Primal-Circular Substitutions

Abstract

There are two ongoing tensions in the creation of new musical systems that traditional innovation procedures in the domain of harmony have acknowledged yet left under-explored in the systematic sense from the composer’s perspective. Learned terminological constraints and reactionary creative practices often limit the realization of underlying creative logic that connects past influences to present innovations, and creative procedures on one structural unit of a particular musical element to those on another. The following paper will proceed by example from theory toward a compositional end, employing algebraic techniques to create a system of chord substitution which serves as an exemplary solution of the aforementioned issues. Primal-circular substitution has a basis in western tertian harmony, shows compatibility with neo-Riemannian local transformation sequences, and re-envisions substitutions as the realization of globally applicable systems.