Dadokf - F Faf F F

Jacob Collier’s 
microtonal modulations
in polyphonic arranging
using
Just Intonation and 
“gestural” voice-leading
 
 
Subject of study: Jazz Singing

 
Author: Rami Olsen 
Hohenfelder Straße 16 22087
Hamburg 
Matrikel-no.: 11666
Professors: Wolf Kerschek, Frank Böhme

J.C.’s microtonal modulations in polyphonic arranging using Just Intonation and “gestural” voice-leading
Table of content:
 
Introduction p. 1
 
Jacob Collier’s musical education and his path 
to microtonality and Just Intonation p. 2 
 
Harmonic Microtonality: 
From Helmholtz and Planck to Partch, Johnston and Gerschlauer p. 5 
 
The strategic application of Just Intonation 
and “gestural voice-leading” p. 7 
 
Choosing Reference Pitches p. 8 
 
Leaving the Key Without Actually Leaving the Key p. 9 
 
In the Bleak Midwinter 
The Ascent: (min. 4’15’’ — 4’25’’) p. 10 
 
The Descent: (min. 05’31’’ — 05’44’’) p. 14 
 
So why use Just Intonation? p. 18 
 
New tuning softwares and technological outlooks p. 20 
 
Conclusions p. 22 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Source material i 
 
Bibliography ii 
 
Appendix iii 
Rami Olsen, 14.09.2017 I

Introduction 
In this thesis I will take a close look at the concept of pitch drift / tonality flux
(also referred to as intonation drift) and its practical applications in the music of
Jacob Collier as a new dimensional aspect of Just Intonation. As this is a recent
development in his music, not without certain complications, I will also address the
problems that arise and describe how Collier circumnavigates the issues that arise
from tuning in this manner, and I will introduce an outlook on the implications of
applying this new dimension to arranging music, not limited to the role of the
musician in performing justly intonated music, possible future compositions, music
notation, instruments but also the revolutionary potential of new music software.
I will give a short overview of microtonal music in general, highlighting the
differences between traditional melodic approaches to microtonality, as they are
commonly found in Eastern cultures such as e.g. Iran, and the more modern
harmonic approaches of Ben Johnston or Philipp Gerschlauer for example.
Before going into any further detail however, I will first have to address
Jacob Collier’s unconventional musical upbringing, his general approach to music
resulting from it, and his unique, playful and almost organic approach to
microtonality. For this I examine some of his arrangements, among them his
seminal arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Fascinating Rhythm”, and then his
arrangement of the Harold Darke version of “In The Bleak Midwinter” (1911), which
will be the primary subject of investigation in this thesis. I will analyse in detail the
two microtonal modulations that take the song from E major to G “half-sharp”
major (min. 04’15’’ — 04’25’’) and back to G major again (min. 05’31’’ — 05’43’’).
Lastly, I will regard the results of this thesis in two ways: Scientifically -
explaining why Just Intonation is so pleasing to the ear (to this end introducing the
concept of “harmonic polyrhythms”), but also from a philosophical point of view,
comparing Equal Temperament to a dissolution of identity (notes)/individuality
(humans) in a naturally (untempered) interactive web of relations.
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 1

Jacob Collier’s musical education and his path to microtonality

and Just Intonation
 
Collier grew up in North London, England with his parents and two younger
sisters. Jacob’s mother Susan Collier is a music teacher, violinist, and conductor
at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Music has always played a monumental
role in the Collier family’s life, Susan taught Jacob perfect pitch for example,
something that — until Rick Beato successfully demonstrated that a genetic bias is
not a prerequisite for acquiring it 1 — was presumed to be a trait one could only
hope to be born with.
The way that she introduced music into Jacob’s life seems to be different
from the way the majority of other people are taught music in schools or anywhere
else for that matter. Jacob explains:
“As far as learning stuff: I remember when I was a really little kid (my mum
has perfect pitch) and she sort of, I guess ‘taught’ me or encouraged me to have
that skill just by pointing sounds out that were around us, […] like, someone’s car
alarm would go off or the microwave would go ‘boooop' or whatever and it would
be like:‘Hey, what note does that feel like?’, you know?
But ‘what note does that feel like?’ not ‘what note is that?’, […] you know:
‘look at your emotional framework for one second…’ - I mean, she didn’t say this,
this is me translating it, […] - ‘what does that note feel like, how does that note fit
in with the way […] your memory has organised notes?’. And so, you know, I might
say something like ‘oh, that feels like an A’ and actually it was a D, which for my
mum was great, because that’s close, ‘cause, if you look at the circle of fifths,
those are kind of the notes in order of colour in a certain kind of a way. If I’d said ‘it
feels like an A’ but it’s an Ab, that would be… now if I looked at that I think that was
further away than D from the sound of that note […]. 2  
It is not difficult to see how this very experiential approach to learning (one
that Collier himself heavily advocates and frequently talks about in interviews) is
one of the main reasons for his innovative musical concepts. Also, by not only
performing all the vocal parts but all the instruments himself as well, he never had
to explain his musical concepts or systems of thinking to other musicians and he
could freely come up with very complicated ideas without being tied down by other
people that might have discouraged him or simply wouldn’t have been able to play
what he had in mind as quickly as he could. Collier constantly uses musical ideas
that were originally meant to be used in completely different contexts and
reapplies them to create something new out of them. 
1 Three of Beato’s children have acquired the skill — and he has since co-developed “Nuryl”, an
application which aims to aid in the brain-development and cognition of children that use the
service by exposing them to a stream of highly complex music, specifically designed for this
purpose. 
[https://www.nuryl.com]
2 "Music Theory Interview: Jacob Collier (Part 2)” by June Lee, min. 23’49’’ onwards
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 2

A perfect example of this is his approach to microtonality.
Historically, microtones are found in Arabic, Persian, Indian and other eastern
cultures where complexity has evolved primarily melodically, not harmonically. In
those cultures scales have become more intricate and complex, not harmony.
(Many Western composers have suggested that harmony has been gradually
evolving to weave ever higher harmonics into its chords 3 .)
Melodies on the other hand (generally) didn’t evolve past the commonly used
12 notes per octave - probably also stagnating at that particular point due to Equal
Temperament becoming the tuning standard — affecting the way instruments were
built and are still built to this day, which hasn’t changed fundamentally in the main
stream since Bach’s times. 
Schoenberg’s seemingly matter-of-fact remark on this evolutionary stagnation of
the complexity of harmony in his Harmonielehre of 1911 is simply: 
“continued evolution of the theory of harmony is not to be expected at present” 4.
When asked during a master-class Collier conducted at Berklee College of

