Mesostic software
AHF <[email protected]> Tue, 15 Jan 2019 00:40:45 +0000
| Newsgroups | gmane.music.john-cage |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <010201684ef4129d-92465eab-fda6-4e3f-a142-e5de0c6f94bf-000000@eu-west-1.amazonses.com> |
--Apple-Mail=_F91A6C15-C42C-4B17-9D2F-AA0BF150CF66 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Hi All, This has to come from my leaky memory =E2=80=94 no source code available = to me at this time. The =E2=80=9Cwriting through' method of mesostic making. Input a source text, possibly quite long. For example: The Book of = Genesis. (I remember typing that into the computer round about 84 or 85, = before there were online versions believe it or not. It=E2=80=99s a hell = of a book.) Input a mesostring, quite short, for example =E2=80=9CMesse des = Pauvres=E2=80=9D. Using software, scan the source text for the first word having the first = letter of the mesostring but not followed by the 2nd letter of the = mesostring. This is the 50% rule =E2=80=94 which John and I certainly = started out with. Most likely I did a 100% version later on, but I = can=E2=80=99t recall if and where it was used. Proceed on to the 2nd letter, as for the first. Continue to the end of = the mesostring. Result is one found mesoword per line of the output = poem. Find all the wing words that fit the 50% rule on either side of the = mesowords. Go backwards, to the left of the mesoword in the source text, = stopping when the rule rejects a word. Do the same forwards, to the = right. Fill in all the words on both sides up to but not including the = breaking words. Print it out on paper, then using a pencil, cross out words on the tips = of the wings, left and right, that by taste you decide you can do = without. The remaining words are always contiguous: you prune in from = the ends, not by jumping around. (Memory alert =E2=80=94 maybe at some = point John did jump around, but I doubt it.) Accept stanza breaks based on the word breaks in the mesostring, or not, = perhaps instead breaking stanza=E2=80=99s for breathing when reading, or = some other performative constraint, or just based on how the reading = flows. That=E2=80=99s it. It=E2=80=99s worth mentioning that there are no chance operations = involved. This is process, not chance. (Think about what that means.) Writing-through is not the only way John made mesostics. He often just = fit words around some text, often someone=E2=80=99s name, as they came = to him, typically the 50% to 100% rule.=20 It looks from my notes here = <http://www.anarchicharmony.org/People/Culver/CagePrograms.html> that = mesomake is a writing-through tool, while mesolist produces a catalogue = of all the words matching each letter of the mesostring in the source = text, and mlfind get=E2=80=99s one word for each mesoletter from a = mesolist list. In any case, very different results.=20 The point is: =E2=80=9Cmesostic" and "writing-through" are not synonyms. I hope this clarifies things a bit. Andrew Culver --Apple-Mail=_F91A6C15-C42C-4B17-9D2F-AA0BF150CF66 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 <html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; = -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=3D"">Hi = All,<div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">This has to = come from my leaky memory =E2=80=94 no source code available to me at = this time.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">The = =E2=80=9Cwriting through' method of mesostic making.</div><div = class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Input a source text, = possibly quite long. For example: The Book of Genesis. (I remember = typing that into the computer round about 84 or 85, before there were = online versions believe it or not. It=E2=80=99s a hell of a = book.)</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Input a = mesostring, quite short, for example =E2=80=9CMesse des = Pauvres=E2=80=9D.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div = class=3D"">Using software, scan the source text for the first word = having the first letter of the mesostring but not followed by the 2nd = letter of the mesostring. This is the 50% rule =E2=80=94 which John and = I certainly started out with. Most likely I did a 100% version later on, = but I can=E2=80=99t recall if and where it was used.</div><div = class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Proceed on to the 2nd = letter, as for the first. Continue to the end of the mesostring. Result = is one found mesoword per line of the output poem.</div><div = class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Find all the wing words = that fit the 50% rule on either side of the mesowords. Go backwards, to = the left of the mesoword in the source text, stopping when the rule = rejects a word. Do the same forwards, to the right. Fill in all the = words on both sides up to but not including the breaking = words.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Print = it out on paper, then using a pencil, cross out words on the tips of the = wings, left and right, that by taste you decide you can do without. The = remaining words are always contiguous: you prune in from the ends, not = by jumping around. (Memory alert =E2=80=94 maybe at some point John did = jump around, but I doubt it.)</div><div class=3D""><br = class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Accept stanza breaks based on the word = breaks in the mesostring, or not, perhaps instead breaking stanza=E2=80=99= s for breathing when reading, or some other performative constraint, or = just based on how the reading flows.</div><div class=3D""><br = class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">That=E2=80=99s it.</div><div = class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">It=E2=80=99s worth = mentioning that there are no chance operations involved. This is = process, not chance. (Think about what that means.)</div><div = class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Writing-through is not = the only way John made mesostics. He often just fit words around some = text, often someone=E2=80=99s name, as they came to him, typically the = 50% to 100% rule. </div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div = class=3D"">It looks from my notes <a = href=3D"http://www.anarchicharmony.org/People/Culver/CagePrograms.html" = class=3D"">here</a> that <i class=3D"">mesomake</i> is a = writing-through tool, while <i class=3D"">mesolist</i> produces a = catalogue of all the words matching each letter of the mesostring in the = source text, and <i class=3D"">mlfind</i> get=E2=80=99s one word for = each mesoletter from a <i class=3D"">mesolist</i> list. In any case, = very different results. </div><div class=3D""><br = class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">The point is: =E2=80=9Cmesostic" and = "writing-through" are not synonyms.</div><div class=3D""><br = class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">I hope this clarifies things a = bit.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Andrew = Culver</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div></body></html>= --Apple-Mail=_F91A6C15-C42C-4B17-9D2F-AA0BF150CF66--