teenage engineering launches world's first electronic instrument that plays medieval music

Check this great "toy"

Teenage Engineering wants to bring back the hurdy-gurdies, lutes, Gregorian chants, and thundering drums with EP-1320. It’s their recent release, dubbed the world’s first electronic instrument sampler, and composer that only plays medieval music. Why rave to club music when party animals can rock and roll to the sounds of bagpipes, shawm, flutes, and trumpets?

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Medieval music spans roughly from the 5th to the 15th century, covering a period where Western music transitioned from simple, monophonic chant to more complex, polyphonic forms. Here’s a breakdown of its key features and developments:

1. Gregorian Chant

• Monophonic Texture: Early medieval music, especially in the church, was monophonic, meaning it consisted of a single melody line without harmony. Gregorian chant is the most notable example, named after Pope Gregory I, who helped standardize church music.
• Latin Texts: Most of the music was sung in Latin, the language of the Church.
• Modal System: Instead of the major and minor scales we use today, chants were based on modes, giving the music a unique sound and character.
• A Cappella: Gregorian chant was typically unaccompanied and sung by male choirs or monks.

2. Secular Music

• As medieval society expanded, secular music gained popularity outside the church. This included songs by troubadours and trouvères (poet-musicians in France) and minstrels (itinerant performers).
• Vernacular Languages: Unlike sacred music, secular songs were often in the local languages, like Old French or German.
• Varied Themes: Themes ranged from chivalric love and heroism to satire and storytelling.

3. Polyphony Development

• Around the 9th century, organum (an early form of polyphony) emerged, where a second voice was added to chant melodies, often in parallel motion. By the 12th century, composers like Léonin and Pérotin at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris advanced this technique, adding multiple vocal lines in complex, interweaving rhythms.
• Rhythmic Modes: A system of rhythmic patterns developed to coordinate the multiple voices, a precursor to modern time signatures.
• Ars Antiqua and Ars Nova: In the later medieval period, especially during the 13th and 14th centuries, there was a shift from the Ars Antiqua (Old Art) style to the more rhythmically complex Ars Nova (New Art), with composers like Philippe de Vitry leading this movement.

4. Instruments

• While much medieval music was vocal, instruments like the vielle (a bowed string instrument), lute, harp, and various woodwinds (e.g., recorders and bagpipes) were common. Drums and tambourines added rhythm in secular settings.
• Instrumental music often served as accompaniment for dance and entertainment rather than for liturgical purposes.

5. Notation

• Early medieval music notation was rudimentary, using neumes (symbols) to indicate pitch direction rather than exact notes.
• By the 13th century, a more precise system evolved, which laid the groundwork for modern musical notation, allowing rhythm and pitch to be notated with greater accuracy.

Medieval music laid essential foundations for Western music theory and practice, influencing Renaissance and later musical forms. It embodies a mix of sacred and secular traditions, showcasing the beginnings of compositional techniques that would evolve into classical music.