Music, “Have you tried to explore microtonal music?”, Collier (happy to be asked
that question) replies: “Yes, I have! […] In ‘Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing’ there’s a
microtone in the part.” 5  
He then goes on to demonstrate how he used a quarter-tone in a passing chord as
a way to permit one voice of the harmony to keep moving, even though it couldn’t
do so chromatically (in 12-Tone Equal Temperament), seeing as there were three
chords and the voice had to go from A in the first chord to Bb in the third. By
inserting a quarter tone between A and Bb, the voice didn’t become stagnant, but
carried on moving.
This is probably not what the person asking him
was expecting, being of Persian descent, thus coming
from a musical background in which different scale
degrees are microtonally adjustable, the smallest
increment being a quarter-tone, and therefore shown
as fixed accidentals, as shown here 6 or for
3see “Emancipation of the Dissonance”, a phrase coined by Schoenberg, first used in his 1926
essay “Opinion or Insight” p. 260
In contrast to microtonalists like Harry Partch, Schoenberg probably thought of this concept as a
meta-narrative inevitably leading to atonality — not ever more complex Just Intonation, as
Partch decidedly believed.
4see Arnold Schoenberg, Theory of Harmony, translated by Roy E. Carter (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1978), p. 389
This remark also fits neatly into the meta-narrative mentioned above and would thus justify an
evolution into a complexity of a different kind — atonality.
5 see Collier’s Masterclass at the Berklee College of Music part 1, min. 53’45’’ onwards
6 https://musescore.org/en/node/11423
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 3

embellishing purposes, borrowed from other maqamat (a concept found in e.g.

Arabic music: tetrachords with irregular interval content) as a form of (potentially
but not necessarily microtonal) modal interchange, in otherwise conventional
music employing not twelve but twenty-four equidistant half-steps; it is not
commonly used as a way to form a bridge between two chromatic notes. Surely it
also serves the function of building up and releasing musical tension, but the
motivation behind these aesthetic choices and the results are very different.
Jacob thinks about microtones as stepping stones leading the listener’s ear
towards a resolution of some kind, whereas microtones in scales, modes or
maqamat may also exhibit innate tension, but are a part of the scale/mode, giving
it its inherent colour or character, e.g. like the flat second degree of a phrygian
mode.
The idea of subdividing intervals into more notes than the sum of their semi-
tones is not a new one, but the way Jacob supports each of these notes
harmonically is innovative. He illustrates this idea of “microtonal voice-leading” in
his first interview with June Lee: “The basic idea is that, […] the human ear just
hears things moving and then things arriving.” 7
He then sings a possible harmony line to the ending phrase of ‘Rudolph the
Red-nosed Reindeer’ in which he divides a minor third equally into 4 parts (and 5
as well, or more, there’s no limit to the concept) and lets it descend from G to E. 
“[…] you erase all idea of, like, notatable harmony and you just think I’m in G and
my destination is E […] you divide it equally up, […]. And if you can do that all that
matters is that you’re aiming the place, all that matters is that you’re arriving at a
place, it doesn’t matter how you get there. That’s actually why harmony works […]
all you need is someone to do something satisfying, that’s not like (sings a melody
with a lot of intentionally incoherent leaps), that’s not an arrival, you know, but
anything chromatic […] is very important, ‘cause, you know, chromatic voice
leading is the best […] so it’s about thinking about voice-leading more gesturally
[…].” 8  
“Gestural microtonal voice-leading” in a harmonic context may be Collier’s

least theorise-able idea, because it is so very dependant on the context it is used
in. However, Collier thinks of and uses this concept as one form of a tension—
release duality, “tension” in this case being when the notes in between the notes
that make up the interval are sung or played and “release” being when the
targeted note is reached.
“The ear hears is tension and release, so if you make tension by doing a
microtone and then release it, it’s fine. […] the whole point of passing chords is
that each chord is kind of a stepping stone and then you reach the resolution of
some kind. […] It’s kind of like scrunching your fist and then opening it up again.” 9  
9 see Collier’s Masterclass at the Berklee College of Music part 1, min. 56’26’’ onwards
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 4

Harmonic Microtonality: 
From Helmholtz and Planck to Partch, Johnston and Gerschlauer
 
As mentioned above, Collier is absolutely not the first one to endeavour to tune
intervals correctly (i.e. to the harmonic series). 
The first comprehensive study on this topic was Hermann von Helmholtz’s “On The
Sensations Of Tone” which was published as early as 1863.
Max Planck, who had worked with Helmholtz, also discussed passages of pieces
with the conductor Adolf Schulze in 1893 in which choirs would noticeably rise or
fall microtonally over the course of a cadence. They devised plans to
circumnavigate the so-called Kommafalle (“comma-trap”), so as to prevent too
much pitch fluctuation in one direction or another.
Interestingly, I have not found a single source describing how to use or exploit this
as an effect or an arranging tool, similar to the way Collier would use it.
 
It would be impossible to write this thesis without mentioning Harry Partch at least
once, seeing as he was one of the few and one of the first composers utterly
invested in using the precise harmonics and not their approximations whilst tuning
his custom-built instruments, thus liberating his music from the constraints of
Twelve Tone Equal Temperament. He is quite probably best known for his radical
book “Genesis Of A Music”, whose first edition (which was published in 1949)
deeply impressed the composer Ben Johnston to the extent that, after reading it,
he promptly became a student of Partch’s for six months and is now, incidentally,
also best known for his justly intonated music and compositions, especially his ten
mesmerising string quartets. 
Both Harry Partch’s half “holistic”, half “bordering-on-fanatic” approach 10 as well

as Ben Johnston’s “realistic approach” 11 are quite different to Collier’s flexible
almost playful one — which opens up previously uncharted possibilities and
excursions into harmony as well as upending how we shall define what is to be
considered a cadence — but Johnston’s reasons for choosing Just Intonation are
actually quite similar to Collier’s. They are not driven primarily by mathematical
purism or ideology — rather they seem joyful to have found a framework for
understanding why their intuitive and emotional perception of music doesn’t fit
perfectly with Equal Temperament and thus welcome the complexity that
accompanies this revelation, instead of shying away from it. 
 
“[…]. When those vibrations are exactly synched, the expressive potential of
whatever it is you’ve got in the music is heightened greatly […]” 12
10his labelling of close to all Western music as almost bordering on impure in his book “Genesis
Of A Music” (1949)
11 writing for existing instruments and notational systems, only adding new accidentals to
indicate the different commas, in order for players to be able to microtonally make adjustments,
in stark contrast to Partch, who would only write relative ratios, not octave-specific notes.
12 “Microtonal Composer Ben Johnston — A Conversation with Bruce Duffie”
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 5

 
 
 
In Collier’s words: “the bottom line is: it sounds better”. 13  
and: “It’s all very well. I can say ‘theory, theory,…’, all this stuff you can know, it’s
fantastic, and that’s […] not the whole point. Because the whole point is: Once you
know something, you make emotional choices with your knowledge. 
It doesn’t matter how much of a language you can speak, until you start
making emotional choices about language” 14
 
Ben Johnston’s work is very unlike Partch’s in most ways— the main connection
between their music was only ever going to be their love of perfectly-in-tune
music. Johnston’s main goal, has been to reestablish just intonation as a viable
part of humanity’s musical tradition and he did this by translating those radical
approaches to the nature of music into a music that is immediately apprehensible
while still being very complex.
The most striking similarity between Johnston’s and Collier’s music is the value
they see in the experience of music; the expressive, emotional potential of a
musical concept is its most important feature in their eyes. 
13 "Music Theory Interview: Jacob Collier (Part 2)” by June Lee, min. 08’02’’
14 “Jacob Collier discusses Negative Harmony and How To Learn Music”, min. 6’46’’ — 7’00’’
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 6

