I know this is old news, but still it gives the tuning enthusiast pause. If 12ET fifths were US stamps, standard tuning could have become Pythagorean yesterday. Yes, I’m speaking of the 2 cent US stamp rate hike. It is further regrettable that the old stamp rate, 42, has now been surpassed, for this number signifies H-System nominal octave completion. But, all is not lost. 44 cents bespeaks a double meantone era, half of the 88 cent non-octave temperament, which receives much interest from fellow tuning geeks. But ah, old 42, to you who gave your level best, to you the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything - fare thee well; you will be missed.

To celebrate this week of holidays in Japan called Golden Week, allow me to share with you some new pictures of the Kyoto 205 Bus, which runs from Kyoto station to Kinkakuji, which means Golden Pavilion.

If this seems a bit random, let me explain that this number 205 is the number of pitches in the Tonal Plexus master tuning, the number of average JNDs in an octave, and the number of pitches which is central to my work. So, I always get a kick out of seeing things having this number emblazoned upon them.

Recently I found buses numbered 205 in both London and Helsinki, to which I have traveled and also have some personal connections. Searching just for fun online, I also happened across this bus in Kyoto, Japan …

and now I am pleased to have an actual connection there, as I will be building the next Tonal Plexus for the lovely person who sent me these rainy-day photos, composer and pianist Hitomi Shimizu, who lives in Kyoto, writes music for films and video games, and plays a one-of-a-kind 43-Tone reed organ tuned to the Harry Partch scale on C in a microtonal Japanese pop duo called SYZYGYS — check out her recordings on the Tzadik label!

Thanks Hitomi, and Happy Golden Week!

A bit of fun …

I was amused to find that there are major buses in both Helsinki and London with the route number 205, this being the number of pitches in the Tonal Plexus master tuning (the number of average JNDs in an octave, the number of pitches central to my work), and these two places being recent travel destinations of mine (although I was not in central London, but on the outskirts, in Walton in fact). Anyway, here they are for your enjoyment: the famous 205 bus of London, England and the perhaps lesser known but no less fantastic 205 bus of Helsinki, Finland!

Perhaps my next travel destination should be to Bangkok, Thailand, where (despite the current political turmoil) another couple of 205 buses are doing their daily rounds:

Or maybe Kyoto, Japan is the place to go, since according to this page in wikipedia, “many travellers stop at Saiin Station in order to take a the #205 city bus to Kinkakuji”.

Furthermore, perhaps I should try my luck in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where there are apparently exactly 205 buses in operation, a curious coincidence shared in France by the 205 RATP buses of the Paris suburbs!

At any rate, someday I do hope to find myself nearer to I-205, which connects Oregon and Washington, and the other I-205 which traverses a small part of northern California leading to the San Francisco Bay area.

Special thanks to composer and friend Juhani Nuorvala for the Helsinki photo and the kick which subsequently inspired this little burst of whimsy. It’s all in the numbers, folks!

I’ve returned from my travels, and will be spending the next few days in Chicago to relax with friends and recover from the time change before going home to resume normal work on Monday.

The UK conference was exciting and a lot of fun, with spring-like weather in Walton adding to the optimism and energy of the event. Performances were all highest caliber, and there was a particularly nice variety of music in terms of compositional style, ensemble and instrumentation. I enjoyed seeing friends and meeting new people working in the field. The conference provided a rare opportunity for spirited conversation and enthusiastic exchange of ideas for everyone involved.

My part went reasonably well, despite some technical difficulties. My macbook did not interface well with the overhead projection system, so that about 3/4 of the screen was not only out of visual scope, but was also inaccessible in terms of scrolling and mouse clicking - a bit short of ideal for a presentation focusing on software demonstration, and this weird problem also caused some programs to crash. Nonetheless my short presentation of less than 30 minutes was well received.

At the Sibelius Academy I was honored to have two hours to present, so I was able to cover quite a bit of ground, and the response from students seemed very positive. The macbook exhibited the same weird video problems, but anticipating them I was able to avoid some awkwardness. I had a couple of Tonal Plexus keyboards there to demonstrate with, belonging to Finnish composer Juhani Nuorvala, who also provided a Korg M3 synthesizer as an alternative sound source for the TPX6s. I was glad to see some of the students in attendance express a keen interest in my theories, instruments and software.

Berg’s opera Lulu was playing for four nights in Helsinki, and I was able to attend a performance on Tuesday, the night before my presentation at the academy. It was an unusual but well conceived production, which was remarkably well done. The orchestra played flawlessly; every section shone with beautifully expressive coherence. In all I was quite impressed.

I had my camera with me but I really had no time for sight seeing, so I failed to take many photos; in fact, I have no pictures at all from London and only a few from Helsinki. Above is a street near the center of Helsinki, just a few minutes walk from the Sibelius Academy (taken March 9, 2009).

In just a few days I’ll be in the UK for the third biannual microtonal festival (UK microfest 3) curated by Donald Bousted. I’ve been a participant at the previous UK microfests, and although as usual I will mostly be a concertgoer, I’ll also be part of the opening panel discussion Friday evening and will give a presentation on Sunday morning (more details are on the press page). I’ve been writing some new music and working on new software as well as new CSE and TPXE updates (which will be available soon - I promise!) to show at the event. Don posted this promotional video today:

After the festival, I’m off to Finland for four days, during which time I’ll be giving another (different) presentation to students and faculty of the Sibelius Academy.

I hope I’ll be able to get some photos and maybe videos from both events which I can post here.

… to be continued!