Uniformity, Balance, and Smoothness in Atonal Voice Leading. Straus, J. N. Music Theory Spectrum, 25(2):305–352, 2003.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
[Unedited] Presents a broadly applicable model for atonal voice leading, a model of pitch-class counterpoint to connect any two harmonies. Voice leadings are evaluated by three criteria: (1) uniformity, the extent to which the voices move by the same interval distance and thus approach traditional transposition; (2) balance, the extent to which the voices move by the same index number and thus approach traditional inversion; and (3) smoothness, the extent to which the voices travel the shortest possible distance. The most uniform, most balanced, or smoothest way of moving from one set to another in pitch-class space, or from one set class to another in a proposed voice-leading space, provides a standpoint from which to assess any specific compositional realization in pitch space.
@Article{          straus2003-uniformity,
    author       = {Straus, Joseph Nathan},
    year         = {2003},
    title        = {Uniformity, Balance, and Smoothness in Atonal Voice
                   Leading},
    abstract     = {[Unedited] Presents a broadly applicable model for atonal
                   voice leading, a model of pitch-class counterpoint to
                   connect any two harmonies. Voice leadings are evaluated by
                   three criteria: (1) uniformity, the extent to which the
                   voices move by the same interval distance and thus
                   approach traditional transposition; (2) balance, the
                   extent to which the voices move by the same index number
                   and thus approach traditional inversion; and (3)
                   smoothness, the extent to which the voices travel the
                   shortest possible distance. The most uniform, most
                   balanced, or smoothest way of moving from one set to
                   another in pitch-class space, or from one set class to
                   another in a proposed voice-leading space, provides a
                   standpoint from which to assess any specific compositional
                   realization in pitch space.},
    doi          = {10.1525/mts.2003.25.2.305},
    isbn         = {0195-6167},
    issn         = {0195-6167},
    journal      = {Music Theory Spectrum},
    keywords     = {music theory},
    mendeley-tags= {music theory},
    number       = {2},
    pages        = {305--352},
    volume       = {25}
}

Downloads: 0