The strategic application of Just Intonation 

and “gestural voice-leading”
 
The minor third divided into four equidistant notes can actually be found in Jacob’s
arrangement of ‘Fascinating Rhythm’ (bar 89 of Lee’s transcription), 
as Lee finds out in his interview with Collier. He made some mistakes while
transcribing this section of the arrangement, including the unusual melody: 
15 
‑
 
The chords stabilise the melody and thus legitimise it to the listener’s ear. Collier
does this by using Just Intonation to tune notes in his chords microtonally to fit the
melody line at hand. A simpler example of this can be found in the same
arrangement, in which Collier uses Just Intonation to tune the same top note (in
this case C) of two different voicings (one a quartal,
the other a quintal) differently.The first C is 6 x 2 ct. =
12 ct. lower than Equal Temperament, because the C
is derived from stacking fourths on top of each other
and the second C is 8 x 2 ct. = 16 ct. higher than
Equal Temperament, because it is derived from
stacking fifths on top of each other, so the difference
between the Cs adds up to 28 ct. Collier aptly dubs
the chord “E super-ultra-lydian” 16 . ‑
17 
‑
15 “Jacob Collier - Fascinating Rhythm (Full Transcription)” by June Lee
16 see Collier’s Masterclass at the Berklee College of Music part 1, min. 12’33’’
17 “Jacob Collier - Fascinating Rhythm (Full Transcription)” by June Lee
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 7

Choosing Reference Pitches
There are multiple ways to approach the tuning of a chord in Just Intonation.
Seeing as harmonics naturally almost exclusively occur above notes, not
beneath them, it is most advisable to tune according to the bass note, because it
yields the lowest interval ratios.
One way would be to sing the bass line in Equal Temperament and then
tuning the intervals above it justly to the bass note’s harmonic series. That would
essentially be Hermode Tuning. Similar processes yielding sometimes vastly
different results are to tune the bass line to the harmonic series of the key or
perfectly (intervallically speaking) to the note preceding it.
 
This is how Collier describes his normal recording process: “[…]the bass first and
you work your way up. […]” 18 . 
In order for the pitch drift not to happen by accident, Hermode Tuning or tuning to
a key center are probably the most feasible methods.
 
However if the aim is to alter the Kammerton, there are exponentially more
methods.
In a choral situation where the only agenda any of the singers have is to sing
perfectly in tune with the others, they tend to sing the way it is described in a study
that was trying to find out more about “intonation drift” as they called it.
Their beginning thesis, which proved to be correct, was the following: 
“The pitch reference from one chord to the next is held by the tied note, which was
therefore the tuning reference for the following chord. Taking this assumption, the
f0 [frequency] values for every note of every chord can be predicted relative to the
tonic of the first chord.” 19  
 
If none of the notes are being held by a tied note, however, because they are all
moving sub chromatically with each new chord, other methodologies need to be
implemented.
When asked by June Lee, whether it would be fair to say that voice-leading
trumps functional harmony, Collier’s response is: “Yes, […] I think it absolutely
does. The most important thing about voice-leading is the resolution.” 20  
It is important to keep in mind that Collier’s main focus in harmony is voice-
leading, because his harmonic framework is built almost entirely on this principle. 
18 see Collier’s Masterclass at the Berklee College of Music part 2, min. 36’15’’
19 “Intonation Drift in A Capella Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass Quartet Singing With Key Modulation” 
by David Howard (2007)
20 "Music Theory Interview: Jacob Collier (Part 2)” by June Lee, min. 31’44’’ and onwards
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 8

Leaving the Key Without Actually Leaving the Key
“[…] I want to have been in C all along” 21
 
Elaborating on different methodologies, Collier, in his second music theory
interview with June Lee, mentions two ways of performing microtonal modulations,
both involving a pivot note that remains the same while the harmony around it
changes.
The first one exploits the non-uniformity of intervals in Just Intonation, in this
case the natural seventh, he explains:
“Sevenths are crazy, because a naturally tuned seventh in the harmonic
series is about 31 ct. flat, so like (sings C — E(-14 ct.) — G — Bb(-31 ct.)) that’s
really flat, […] the amazing and exciting thing […] is that I can then treat that Bb as
a new root to a chord and the whole axis of the tonality drops by [31] ct.” 22
The other example Collier discusses with Lee is Collier’s original song
“Hideaway” 23 in which the Kammerton rises from A=432 to A=440 throughout the
first verse of the piece.
“For me, D at A=432, it’s like it’s indoors and then A=440 D major, it’s like it’s
outdoors. […] I think that the ear leans into A=432 in a different kind of a way than
it sits when it listens to A=440 — partly because of what we’re used to. 
[…] It begins at A=432 and by the end of the first verse you’ve risen to A=440 and
you don’t notice […].” 24
Collier achieves this subtle shift in tonality by using the major third of D major
— F# — as a microtonal pivot note. In A=432 he intonates the F# too sharp for just
intonation, making it sound closer to Equal Temperament. This happens every time
the A — F# motive occurs until he has risen to A=440 at the end of the first verse,
pulling the fifth A — D up in pitch, thus resolving it around the fixed F# into just
intonation.
This approach to harmony and cadence is very unique. It is used to evoke
specific emotions in the listener, ones that cannot be instilled by regular
cadencing, but require greater nuance — a longer arc over greater lengths of the
piece.
 
This leads directly to Collier’s most recent and most elaborate microtonal
endeavour to date: 
21 “Jacob Collier discusses Negative Harmony and How To Learn Music”, min. 6’38’’
22 "Music Theory Interview: Jacob Collier (Part 2)” by June Lee, min. 7’21’’ — 7’42’’
23 “Hideaway – Jacob Collier”
24 "Music Theory Interview: Jacob Collier (Part 2)” by June Lee, min. 9’19’’ — 9’45’’
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 9

In the Bleak Midwinter

The Ascent: (min. 4’15’’ — 4’25’’)
 
In order to understand the tuning of the first chord of this modulation, it is
necessary to understand another harmonic tool of Collier’s.
In his masterclass at Berklee College of Music Collier talks about
superimposing key centres as an arranging tool to smoothen modulations and
make them quicker and more effective while still being pleasing to the ear:
 
“And it’s nice to superimpose key centres as well, because you can cadence into
[…] subsidiary key areas in your chords, and that happens when you put like a
gravity on top of your chords that maybe doesn’t belong to the key you’re in. Say
I’ve got C and I play this, which is kind of like B [major7], or it could just be
B[major]/C[major] — and say I’m actually going to head to F# kind of soon […], it’s
on my to-do list to go to F#. I’m in C and I might superimpose a B [major] and then
I’m in F#, it’s sort of a key (does twisting motion with his hand), you don’t have to
just go to F#, it’s nice to set up a kind of a nice way of resolving this […]. It’s nice
to reach points where the harmony can change.” 
He goes on to show why the modulation
 
