Aaron Krister Johnson played his interpretation of my little Invention in 7ET(here’s an mp3) as part of a concert fund-raiser event for UnTwelve (formerly MidwestMicrofest) which took place at the SPACE, in Evanston IL. See a partial concert roster at the UnTwelve website here. I was in attendance and had a splendid time.
Update 08/13/08: a video of the performance has been posted on YouTube. Here it is!
Nothing can match the sound of a real pipe organ. In terms of tuning, the best sounding pipes on an organ will be the mixtures and the Cornet (if it has one), because these pipe combinations are tuned purely. But what if a pipe organ could play all its ranks in totally flexible pure tuning? It would be a truly awesome sound.
The Tonal Plexus is no pipe organ for sure, but it gives me something close to work with. Here is a little sketch for an organ piece using 2 main ideas. The first is a motive including the 11th and 13th harmonics, and the second is a sequence using natural 7ths. Sorry, the camera angle is not the greatest as it hides what my right hand is doing. The sound is 019 ChrchOrgn from the internal synth, with reverb setting on 07 (delay), all max values.
It was an ordinary day, not unlike most days in the peaceful environs of H-Pi Instruments headquarters; ordinary, that is, until premature twilight descended, bringing with it an overture of rumbling thunderheads, howling winds, voluminous rain, and scattered broken tree limbs everywhere, wreaking havoc with the power lines for miles around. This marks the third curious natural disaster to strike the vicinity in recent months, coming close on the heels of the attack of the neighbor’s tree in June.
After the power had been off for an hour or so, and the rain had subsided, I saw from the back porch, the majestic canopy of the back alley light up with repeated blasts of electric fire, as a power main shorted through contact with a rather unsubstantial looking branch which burned nearly all to ash. Words don’t quite do justice to the sound this made… I caught it on video, so you can see and hear it for yourself.
If H-Pi Instruments summer intern Mr. Harrison Cole does not win you over with his remarkable wit and charm, he will yet lift your spirits with a bit of merry music making! Mr. Cole has been tickling the ivories on a daily basis for many years now, and this past week was no exception. Here he plays Invention in 7ET on a keyboard equipped with a TBX1 to change the tuning of the white keys to 7 equal steps per octave. Filmed by Mr. Garrett Schmidt. Nice job, guys!
Nearly two months since a mild quaking of the earth shook the foundations of H-Pi, today a storm-induced attack of the neighbor’s tree came with a loud fanfare of crashing and booming. Luckily, though the east side eaves were pierced through, overall the structure was not badly damaged. A neutral cable of a power line was severed. Visitors wishing to view the spectacle are advised that the tree is scheduled to be removed within 24 hours. Considering this along with the skyrocketing cost of fuel, perhaps these photos, taken shortly after the event, will be satisfactory.
It may be hard to tell, but that is a tree lying across the roof.
Here is a broken end of the tree, to the left of the photo above.
