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Fri 15 Mar, 2019 10:59 am
Because there are 20 basic keys on the saxophone just as there are 20 basic amino acids, one can assign amino acids to the keys using many formats. Choosing the isoelectric point (pH) of each amino, which is unique, they can be arranged accordingly, in this example from highest pH to lowest. Using concert pitch on the saxophone, the aminos are on the left and the note produced is on the right:
R E flat
K D
H C sharp
P C
A B
L B flat
G A
V A flat
I G
W F sharp
M F
S E
Y E flat
Q D
T C sharp
F C
_________________________Octave Key Line
N B
C B flat
E A
D A flat
These are the 20 keys, though the range of notes continues on down to low concert A flat. Note that when these are learned, one can also eliminate four lines of the traditional musical staff in creating sheet music:
Ex. M G A L
_________________
D D g h p .... the lower register notes can be lower case or accompanied by a dot below it. The same note occurring in the upper register can be denoted by a dot above it to discriminate between the lower note in the same register (ex. concert C notes). Now, any amino acid sequence known can be played as music, with time signatures and other symbols left to the discretion of the musician. This system can also be adapted to the piano keyboard, so that, for instance, a medical student can hear the sound of a cancer gene and the points of mutation will differ in sound from the normally expressed gene.
Yes, that's the basic horn, though a further evolution of the saxophone was built as early as 1987, placing electric switches under the keys of the horn. These electric switches went from the Selmer tenor sax to a Prophet 600 synthesizer. Describing the invention, which was sent to Selmer Corporation, they wrote back that they would stick to their traditional instrument design. There was also chord-making capability, discovered quite by serendipity. Thus, Selmer knew that the sax could control synth as early as 1987. In the following years, the MIDI controllers for woodwinds evolved, such as Roland and EWI. Nevertheless, these controllers still do not give the woodwind prisoner chord-making capability, and have even removed some of the keys from the original invention.
The photo above evolves further when we place a switching mechanism from sax on a didgeridoo, that can not only control a synth line (both melody and chords) but also challenge the player in music production with the accompanying didj drone/rhythm. In other words, the musician plays both synth and didj at the same time. As we said, 'challenge,' is the key word. It forces the player to break their mind into at least two parts.
Thus, coupled to amino acid music, one could play, for instance, a video-enhanced amino acid sequence of Atrax robustus (Sydney Funnel Web Spider) venom, with accompanying didj line.
The photo above is reminiscent of the sound a chimpanzee would make by simply blowing into the instrument without touching any keys: a concert B.
In the above sheet music example, letters below the octave line would 'be past' the upper ones in the reading sequence, not directly below as shown. Any sheet music can now be transcribed via amino acid letters once they are learned by heart. This system is also applicable to piano, guitar, etc. With the added time symbols, it will be much easier to read amino acid sheet music than this traditional example from what some believe to be the world's greatest living saxophonist:
Chris Potter on Stella
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIwMse42Q_8
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