Cmaj — C#maj/B — F#maj/A# — G#min — F#maj
and vice versa: 
F#maj — Gmaj/F — Cmaj/E — Dmin — Cmaj
 
works so well, even though the key centres are on opposite sides of the circle of
fifths.
“I’m superimposing a different key over the top, it’s surprising to the ear but
the reason it works is [that] the line isn’t just being erratic and changing, the line
has got a path of its own. So if I’m in C (plays C major on piano with a triad in the
right hand and one bass note in the left) and I go there (plays C#major/B) then
every note in the top of the voicing rises and [the] bass note […] sinks, and
chromatic lines are just the boss, man. If you can get a bunch of harmony which
has chromatic lines going through it, then you’re winning, cause chromatic lines
are the most stepwise moving possible […].”
25 
25 ”Jacob Collier - In the Bleak Midwinter (Transcription)” by June Lee
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 10

(All of the following calculations are in relation to A=440)

C#7alt. Bmaj7/F# Amin11 D7add4
F#
+65
D
+60
C C
+58 +46
B B B B
-08 +27 +32 +57
A A# A A
+10 +37 +44 +62
G G# G G
+06 +33 +40 +58
F# 
+29
E E E
-05 -09 +45 +64
D no D#, D D
-03 +01 June… +42 +60
C# C C
+31 +58 +46
B B
-08 +27
G
+40
F#
+65
E#
+14
D#
+32
C#
+06
B Bb
+26
+51
A A
+43 +62
F# 
+29
D
+60
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 11

(All of the otherwise unmarked citations on the following pages are excerpts
from my interview with Jacob after his performance in Hamburg on 09.05.2017.)
First Chord: C#7alt. 
“[…] the ‘B’ […] can be quite flat in the chord, ‘cause it’s like the major third of
G major, so it can be down 14 cents.”
Seeing as Jacob wants to modulate to G (the half-sharp not taken into
account, as it is merely a result of the microtonal voice-leading), it is safe to
assume that G is 0 ct. Checking back with the frequency analyser, we see it is +06
ct. Tiny deviations like these are to be expected though, because Collier
exclusively uses his ear to tune chords.
Interestingly, The two notes are a tritone apart, an interval which, if tuned to
the harmonic series is 49 ct. lower (almost exactly a quarter-tone lower than it’s
equally tempered equivalent).
The C# and the G are tuned to Equal Temperament, suggesting a
superimposition of key centres, as ET doesn’t let notes react to another pitch-wise.
The resulting tension is released by the merging of these two key areas (C#
(referencing E) and G), a hybrid tonality so to speak, a quarter tone higher, which
Collier describes as having “the brightness of E major, but the mellowness of G”, G
“half sharp”.
Second Chord: Bmaj7/F# 
The theoretical framework for this chord is the following: 

 
“And the next chord, B-ma-jor-se-ven, over G flat with a D sharp […] 
So (sings B), that’s the root, because it’s the root and the 5th is in the bass, the
root can […] be zero. […] and the rest can shift up. […] the first B is -14 ct. and
then the next B is 0 ct.”
 
The B in the first chord was -14 ct. because it is the 3rd of G. From there, Jacob
could add 14 cents to the B in the second chord, because it is the root of the chord
. Lowering the pentachord sub-chromatically allows Jacob to have contrary motion
to the ascending melody line and split the top note B of the first chord into a
slightly sharper B (now 0 ct. instead of -14 ct.) and an A# tuned as a Pythagorean
Ditone to the F#. We know F# to be tuned +2 ct. in relation to B as its root. All the
other notes relate back to F# because it is an F# pentachord and it is built upon
fifths and they can be tuned higher each time by 2 ct. 
 
As far as I can deduce, Collier must have deviated from the plan he described to
me in the interview he gave me while he was recording, because all the voices are
slightly higher at this point than they are described to be, rising even further over
the next chords. The chords themselves are tuned justly however and what is most
important to Collier is the voice leading. Each melodic line needs to lead the
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 12

listener’s ear towards a rewarding resolution and lock into all the other lines by
tuning them justly to one another. In Collier’s words: “the human ear just hears
things moving and then things arriving.” 26
“all that matters is that you’re aiming the place, all that matters is that you’re
arriving at a place — it doesn’t matter how you get there. […] all you need is for
someone to do something satisfying.” 27
This means that sub-chromatic lines are as desirable for the human ear as  
(12-TET) chromatic ones, so long as they move in a stepwise motion (as much as
the harmony allows).
Third Chord: Amin11 
“[…] I don’t know if you know about the pythagorean comma? […] So every
time it gains a 5th you gain 2 ct., so now we’ve added four, but what your ear
hears is, it goes ‘stretch’, so essentially I stretched it higher.”
 
G should now be +14 ct. because everything has risen in relation to the “pivot
note” B in the melody.
One could compare the B’s function to a gravity assist manoeuvre, a space-
travelling technique implemented by satellites in need of acceleration/deceleration.
In these situations satellites may use a planet’s mass to gain/lose speed by doing
a carefully planned fly-by manoeuvre in which the planet’s gravity influences the
satellite enough to speed it up/down, but not enough to tie it to its orbit and keep it
there. 
The satellite’s speed could be compared to the frequency of a note (in this case B)
and the planet’s gravity compares to the B major tonality which accelerates or
“sharpens” the note in comparison to it’s role as major third in the chord before. 
 
C is the minor 3rd of A min, so 15 ct. need to be added for it to be justly tuned. The
A is already +43 ct. now, so in total the C needs to be +58 ct.
Fourth Chord: D7add4 
To add to the “sharpening” effect of this section, the F# and the B are tuned
much higher than justly tuned thirds, closer to a Pythagorean Ditone.
The C with its +46 ct. is lower than an equally tempered 7th, but higher than
a justly tuned 7/4 ratio to D at its +60 ct. Its frequency is in between its role as a
7th in the D7 chord and its role as a fourth to G, which is also present in the chord
and foreshadows the resolution in the next chord.
The microtonal modulation is completed and the following chord is G major at
+50 ct. 
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 13

The Descent: (min. 05’31’’ — 05’44’’)
28 
 
Seeing as I didn’t have as much information on this part of the arrangement as I
did of the “ascent”, I analysed it extensively. Because Lee’s transcription is not
entirely accurate, I had to transcribe it again, making sure to track where each
voice was being led. The ascent to G half sharp occurred over the course of four
chords, the descent happens over the course of eight. This meant the shifts were
much harder to pinpoint and I had to resort more to frequency analysis to
understand how Collier managed the tonality flux.
Another major difference between the two microtonal modulations is that
during the descent there is a soprano pedal point on the note D up until the eighth
chord, making the shift in tonality feel very different because the D is being pulled
down by the way it relates back to each new chord beneath it. The ear latches on
to the D because it is the highest note, so it is a very gentle way of transitioning
back to the original G tonality at A=440 Hz. 
Thinking of Hertz as beats per second again, it becomes quite obvious the effect is
a soothing or calming one, as they literally slow down over time. 
Up until the D7add4 (the third chord in the analysis below) the piece remained in G
half sharp, so G +50ct. with some adjustments to tune correctly.
Collier starts the descent in G, does a “gravity-assist” manoeuvre again,
using C, F, Bb and arguably also Eb and even Ab as key areas to smoothly
descend to G at 00 ct.
These key areas are all related to G subdominantly, and thus sound warm
and release tension, resulting in lower tunings of common tones. 
28 "Jacob Collier - In the Bleak Midwinter (Transcription)” by June Lee
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 14

