Daniel Thompson-Microtonal Composer

Quarter Tone Bouzouki

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:40:00 +0000

Here's an interesting video of a bouzouki with some extra frets to get some of the notes "between the notes".

A Nice Piece in Seventeen Tone Equal Temperament

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:40:00 +0000

I know from personal experience that seventeen tone equal temperament (seventeen equally spaced tones per octave) can be a challenging tuning. It sometimes comes across as harsh and dissonant. However, it also has a softer side. I think the producers of this piece did an excellent job of showing how pleasant music can emerge from what might seem like an unpromising tuning system. I think their choice of instrument and style is a good match for the unique possibilities of this particular tuning.

Seventeen Dragon Dreams (Music and Video by Sethares and Crowly)

Here is one of my compositions in seventeen tone equal temperament.

Impressions on a Painting by Bosch

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:57:00 +0000

Tryptych (outer wings) of Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch

I participated in the Delian Suite Four last year. The project involved composing works for bassoon that are based on one of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. I composed a short piece for piano, cello and bassoon. It was performed in June, 2008 at Angoulême, France. Below is the link to the soundfile. (Please note, this is a computerised rendition. I don't have a live recording at this time. Also, the tuning is twelve tone equal temperament. It is not a microtonal piece.)

Impressions on a painting by Bosch by Daniel Thompson

See also this composition's page at the Delian website.

Canon in J (Bohlen Pierce Scale)

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:19:00 +0000

Here is an attempt to reinterpret Pachelbel's famous Canon in D in the less famous Bohlen-Pierce scale. Bohlen-Pierce is a very exotic and experimental scale that is not based on the octave. Instead it involves dividing the tritave (a 3/1 frequency ratio instead of the octave's 2/1 frequency ratio) into thirteen equally spaced intervals. Why thirteen? Because this division results in an unusual scale that reduces dissonance when played with instruments that favor odd harmonics, such as the clarinet and the panpipe. In fact, special clarinets exist for the performance of Bohlen-Pierce music. (See this site for an example.)

Nonoctave music like this can be pretty strange and take a while to get used. We are so used to hearing music based on octaves that our brains can find it hard to make sense of this kind of deviation from the norm. I found that watching this video several times helped me to make sense of it.

A Rondo in Minor Modes for Two Pianos in Nineteen Tone Equal Temperament

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:36:00 +0000

Nineteen tone equal temperament (nineteen equally spaced notes per octave instead of the usual twelve) is a popular choice for microtonal composers. It has major and minor triads that are closer to just intonation than in twelve tone equal temperament. It is generally regarded as a more consonant tuning than standard twelve tone equal temperament.

Personally, I find Nineteen tone equal temperament to be somewhat unsettling to work with. Its fifth and major third are both flatter than purely tuned intervals and I usually prefer major thirds that are sharper than purely tuned (5/4) and closer to the Pythagorean major third (81/64).

In any case, I wanted to experiment with this temperament. I came up with a piece for two pianos that could actually be played in real life if the two pianos were tuned to share the 19 tones per octave. I know this is an awkward way to perform, but this is actually done successfully on occasion during concerts. I decided to explore this temperament's darker side. Here is my Rondo in minor modes for two pianos in nineteen tone equal temperament.

Tuning Box Demo

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:15:00 +0000

Microtonal musicians often lament the lack of support our art form receives from the companies that make electronic instruments. Some expensive keyboards offer retuning abilities. Even then, these capabilities are usually limited and impractical for more exotic tuning experiments. For example, they usually don't allow for keyboard mappings that are different from the normal twelve notes per octave.

The TBX tuning box from H-Pi Instruments provides a revolutionary solution to this problem. It allows you to change the tuning of standard MIDI keyboards in a very flexible manner. Check out the following video. It's a lot of fun to watch the improvisations in fifteen different tunings.

Tuning Box Demo

Revelation for Piano

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:03:00 +0000

Here is Michael Harrison performing his innovative "revelation tuning", a form of just intonation that makes use of small tuning differences that are generally avoided in other types of purely tuned music.

