Message-ID: <alpine.NEB.2.00.1409211134140.9117@panix2.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.wvu.edu>, Wryting-L <WRYTING-L@listserv.wvu.edu>
Subject: Crystallic Mystic Qins
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 11:36:30 -0400 (EDT)
Crystallic Mystic Qins http://www.alansondheim.org/qins7.jpg http://www.alansondheim.org/crystallic.mp3 http://www.alansondheim.org/qins6.jpg http://www.alansondheim.org/qincave03.jpg recording of the qing qin with vibration meter and mic; the latter had connection problems in the beginning. the result was raised three octaves and echo as added. the piece is crystallic. The two qins - Qing and 1980s - were tuned about a semitone apart. They rest on the same table with cushioning. Last night, a strange event: I found them perfectly in tune with each other. I've never had this happen before. I'd made minor adjustments to each instrument; one or two strings tend to slip very slightly. But this experience is unique; it's as if the qins were talking to each other, somehow aligning themselves. The table wasn't vibrating and there is no possibility of resonance between them; among other things (besides the cushioning), they're kept covered with a cloth when not in use. I think it's the new qin that followed in the footsteps of the older; the string buzz is slightly greater. But why would it do this? Just to be clear, qin tuning isn't all that simple, and the pegs themselves don't tend to slip. I treat this as a spiritual response to the Crystallic piece, which motivated the spirits of the strings to greater alignment, a clarity not seen in these more or less rational times.