Bbmaj6 Cmin7 D7add4 Emin11 Bbmaj7 Bb7/Ab Ebmaj7/G F7add4 Cmaj7/E D7/9/13
Bb Bb G G or C  F or Bb  Eb Eb or Ab Bb F, C or G G
Gravity Gravity Gravity Gravity Gravity Gravity Gravity Gravity Gravity Gravity
D D  D  D  D D D
+38 +30 +21 +12 +07 +06 +04
C C
+48 +25
Bb Bb Bb B B
+65 +26 +21 -10 -18
A  A 1/2#  A 
+40 +52 +45
G G G 
+50 +50 +28
F# F 
+24 +37
Eb Eb
+63 +19
D D D  D D D D
+52 +38 +30 +12 +06 +04 +02
C  C C C
+39 +30 +00 -29
Bb Bb Bb Bb
+65 +26 +21 +21
A A A 1/2 #  A
+54 +40 +52 +08
G G G  G  G
+50 +50 +36 +28 +04
F F  F F F# 
+62 +37 +24 +23 -12
Eb E
+18 -16
C 
+48
Bb  B  Bb 
+60 +33 +35
A Ab
+40 +29
G
+05
F
+23
E E
+31 +08
D D
+38 +02
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 15

First Chord: D7add4 
The microtonal modulation begins around 10 ct. lower, differentiating it

greatly in colour to the ones preceding it, probably because Collier’s intention was
to introduce a sense of finality to the descending section. A ritardando emphasises
this feeling, evoking a sense of a record being turned to a lower rotational speed,
slowing the music down while simultaneously dropping in pitch.
Second Chord: Emin11 
The A in this chord creates a lot of tension, because conceptually it is a

quarter tone higher, wanting to move to Bb (as in the earlier example of “Don’t
You Worry ‘Bout A Thing’). But seeing as the axis of the tonality is dropping
throughout this section, it doesn’t rise quite enough twice consecutively, lowering
the resulting Bb (an octave lower) to a mere +35 ct. The lower A moves up in pitch
to a C, which is also the new key area and the A an octave higher moves slightly
lower in the following chords, remaining an A. 
Third Chord: Bbmaj7 
“So you see how D, oh shit, it’s not a real note, D sharp-esque is the major
third of B major so it’s down 14 ct. so in that kind of situation everything else can
drop after that, ‘cause [the D (sharp-esque)] stays where it is.”
F is the new key area, but the A in this chord is tuned as a Pythagorean
Ditone to F, foreshadowing its lifting to Bb in the next chord.
Fourth Chord: Bb7/Ab 
The Ab in the low voice implies Eb as the new key area. The Ab is tuned 9/8
lower than the Bb in the chord before because fourths are 4 ct. lower in Just
Intonation.  
Fifth Chord: Ebmaj7add9/G 
The G is the major third of Eb that’s why it is tuned lower. The rest shifts
down sub-chromatically ever so slightly, emphasising the modulation. It could be
argued that Ab is the new key area, because each new chord preceding this one
implied a key area further down the subdominant side of the circle of fifths.
Sixth Chord: F7add4 
The A in this chord is a 5/4 ratio, so it is tuned 14 ct. lower (+ 08 ct.). It has
an important role to play in the next chord, because it can remain this low and pull
the tuning of the G down, so that it can be at + 04 ct. The bass line walks down to
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 16

F and the mixolydian sound implies a gravity towards Bb.  
Seventh Chord: Cmaj7/E 
The E drops down to the D in the following chord by a 9/8 ratio again. The
bass line moves to E, implying F, C or even G as it’s point of reference, tonality-
wise.
Eigth Chord: D7add9add13 
This chord now firmly establishes G as tonic and the microtonal modulation is
complete. G is now back at 0 ct. 
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 17

So why use Just Intonation?
“It just sounds better” 29 is not the only explanation as to why Just Intonation
is to be preferred. But to say that partials with a low interval ratio sound better
than others with a higher one is also not a very palpable explanation. Sound
preferences are a very subjective matter indeed, so how could one be scientifically
certain that some pitch relationships are objectively preferable to others? 
A frequency is something with a measurable periodicity. Sound on a physical

level is a regularly repeating pressure wave. A pressure wave moves in regularly
spaced (periodic) rings of high and low pressure outward from the source. 440 Hz
would be 440 impulses or periods per second. A period is considered to be the
time it takes from e.g. one peak pressure incident to the next repeat of that
incident (so from one impulse to the next). 
A rhythm is also periodic (albeit on an enormously different scale). Keeping these
facts in mind, one could reinterpret the meaning of two vibrational frequencies
having e.g. a 3:2 ratio, e.g. A at 440 Hz and E at 660 Hz , as being an incredibly
fast 3 against 2 polyrhythm. So a perfect fifth quite literally is a 
3-against-2 polyrhythm.
Having gained this insight, it becomes vividly clear how the deviations from
the small ratios of Just Intonation in Equal Temperament are not simply “slightly
out of tune”, they are polyrhythms in which the speeds of the individual beats have
been meddled with, leading to them not interlocking with each other anymore -
they don’t resolve. It is as if a band played out of time, albeit very consistently so.
So how can it be at all bearable to listen to these out-of-tune intervals? One
explanation might be that, as Adam Neely puts it: “Repetition legitimises.” 30, i.e.
only when intervals are reliably out of tune, by the same amount, every time they
are used, is it possible to become accustomed to their sound.
Another, in my opinion more likely, explanation might be that the human mind
deconstructs sounds and extrapolates meaning from them. If for example person A
were to slightly misuse or bend the meaning of one word in an otherwise coherent
sentence, because person A’s vocabulary was very limited, person B would most
likely still understand what person A was saying. Context lends meaning. Not a
very striking insight in and of itself, but when applied to music and tuning, it points
to a reason as to why tuning doesn’t need to be perfect to be understood.
Continuing the concept that music is indeed a language and comparing Just
Intonation to Equal Temperament, one could argue that the many musicians
playing in Equal Temperament the world over, “speak” with a somewhat limited
vocabulary rendering what they are playing intelligible, but not the perfect, precise
rendition of what it is they want to convey.
 
