarrowsandwatchthetesseractlabelschange(thisistheweb-likeobjectintheleftwindow).Clickononeofverticesofthetesseract(wherethechordlabelsare)andnoticehowthefretboardmovestothatchordbythesmoothestpossiblevoiceleading(eachnotemovesbythesmallestamountpossible).Thesearetheessential“moves”,thoughthereareothermovesthatareequallyaccessible.Let’strysomemore!Clickontheemptyrectangularspace(Icallitthe“harmoniccanvas”)beneaththetesseract(alternatively,youcangotothe“labyrinths”menu,foundatthetopofthescreenonmacandatthetopofthewindowonwindows,andselect“progressions”).Youshouldseeawindowthatlookslikethis:

ClickontheRomanNumeralsandnoticehowtheharmoniccanvasbecomespopulated.Type“c”andnoticehowtheprogressioniscleared,leavingthecanvasblank.Nowselectthefollowingfromthe“progressions”selector:I-vi-ii-V.Thecanvasshouldnowlooklikethis:

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Pressthespacebarandwatch/heartheappmovethroughtheprogression.Youcanalsopress“p”tostartthesequencer,whichplaysthroughtheprogressionuntilyoupress“p”oncemore.Inthisversion,whenplayingprogressions,theappstaysonthesamesetofstrings,unlessotherwisedirected.However,ifyouplaythroughthisprogressionenough,youwillnoticehowitexploresthefullfretboardoftheguitar,eventuallyreturningtothesameplace.Thisimprovisatorybehaviorisbroughtaboutbythefactthattheappchoosesamongseveraldifferentpossible“substitutions”anytimeitseesa“V”chord.Inadditiontofollowingthemusicalscoreandfretboard,youcanverifywhichchoiceismadeinthetoprighthandcornerofthemainwindow:

SomeofthesedescriptorsmightseemstrangetoanyonewhoisunfamiliarwithBarryHarris’sconcepts.TheyareallexplainedindetailinEpisodes1-10ofthe“LabyrinthofLimitations”Youtubeseries,withaccompanyingpdfsonmywebsite.Fornow,themostimportantthingtounderstandisthatthesesubstitutionsrepresentdifferentwaysofimprovisingovera“V”chord,eachofwhichlendsadifferentcolorationtothemusic.Usingthespacebar,sequenceforwarduntilyouareontheVchord.Now,clickonthelabelinthetoprightcornerandnoticethatitturnsred:

Thismeansthatthesubstitutionchoiceis“latched”:intheexampleabove,everytimeIcomeupontheVchordinthisprogression,theappwillplaythe“tritone’sminor”.Inthiscase,itwillalsomaketheprogressionstayinthesamepositionofthefretboard(thoughthisisnotalwaystrue),aslongasthechordislatched.Onceyou’veplayedthroughthesequenceandarrivedattheVchordagain,youcanclickontheredlabeltounlatchit.Sometimesyou’llfinditpreferabletoalwaysplayaparticularsubstitutionoverpartofatune.Thisallowsyoutodojustthat!Nowthatyou’vegonethroughtheessentialmovesintheLabyrinth,readaheadtolearnaboutotherfeaturesoftheapp.Tostart,we’llgoovertheprocessforsavingandrecallingtunesfrommemory.

MemoriesintheLabyrinthNow,gothe“Repertoire”menuatthetopofthescreen(ortopofthemainwindowonwindowsmachines).Select“AlltheThingsYouAre”andseehowtheapploadstheprogressionforthefirst8barsofthisjazzstandardintothecanvas.Press“p”

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andtakealisten!Onceitgetstotheendoftheprogression,itjustgoesbacktothebeginning.We’regoingtoworktogethertoentertherestoftheprogressionintothecanvas...Clickontheblankspaceinthecanvas(orgotoLabyrinths>Progressionsfromthemenus)sothatweareagainlookingattheprogressionselector.Clickonthebuttonthatsays“NewPhrase”:

TheCanvasshouldnowbeemptyagain.Fromthekeyboard(founddirectlyabovethe“phrase”menu)selectEflat:

NowselectthefollowingsequencefromtheRomanNumerals:vi-ii-V-I.Yourcanvasshouldlooklikethis:

Now,we’llchangekeysagainbyselectingA-flatfromthekeyboard.Selectthis:V–IThenChangekeysbyselectingGfromthekeyboard.Pressthe“m”keyonyourcomputerkeyboardtochangetotheminormode.Theharmonicselectorshouldlooklikethisnow:

