Fusa

Figure 1. Two fuse and a fuse silence.

Figure 2. Four fusas unified.

The fusa is a musical figure that is equivalent to 1/32 of the value of the round figure. The fact that it is a short figure does not imply a certain speed, since the speed depends on the tempo of the work.

Graphic representation

The 32nd notes are represented with an oval note head colored in black, with a vertical stem with three brackets, which are shaped like hooks or tails (see Figure 1).

The direction of the stem depends on the position of the note. As with all stemmed figures, they are drawn with the stem to the right of the notehead and facing up, when the represented sound is below the third line of the staff. While, when the note is on or above said middle line, they are drawn with the stem to the left of the note head and downwards. However, this rule is not absolute since it can vary when it is necessary to tie several notes or when more than one voice is represented. In fact, in polyphonic works, the orientation of the stems helps to distinguish the different voices.

The brackets should always go on the right side of the stem, curved to the right. When the stem points up, the bracket starts at the top point and curves down; when the stem points downward, the bracket starts from the bottom point and curves upward.

When several thirty-second notes (the same happens with eighth notes, sixteenth notes, sixteenth notes) are close to each other and are within the same beat unit, their three brackets join becoming three thick bars more or less horizontal depending on the general direction of the notes to join (see Figure 2). In vocal and choral music, a different syllable is often assigned to each note, and when a single syllable is assigned to several notes, they are often drawn linked together.

Figure 3. Examples of several loose and linked figures.

The silence of fusa is its equivalent silence. The fusa, like all musical figures, has a silence of the same value and assumes that during that time no sound is emitted.

Duration and equivalences

In a binary subdivision bar (2
4 ; 3
4; 4
4; etc.) the fuse lasts one eighth of a beat. So, in a bar of 4
4 this figure occupies one thirty-second of a measure. If a dot is added, the resulting total duration is its usual value plus half that value. Thus, for example, if its duration is 2 semifuses, with the dot it would last 3 (2 + 1).

The figure of the fuse is equal to one thirty-second of a whole note, one sixteenth of a half note, one eighth of a quarter note, one fourth of an eighth note, one half of a sixteenth note, or 2 sixteenth notes. Above the whole note there are some figures of longer duration but they have fallen out of use in current musical notation. They are: the square, which is equivalent to eight quarter notes, the longa, which is equivalent to 16 quarter notes, and the maxima, which is equivalent to 32 quarter notes. Below the semifusa there are also other figures of shorter duration that are not used today either. They are: the scribble, which is equivalent to 1/128 of a whole note, and the semi-scribble, which is equivalent to 1/256 of a whole note, that is, 1/64 quarter note pulses.

In Unicode the symbol for the thirty-second note is U+1D162.

Etymology

The names given to this figure and its silence in different languages vary enormously:

The Spanish and Portuguese meanings of fusa come from the name given to the eighth note figure in the mensural notation. The word fusa derives from Italian and means "purring".

In some languages, such as French or British English, the choice is made to choose the terms with which they designate the eighth note, adding the pertinent prefixes for the new concept. Thus, the current French name triple-croche adds triple because it alludes to the triple hook of the note spelling. The French term for eighth note croche means "hook". For its part, the word used in the United Kingdom and Canada demisemiquaver adding the prefix “demisemi” to refer to the fact that this figure has half of half the duration of the eighth note. The British term for eighth note quaver means "tremulous sound".

In the United States, the figure is called the thirty-second note, which means "thirty-second note" in relation to the value of the whole note, called "whole note" in this nomenclature. The American terms are semantic carbon copies of the German terms, since when American orchestras were first established in the 19th century they were largely populated by German émigrés.