This doesn’t necessarily mean that a larger vocabulary always yields more
30 “Repetition Legitimizes - How to not suck at music #2”, min. 2’36’’
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 18

distinguished art. To give themselves a framework in which to write their music,

Just Intonation composers use so-called “limits”. A low-limit compositional
vocabulary in Just Intonation can be very powerful.
Even 5-limit Just Intonation i.e. only up or down until the fifth harmonic, the
third, in its O - and U - Tonality offers many more options than 12-Tone Equal
Temperament. During an interview in 2015 Ben Johnston comments:
“Yes, I use a great deal of modality and I use all the modes and then some,
just as Harry [Partch] did. You can extend the ordinary possibilities of tuning in
new directions. He didn’t extend it terribly far but he made me very well aware that
one could and that he thought the next step probably should be that. And that’s
what I eventually decided for myself.
But I wanted to go back even behind Harry and start with a 5-limit - in other
words, to restrict myself to the triads - and to add only the difference between non-
equivalence, such as Ab and G#. Very definite and big difference, big in the sense
that it’s a very audible interval, bigger than a quarter-tone… Very dissonant.
So already there was an idea that’s become very important to me, […], there
ought not to be only an expansion of what consonance means, there also
ought to be an expansion of what dissonance means.
[…] when Harry [Partch] designed his guitar he put these dissonant tones at
the top of it, because they were meant to counteract the consonance of everything
else […]. They have no functional use, they’re colour. He wanted the consonance
spiced. And spiced in a way that was rational, you know, not just any old spice for
any old dish.”31
Knowing what I do now, it seems to me that only approximating a low-interval

ratio does not do it justice.
One could compare Equal Temperament to a dissolution of identity - both of
the notes sounding while an interval is being played are being stripped of their
ability to properly portray their relationship in detail. The way they relate to one
another is being tempered with, alienating and isolating the notes from each other.
If one is to believe music is an expression of emotions and emotions are felt
because of the relationships and interactions we have with other beings, it
becomes strikingly clear that approximations of ratios (in this case the way
“identities” interlock and correlate) at the very least blunt the emotional power of
any depiction of a chord. 
31 “Ben Johnston on “The Tavern” ”, min. 11’38’ and onwards
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 19

New tuning softwares and technological outlooks
It wouldn’t be thorough not to mention the recent advancements in music

technology while discussing Just Intonation (or other Tuning Systems for that
matter). One could possibly go so far as to argue that over the course of
approximately the next ten years, Just Intonation will become, if not another
industry standard, a commonly implemented tool in the musician’s and possibly
the audio engineer’s “toolbox” for the following reasons.
Several advancements in the fields of MIDI- and sampling technology (and

with it CPU power), virtual instrument modelling and software programming were
needed to achieve what is already possible today: 
 
— The overall sound quality of samples (e.g. of products like Spectrasonics
“Keyscape”) has become exceedingly realistic to the point that it now has become
almost indistinguishable from a real grand piano or Fender Rhodes sound. This is
of paramount importance; it would be highly unlikely that any musician would
consider tuning differently, if it entailed a poorer sound quality. 
A widespread implementation of Just Intonation will only be possible if it is
comparatively easy to do and the sound quality doesn’t drop below an audible
threshold.
 
— There already are multitudinous tuning preferences in Digital Audio
Workstations such as “Logic Pro X”, that allow the user to tune the twelve
(normally equally-tempered) notes to precise cent values of their choosing. 
 
That is already very good, but it is limiting, because there are still only 12 keys to
an octave on a normal MIDI controller and only twelve pitches per octave to be
assigned in the respective DAW.
This problem can be circumnavigated by recording something in a certain
tuning, bouncing the resulting MIDI-file in place, leaving an audio file in its wake
and then configuring a different constellation of pitches in the tuning preferences
and repeating this process. This is not a sustainable solution however, because it
invariably limits other key aspects of MIDI which cannot be altered post-bounce.
One possibility might be that different tracks inside a given project are
allowed their own tuning instead of limiting a complete project to twelve notes.
Another improvement was the Hermode Tuning Software, which

automatically adjusts thirds and even sevenths to the chords that are being played
through the MIDI keyboard.This is also very good, but it doesn’t allow for pitch
drift, as it always refers back to the same Kammerton.
The same goes for a pitch-correction software by the company Celemony
called “Melodyne”, which already offers “Dynamic Just Tuning”. It is a post-
production tool however, not suitable for live applications (at least not yet), and it
calculates the smallest deviations from any given concert pitch thus working
against any potential tonality flux. A concert pitch automation function would then
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 20

be necessary to approximate the effect of Collier’s sonic experiments described

earlier.
What would be needed is a software that knows in which key areas the
composer has been, tracks and adjusts the commas of notes individually and lets
the user manipulate these functions independently.
One product that is already very close to achieving this goal is “Alt-Tuner”, a
plug-in for the DAW “Reaper” (which is also useable in other DAWs via ReWire)
that lets its user switch between nine different freely configurable tunings by
engaging a MIDI-footswitch. Users of the plug-in can also configure gradual
Kammerton rising or falling over time, making this software the first to allow its
users to use Tonality Flux. Nine pitch configurations are not enough to tune each
chord of a whole piece perfectly though, but it is presently the most able software. 
It seemed impossible to me to solve these problems in one unified software,

until I recently talked to Christoph Buskies, a developer for Apple’s Logic Pro X
software, who is responsible for integrating some of the functions mentioned
before, and he asked me to tell him specifically what I wanted to do, so that he
could try to include it in one of the DAWs coming updates. He had specific ideas
how to solve these issues and I think it will be possible to include these functions
over the course of the next years. 
Incidentally, it is also more than possible that Just Intonation’s relevance for
mixing and mastering will become evident to audio engineers in the near future. 
A simple experiment comparing e.g. a justly tuned major third to an equally
tempered one (using i.e. sawtooth waveforms in any DAW) will show a significant
increase in meter volume while perceived loudness remains the same. The
phasing that occurs while using Equal Temperament creates gain peaks (and
valleys), while the justly tuned interval will remain at a constant volume.
This is relevant because mixing and mastering engineers are engaged in an
ongoing so-called “loudness war” and are thus constantly trying to optimise their
mixes’ headrooms. The peaks in volume force engineers to stay under a certain
gain limit, so if the “sonic arms race” among broadcasters and engineers will
continue, they might certainly resort to Just Intonation at some point in the future. 
Just Intonation, it seems, will inevitably become easier to implement. Seeing

the developments of the last few years, a tuning revolution is at the very least
feasible. 
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 21

Conclusions
 
There are multiple conclusions I have arrived at while researching this topic
specifically and Jacob Collier in general. 
First of all: Collier has not reinvented music. He only repurposed a lot its building
blocks. However, he is a pioneer in other, less obvious, but, in my opinion,
ultimately more thrilling ways:
He is a story-teller whose protagonists are notes. This is very apparent and in
lots of interviews he even goes so far as calling them his friends. His extremely
complex harmony derives from and is driven by his voice-leading explorations.
And he is a teacher or rather an educational revolutionary, constantly stating
during interviews how important experiential learning is and how the creative
process (or any process for that matter) should be merited and not the results in
order to stay curious and enjoy the learning experience. I believe that Jacob has
internalised this way of living so much that he acts as a beacon of experience for
everyone else experiencing him. He is a shining example of just how far this way
of learning can catapult one’s emotional interest and imagination into a positive
feedback loop to invariably make you hunger for more information to squeeze
even more emotions out of the things you’ve discovered. I vehemently agree with
him: There needs to be an educational revolution.
 