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Select“iiø”andthen“V”,thenpress“m”onceagain,switchingtheselectorbacktothemajormode.Select“I”andthen“I”onceagain.Thisishowyourharmoniccanvasshouldlook:

Ifyoumadeanymistakes,youcanhitthedeletebutton,whichwilldeleteeverythingEXCEPTforthefirstchordinthisphrase.Ifyouneedtodeletethatone,youwouldneedtoreloadthesong.Sincewehaven’tsavedthisphraseyet.Beforeplayingtheprogression,let’saddacoupleofrhythmicdetails.Clickonthe4th,5th,7th,and8thchordsintheprogression.Youwillseethatitsays“short”inthetoprightcornerofthewindow(youcanclickthesamechordtwicetoswitchfrom“short”to“long”:

Onceyou’vedonethis,theprogressionisnowreadytobeplayed!Press“p”andnoticethatthesecondphrasehasthesameharmonicrhythmasthefirstphrase.Thesearethesecond8measuresofthetune.

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Nowlet’ssavewhatwe’vedone!Justincaseyouwanttokeeptheshorterversion,whichcouldbehandyifyoujustwanttopracticeplayingoverthebeginning,forexample.Gotothe“Repertoire”menuandselect“SaveIntoNewSlot”.Givethenewtuneaname–“AlltheThingsYouAre2”orwhateveryoufinduseful.Youcanalwaysrenameasongbyselecting“OverwriteCurrentSlot”whichwillalsosaveanychangesyoumadeinthesongitself.Pleasetakenote:deletingandoverwritingsongsispermanent,thoughyoucanalwaysdownloadandreinstallthecurrentversionofensembleclass.Inoneofthenextversions,therewillbeimplementationforimportingsongsandlessonsintotheapp,withouttheneedtoupdatetheappitself.

OverviewofModules

TheLabyrinthiscomprisedofseveralmodulesthatinteractinimportantways.Thissectiongivesageneraldescriptionofeachmodule,alongwithshortcutkeycommandswhenavailable.

TheMainWindow(theTesseract)

Thetesseractisa4dimensionalcubethatmapschromaticvoiceleadings(howeachnoteinonechordmovestoeachnoteinthenextchord)betweendifferenttypesof4-notechords.ThemusicalrelevanceofgeometriesofthissortwerediscoveredbyDmitriTymoczko,andareexplained,indetail,inhiswonderfulbook“AGeometryofMusic:HarmonyandCounterpointintheExtendedCommonPractice”.Whileafistlookatthisshapecanbeconfounding,thereareafewthingsthatyoucancometoseefairlyquicklythatwillsignificantlyhelpyoutoexplorethelabyrinth.Noticethatthereisafullydiminished7thchordatthetopofthetesseract,andanotheratthebottom.Now,takenotethattheoneontopisonesemitoneabovethelowerone.Presstheuparrowkeyonceandnoticehowthediminishedchordthatwasatthe

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topisnowatthebottom(youcanpressthedownarrowtodoublecheckthatthisistrue).Continuetopresstheupwardarrowandnoticethecontinuingpatternasyoumovechromaticallyupwardthroughalattice(likeabeadednecklace)oftesseracts.Onceyou“move”upward12times,youwillfindyourselfbackatthebeginningagain,withtheoriginaldiminishedchordatthetop.Lookingwithintheshape,itisimportanttounderstandthateachlinethatconnectsonevertextothenextrepresentsonenoteinachordmovingbyonesemitone,sothatwearenowonadifferentchordthatistheresultofthismotion.Forexample,inthefirstimagebelow,IhaveclickedonthevertexcontainingDdominant7.Inthesecondimage,IhaveselectedFmajor6,whichisdirectlyconnectedwithinthetesseracttoD7.Youcanseeinthecircleontherightsideofeachimagethatonenotemovedbyonesemitone:inthiscase,F-sharpmovestoF-natural.

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Thetesseractrepresentsthevariouspathwaysthatwecanfollowtograduallytransposeadiminishedchorddownbyonesemitione.Ascanbeseeninthe16verticesofthisgeometry,wehave4dominant7thchords,4Major6chords,4minor6chords,2dominant7thflat5chords,and2dimishedchords.Iencourageyoutoclickoneachoftheverticesandexploretheconnections.Futureupdateswillhavein-depthlessons,andtherewillbenewepisodesof“TheLabyrinthofLimitations”thatwillfocusinonthisindetail.TheFretboardThefretboardisaninteractiveinterface,notjustadisplay.Afterexploringtherangeoftheinstrumentbyusingtheleftandrightarrows,tryclickingthe“strings”inbetweenvariousfrets.Inadditiontohearingthechangeinsound,youcanseethemusicalscorenotatethechangesfromthefretboard.Tryclickingintheblankspaceabovethefretsoneachstring.Clickingoncewillcreateacircle,signifyingtheopenstring.Clickingasecondtimewillcreatean“X”,mutingthatstring.Ifyoumuteallthestrings,themusicalscorewillgoblank.Usethe“u”and“d”keystomoveupanddownthefretboard.Inthisway,youcanseethatthefretboardcanbeexploredfreely,helpingstudentstolearnhowguitarmusicisnotated,forexample.

