Peek: Music Theory (Patreon)

Doppler relaxes near the popper spawner, deep in the roots. The poppers are learning how to make voice sounds very well, and he's discovered that playing seems to encourage them more than sitting in the Lecture Hall. While they're not the energetic bundles of chaos that the compies are, his poppers still like to move around at their own pace and explore things.

Which is why he currently has quite a few swarms around him making onomatopoeias when he points at them. They took well to learning the basic sounds of speech, and then they started making random sounds at random pitches. He called the class not long after, and here they are now, making sounds as he tries to impress a few musical genres on them.

He had initially been hoping to teach them scat, but despite how random the snippets from the Composer sound at first, they're highly structured with complex beats. He'll save that genre for them for much later. They're good with synthesis sounds, which isn't especially surprising. A lot of the music he catches drifting through the bond contain sounds that he very much doubts ordinary instruments can produce, yet the poppers seem designed to make.

Currently, they're making 'walawala's and 'bingbang's, which earn a note of amusement from the Composer, so Doppler is happy to let them experiment and even try to guide them through the song, though the meaning of it eludes him. Asking a witch with healing skill for help makes a certain amount of sense, but the chorus is utter madness.

Ah well, at least it's an amusing melody that has the poppers engaged and learning even outside the hall. The carefree cacophony quickly fades as Slash nears, walking along the tunnels instead of taking a shortcut, strumming his axe idly.

"Sounds like you're having better luck with them than I ever did with my spawner," he comments, encouraging the poppers to resume what they were doing.

Doppler smiles and gathers a swarm or two and takes his bipedal form, preferring to have a bit of structure when interacting with someone, even if Slash can similarly reform himself however he pleases. "They're having fun, at least. I think soon, it'll be harder to keep them from breaking out into random songs than it will be to get them to translate."

Slash smirks and nods. "Some of the Composer's songs are very catchy. Like the one about coconuts."

"Which one? Both are rather catchy in their own way."

Slash snorts and concedes the point, settling in for a casual jam session. "I actually came by to see how they're doing, and to see if you want to try something I haven't been able to master yet."

That gets Doppler's attention. "Something musical? I don't know if I could manage something you haven't, Slash."

The earth elemental shakes his head. "It's advanced... very advanced. I've been able to come close by taking more direct control over the sounds from the hat, but it feels wrong to not be able to strum the technique. It's also not very surprising. I only have so many strings to use. But you have as many poppers as you can handle, so you might be able to manage it, after some practice."

Doppler isn't so sure, but if Slash thinks he can handle it, he's certainly willing to try. "What is it?"

"Listen carefully to the Composer, and you'll catch glimpses of an entire orchestra compressed into a single instrument, forcing it to do things it was never intended to do. It's what inspired me to start using my earth affinity to play percussion along with the hat."

Doppler goes still at that. "I... I've heard some of his music like that. Even beyond the impossible sounds, I've seen glimpses of cascades of notes."

Slash smiles. "That sounds right. I've performed duets on my own, thanks to being able to move my fingers in ways delvers simply cant, but there's only so much room on my axe, only so many strings. But you might be able to actually perform what he calls a black composition."

The name for it baffles Doppler for a moment, before he imagines trying to write some of the songs down, and chuckles at the realization. "Because if we tried to write it down, the notes would turn the page black with the density."

"Exactly," replies Slash with a wide smile. "Which is why, I think, he imagines them as strings of light, falling like rain. Focus on the melody, and see if you can hear the entire orchestra that I can't play."

He starts playing a tune of adventure and triumph, and Doppler does his best to follow along. Even some of the other poppers take interest and try to play as well, as the two scions try to recreate the impossible music that sometimes drifts through the bond with the Composer.