plainsong or novum organum

Via Kottke’s Quick Links, we are invited to remix a studio session of Gregorian chant, adding hum, reverb and more church bell as well as a number of preset modes and voices.  Although traditionally credited to Gregory I, the musical style is likely a synthesis of Roman and French choral customs, evolving into an elaborate, articulated system of chords and cadences as performers and composers became more keenly aware of the numeracy of song, though assuredly championed by the music-loving Pope. Notation and scale developed from this chant tradition, with the eventual eight modes being Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian and Mixolydian and their (hypo-) subordinates.