Therearemenusbeneaththefretboardthatgivesomeadditionaloptions.Youcanchoosebetweenvariousvoicingsandinversionsasyouusetherightandleftarrowsto“improvise”.Whiledoingthis,pressthe“s”keyandcontinuetopresstherightorleftarrows.Noticethatyouarenowskippingthroughthescale.Justpress“s”againtogobacktothenormal,linearscaleexploration.Pressthe“a”keytoswitchtoarpeggios.Asyouascendthescale,noticethatthediminishedchordsaredescending,whilethe“on”chord(asexplainedinthe“LabyrinthofLimitations”youtubeseries)isascending.

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TherewillbemoreoptionsinfutureupdatesoftheLabyrinth,butIhopeyou’llfindthesetobefunwaysofexploring.Getoutyourguitarandfollowalong!ThePianoKeyboard

Thekeyboarddisplayisnotinteractiveandservestohelppianistslearnfromthelabyrinth.Usethevoicingandinversionmenus,theleftandrightarrows,thetesseract,andtheharmoniccanvastocontrolthepianokeyboardasyoufollowalong...TheHarmonicSelector

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TheHarmonicselectorpresentsamapofsorts.Inadditiontogivinganinterfaceforselectingharmonies,itgivesguidanceinconstructing“functional”progressions.Toformprogressions,youcanmovefromlefttorightintheromannumeralsequence,skippingoveranychordsfreely(forinstance,creatingtheubiquitousI-vi-ii-V).Arrowsbackwardsshowotherpathwaysforconventionalprogressions.TheiiandIVchordsarelabeled“S”forSubdominant,whiletheviiøandVchordsarelabeled“D”forDominant(we’lltalkaboutthismoreinthefutureaswelookthroughtunes).Oneaspectoflearningtoimproviseovertunesisbeingabletoanalyzeatuneinthisway,whichallowsyoutoseecommonalitiesbetweendifferentmusicalsituationsandexpresstheunderlyingharmonicqualitiesofthesong.TheSynthesizer

YoucanchangethesoundofthelabyrinthbygoingtoLabyrinths>Synthesizer.ClickontheAttackdialanddragupwardstoturnitup.Thiswillcreateaslowattack.Draggingitdownwardwillcreateafastattack.Decaycanbeaffectedinthesameway,andtherearecontrolsforReverbthatcangetprettyextreme,ifyouwantedto.Size–Thisisthesizeofthevirtual“room”thatthesoundisreverberatingwithin.Damp–Thischangeshowhardorsoftthewallsareinthisvirtualroom.Decay–Thischangeshowlongittakesforthereverberationtoend.Diffusion–Thischangeshowthesoundtravelsthroughoutthisvirtualspace.

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AudioSetupThisissomethingthatyoushouldn’thavetouse,butitisavailablejustincasetheapphastroubleconnectingwithyouraudiodriver.Onwindows,thestandarddriversaread_mmeorad_diretsound.Onmac,thestandarddriverisCoreAudio.First,givetheappabitoftimeafterinitiatingtodothisonitsown.Ifyoudon’thearanysoundafterabit,makesurethatthebuttoninthetopleftcornerison(itshouldbecoloredblueandnotorangeorgrey).Then,reselectyourdriverand,perhaps,theoutputspeakeraswell.It’soutsideoftherealmofthismanualtoprovideaudiotechsupportforindividualcomputers,andtheLabyrinthofLimitationshasbeenconfirmedtorunonallbetatestwindowsandmacmachines.Thereisalotofinformationontheinternetaboutaudiosettingsoncomputersthatmightcomeinhandyifyou’veneverexploredaudioapplicationsforyourcomputerthatyoucancheckout!

MoretoCome...Thisisjustthebeginningofanewventure,andIhavemanyplansintheworksforfuturereleasesandlessons.I’mveryexcitedtosharethiswithyou,andIwouldlovetohearyourfeedback.labyrinthoflimitations@gmail.com