A screen shot of the application
OsteoAlphabet is Greek, or something, for Bone Alphabet a piece by Brian Ferneyhough a staple among the percussion-lete elite. In 2004, I created a computer application that can easily sequence, slow down and isolate the rhythmic matrices of Ferneyhough’s language. The application is programmed in Pure Data and can be downloaded using the link below.
This project was meant as a way of hearing rhythm organically and avoiding the pressure of “perfection” when 21:12 is rhythmically difficult to assess, it is rather straightforward to just listen to. (It is also an epic Rush album…)
The application uses a simple programming language (1-7) denotes your instrument, of which can be customized in the app. A zero indicates a rest and voice1-4 indicates which rhythmic voice is applied to a layer. There are only a few pre-sequenced measures, the point is for you to do the analysis, not me. (Buy a recording if you want to just listen to it.) I think you will find it useful for things other than learning Bone Alphabet. If you have any question, don’t contact me. ; )
The DOWNLOAD link for this patch is back up bonealphabet_v.3. You will need Pure Data (FREE to download) to run the application. (www.puredata.info)