Jacob Collier’s discoveries into new applications of microtonality challenge us to
re-examine some of our commonly held, fundamental assumptions about musical
structure and function, namely that a musical work begins and ends at the same
frequency level. By allowing the frequency level to fluctuate – without being
constrained to one Kammerton – resulting from the micro adjustments that Just
Intonation imparts on the harmony, the music is consequently able to breathe more
freely, having been released from its 440Hz straitjacket. 
There has been a lot of research into pitch/intonation drift in a capella music,
from Planck to the aforementioned study 32 , but as far as I can tell nobody ever
used it to their advantage quite in the way that Jacob Collier has: To make the
listener feel more than if he hadn’t resorted to using it.
 
“It’s all very well. I can say ‘theory, theory,…’, all this stuff you can know, it’s
fantastic, and that’s […] not the whole point. Because the whole point is: Once you
know something, you make emotional choices with your knowledge. 
It doesn’t matter how much of a language you can speak, until you start
making emotional choices about language.” 33
 
“I’m not particularly enamoured of [equally tempered music], although I can enjoy
out-of-tune music. […] but I’m not interested in it intellectually, and I do feel that it
32 Intonation Drift in A Capella Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass Quartet Singing With Key Modulation 
by David Howard (2007)
33 “Jacob Collier discusses Negative Harmony and How To Learn Music”, min. 6’46’’ — 7’00’’
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 22

doesn’t have as much emotional power as really in-tune music,[…]. When those

vibrations are exactly synched, the expressive potential of whatever it is you’ve got
in the music is heightened greatly, and that is very interesting to me.” 34  
 
I believe performers should have the tools, so that the information can be
conveyed in simple terms. Unfortunately musicians are inoculated that calculating
ratios is not only insurmountably difficult but also yields infinitesimally small
rewards.
The only problem is, it takes some time and dedication to learn all the
commas, the music needs to be notated differently (although some progress has
been made in that direction; I think Johnston’s notation system is certainly the
most pragmatic and intuitive to date (see example below), especially compared to
Philipp Gerschlauer’s cent-deviation system (see Appendix)), and you need to
engage even
more with the
people you’re
playing with.
 
As Johnston
said (talking
about the obstacles in writing justly intonated music, which can then be
convincingly performed by “common” musicians):
“[…]You either build a whole set of new instruments, the way [Harry] Partch
did, and go that route. I knew what was involved in that and it terrified me. I don’t
have the right talents. […] The only thing left was to take ordinary musicians and
persuade them to do this, and somehow enable them to do this. So I went that
route. I got so fascinated in that problem that I never really wanted to go away
from it.” 35
While talking about this issue to a friend of mine, he said: 

“It doesn’t matter how great the concept is, it needs to be easily applicable. It’s like
telling people to become vegan. You need to show them first how easy and
delicious a lasagne can be, replacing the cheese and the meat, and only when
they taste it and find it, not only as satisfying, but better than any lasagne they
have eaten, will they consider making the change. So the notation needs to be
simplified and universal if it is to gain the popularity it certainly deserves.” 
 
Asked whether he thinks there will come a time when his music will be considered
easy to perform, Johnston replies: 
“I don’t know. It’s getting easier; there’s no question about that. […] now I hear
theory classes learning bits of it. You pose a problem, and if it’s a reasonable
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 23

problem and people solve it, then it gets into the pedagogy, and it’s easy to
communicate to other people how you do it. This happens with the intonation.” 36
I believe that to be an enormously important point: This way of playing and

listening needs to be taught in music schools.
It is my manifesto that although it is important that the musicians do strive to

play in tune for all the reasons pointed out above, it is not imperative that each
note is mathematically, precisely where it was intended to be. I believe the intent is
paramount, though. Perfection can’t ever be reached, but it is most definitely worth
striving for.
 
As Collier puts it (keeping in mind that harmony is simply very fast polyrhythms):
“Polyrhythms are about being exact, but life is not about being exact” 37
I believe his message is: Invest in the process, it will invariably begin yielding
the results you aim for.
37 “Jacob Collier: Polyrhythm and Experiential learning”, min. 01’26’’ and onwards
Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 24

Source material
 
Youtube and Soundcloud Links: 
 
— "Music Theory Interview: Jacob Collier (Part 1)” by June Lee 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnBr070vcNE 
Published on 14 Apr 2017 
Date of retrieval: 18.09.2017
 
— "Music Theory Interview: Jacob Collier (Part 2)” by June Lee 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b78NoobJNEo 
Published on 27 Jun 2017 
 
— “Jacob Collier - Fascinating Rhythm (Full Transcription)” by June Lee 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vuk1VJLMgo 
Published on 29 Nov 2016 
Date of retrieval: 18.09.2017 
 
— ”Jacob Collier - In the Bleak Midwinter (Transcription)” by June Lee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-nRv0uQvH0
Published on 25 Dec 2016 
 
— “Jacob Collier discusses Negative Harmony and How To Learn Music” 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2nUoq3AqjA&t=452s
Date of retrieval:18.09.2017
 
— "Jacob Collier: Polyrhythm and Experiential learning" 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuEFxklxKfc 
Published on 16 May 2017 
 
— “Hideaway – Jacob Collier” by Jacob Collier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v3zyPEy-Po 
 
— Kienle Orgel mit Hermode Tuning 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHIA-DM3Wrs 
Published on 21 May 2014 
 
— Repetition Legitimizes: How to not suck at music #2 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlmTWlaWs_o
Rami Olsen, 14.09.2017 i

Published on 7 Aug 2017

 
— Ben Johnston on “The Tavern” 
released by MicroFest Records (2014) 
https://soundcloud.com/microfest-records/johnstononthetavern 
Bibliography:
 
— Genesis of A Music (second edition) 
by Harry Partch 
published: 1974 
 
— Helmholtz H. On the Sensations of Tone. 2nd ed. 1885 
translation by A.J. Ellis of the 1877 4th ed. New York: Dover; 1954 
 
— Theory of Harmony 
by Arnold Schoenberg 
translated by Roy E. Carter 
published by Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978
originally published in German: 1911 
 
— Ben Johnston's Extended Just Intonation: A Guide for Interpreters
by John Fonville
Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 29, No. 2. (Summer, 1991), pp. 106-137. 
Online:
 
— Microtonal Composer Ben Johnston — A Conversation with Bruce Duffie 
http://www.bruceduffie.com/johnston.html 
 
— Intonation Drift in A Capella Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass Quartet Singing
With Key Modulation.  
by David Howard (2007). 
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892199705001657 
Rami Olsen, 14.09.2017 ii

November 2013 3
Reaktor: 51
q = 144 Midi: 21
Even File: November 2013 Version 2
All indications are cent values
4x 4x P. Gerschlauer
Intro +53 +29 +53 +1 +53 +29 +53 +1 +53 +29 +53 +1
4x Tacet 1st&2nd x +26
> > > > -16 +9 +46 +51
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> > -16 +9 +46 +51
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Rami Olsen, 14.09.2017

2nd x
Radio
° ™™ °
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™™ ° #+0wwo ü ™#+0wwo
™™ ° ™™ ü
¢ ¢† ™ Ÿ~~~~~~~ Ÿ~~~~~~~ ¢† ™ Ÿ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ †
mp mp
2nd x
q = 144 4x
4x mallets
Drums
° ∑ ∑ ü™
™™ ° ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ü™
™™ ° œœœ œ‰ Ó Œ œœœ œ‰ Œ ™™ ü
/ ¢™™ ¢† ™ ¢† ™ œ œ œ œ †
p
2nd x
Appendix
A +29 +51 +29 +46 +29 +51 +29 +46 +29 +51 +29 +46 +29 +51 +29 +46
9 +46 +26 œ +26 +9 -27 +51
œ +46 +26 +26 +9 +46 +26 -27 +51
œ +46 +26
œ#œ#œ -27 -9 -27 +26 +9
œ#œ#œ +26 +9
œ#œ#œ -27 -9 -27
° #œ # œ # œ # œ # œ œ œ n œ # œ # œ ˙ #œ # œ # œ œ œ n œ #œ #œ œ ˙ #œ # œ # œ œ œ nœ#œ #œ ˙ #œ # œ # œ œ œ n œ #œ#œ œ ˙
Asax. & ¢™™
mf
° w w
bbw
w
w w
bbbbw w bbw
w
w w w
ww
bbbbw
& ™™nnbw
ww bw ####w
w nnbw
ww bw ww ####w
w
Pno. mf
? <™™“> > > b>œ ™ n>œ ™ > > > >3 > > > > > > > >3 > > > > > > > > 3 > > > > > > > >3
{ ¢ œ™ œ#œ œ™ bœ ™ nœ ™ b œ ™ n œ œ j œ™ bœ ™ nœ ™ œ#œ œ™ bœ ™ nœ ™ b œ ™ n œ œ j œ™ bœ ™ nœ ™ œ#œ œ™ bœ ™ nœ ™ b œ ™ n œ œ j œ™ bœ ™ nœ ™ œ#œ œ™ bœ ™ nœ ™ b œ ™ n œ œ j
<“> œ ™ œ œ œ™ œ œ œ™ œ œ œ™ œœ
tacet 1st x
Radio / °
¢™™ w w w w w w w w
+26 +53 +26 +53 +26 +53 +26 +53
Pizz. #>œ ™ #-16
œ #>œ ™ +51 #>œ ™ #-16
œ #>œ ™ +51 #>œ ™ #-16
œ #>œ ™ +51 #>œ ™ #-16
œ #>œ ™ +51
? °™™ #>œ ™ #>œ ™ œ #>œ ™ #>œ ™ œ #>œ ™ #>œ ™ œ #>œ ™ #>œ ™ œ
Bass ¢
mf
iii
° A œœ œœ œ œœ œ œœ œ œœ œ œœ œ œœ œ œœ œ
Dr. / ¢™™ œ œ œ œ ‰ Ó Œ œœ œ ‰Œ œœ œ ‰ Ó Œ œœ œ ‰Œ œœ œ ‰ Ó Œ œœ œ ‰Œ œœ œ ‰ Ó Œ œœ œ ‰Œ
mf
P. Gerschlauer 11/13
 
Hiermit erkläre ich, dass die vorliegende Abschlussarbeit im Bachelorstudiengang
Jazz-Gesang, »Jazz und jazzverwandte Musik« an der Hochschule für Musik und
Theater Hamburg mit dem Titel "Jacob Collier’s microtonal modulations in
polyphonic arranging using Just Intonation and “gestural” voice-leading”
selbständig und ohne Benutzung anderer als der angegebenen Quellen oder
Hilfsmittel angefertigt wurde. Alle Ausführungen, die wörtlich oder sinngemäß
übernommen wurden, sind als solche gekennzeichnet. Diese Abschlussarbeit
wurde in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form noch keiner anderen Prüfungsbehörde
vorgelegt. 
Hamburg, den 14.09.2017
Rami Olsen, 14.09.2017 iv

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Jacob Collier’s

Subject of study: Jazz Singing

Professors: Wolf Kerschek, Frank Böhme

Rami Olsen, 14.09.2017 I

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 1

Jacob Collier’s musical education and his path to microtonality

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 2

A perfect example of this is his approach to microtonality.

When asked during a master-class Collier conducted at Berklee College of

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 3

embellishing purposes, borrowed from other maqamat (a concept found in e.g.

“Gestural microtonal voice-leading” in a harmonic context may be Collier’s

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 4

Both Harry Partch’s half “holistic”, half “bordering-on-fanatic” approach 10 as well

12 “Microtonal Composer Ben Johnston — A Conversation with Bruce Duffie”

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 5

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 6

The strategic application of Just Intonation

15 “Jacob Collier - Fascinating Rhythm (Full Transcription)” by June Lee

17 “Jacob Collier - Fascinating Rhythm (Full Transcription)” by June Lee

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 7

Choosing Reference Pitches

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 8

Leaving the Key Without Actually Leaving the Key

“[…] I want to have been in C all along” 21

23 “Hideaway – Jacob Collier”

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 9

In the Bleak Midwinter

25 ”Jacob Collier - In the Bleak Midwinter (Transcription)” by June Lee

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 10

(All of the following calculations are in relation to A=440)

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 11

First Chord: C#7alt.

Second Chord: Bmaj7/F#

The theoretical framework for this chord is the following:

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 12

Third Chord: Amin11

Fourth Chord: D7add4

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 13

The Descent: (min. 05’31’’ — 05’44’’)

28 "Jacob Collier - In the Bleak Midwinter (Transcription)” by June Lee

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 14

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 15

First Chord: D7add4

The microtonal modulation begins around 10 ct. lower, differentiating it

Second Chord: Emin11

The A in this chord creates a lot of tension, because conceptually it is a

Third Chord: Bbmaj7

Fourth Chord: Bb7/Ab

Fifth Chord: Ebmaj7add9/G

Sixth Chord: F7add4

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 16

F and the mixolydian sound implies a gravity towards Bb.

Seventh Chord: Cmaj7/E

Eigth Chord: D7add9add13

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 17

So why use Just Intonation?

A frequency is something with a measurable periodicity. Sound on a physical

30 “Repetition Legitimizes - How to not suck at music #2”, min. 2’36’’

Rami Olsen 14.09.2017 18

distinguished art. To give themselves a framework in which to write their music,

Knowing what I do now, it seems to me that only approximating a low-interval

31 “Ben Johnston on “The Tavern” ”, min. 11’38’ and onwards

Jacob Collier’s 

The strategic application of Just Intonation 

First Chord: C#7alt. 

Second Chord: Bmaj7/F# 

The theoretical framework for this chord is the following: 

Third Chord: Amin11 

Fourth Chord: D7add4 

First Chord: D7add4 

Second Chord: Emin11 

Third Chord: Bbmaj7 

Fourth Chord: Bb7/Ab 

Fifth Chord: Ebmaj7add9/G 

Sixth Chord: F7add4 

F and the mixolydian sound implies a gravity towards Bb.  

Seventh Chord: Cmaj7/E 

Eigth Chord: D7add9add13 

While talking about this issue to a friend of mine, he said: 