Revelation for Piano (Michael Harrison)

Nocturne for Two Pianos in Seventeen Tone Equal Temperament

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sun, 18 May 2008 01:51:00 +0000

I wrote this piece for a concert in Texas last year. It was phase three of the seventeen tone piano project. Two pianos were retuned so they shared the notes of seventeen tone equal temperament (seventeen equally spaced notes to the octave instead of the usual twelve). This is often regarded as a rather challenging tuning. It's major and minor thirds are more dissonant than what we are accustomed to. This can result in a somewhat harsh sound. Despite these difficulties, I enjoy this tuning. I challenged myself to try to compose a piece that highlights its softer side. I came up with this nocturne. (Click on the link to hear it.)

The entire concert was archived here. Phase two of the project was videotaped and can be seen here. You might also enjoy this page about the project at Xenharmonic Wikispaces.

Microtonal Marimba (Quartertones)

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:57:00 +0000

I'm always excited when I discover a new microtonal instrument. I just came across this video of a fascinating quartertone marimba (twenty four equally spaced tones to the octave instead of twelve).

Quarter Tone Marimba

See also Quartertone Marimba.com for more videos and information about this project.

Microtonal Ukulele

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:27:00 +0000

Here's a great video of a young musician playing a ukulele tuned to thirteen tone equal temperament. This is often thought of as a dissonant and unpleasant tuning, but I think he makes it sound wonderful.

Thirteen Tone Uke

Nose Music

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:05:00 +0000

It's marvelous that a simple piece of plastic can employ the nose to produce a continuous microtonal range of pitches. The infamous nose whistle (sometimes called a nose flute) owes its success to using the nose as a source of wind, freeing the mouth to serve as a flexible resonating chamber that can adjust to produce the required notes. If that sounds confusing, this video should help clear things up.

Nose Whistle Demonstration

Other kinds of nose flutes are used throughout the world, as shown in the following video.

Vietnamese Nose Flutes

It should be pointed out that the nose has other musical uses besides the mere blowing of air. Notice the subtle and delicate use of the nose as a temporary substitute for the fingers while they are employed elsewhere.

Shnozzage (Etude # 23 by David Rakowski)

Microtonal Speedlinking

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:31:00 +0000

Xenharmonic Wikispaces has a new equal temperaments section devoted to organising compositions and theory by individual temperaments. This is the first online attempt that I'm aware of to organise compositions in this manner. I hope this idea takes off. I think this could be a great resource for studying the repertoire of specific temperaments.

Neil Haverstick, the prolific microtonal guitarist, author and composer, was recently interviewed at Tokafi. The interview is well worth reading. It's nice to see one of the "Forgotten Greats and Unsung Heroes" (explained in the interview) get some well deserved recognition. (see also this article.)

The hang drum is a recently invented pitched percussion instrument that has been receiving a lot of attention lately. Some of them feature microtonal tunings. You can learn more about them at this page at Odd Music

How about a xenharmonic ukulele tuned to thirteen tone equal temperament and played by a thirteen year old? You can listen to it here. (I wish I had one of those.)

Tagged! (The Mutation Meme)

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:18:00 +0000

Mr. Startling Moniker just tagged me with a meme. I've never done one of these before. Apparently, a meme is like a self-replicating virus that uses a host (like me) to propagate itself throughout the blogosphere at an exponential rate. Like a virus, a meme comes with a set of instructions that presumably replicates with a high rate of precision:

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Well, every once in a while, the genetic material of a virus will mutate, perhaps resulting in a new strain that terrorises millions. I don't see why this can't also happen with a meme. I will make some small changes to the meme and then everyone I tag can ignore or change one or more of the rules (including the new rule to ignore or change one or more of the rules).

Here are nine statements about me. One of them is false. If you want, you can guess which one it is.

1. I recently started learning to play the erhu (a type of Chinese fiddle).

2. I once owned a windshield repair business.

3. I have lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin and South Dakota. I currently reside in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

4. I dislike clowns, centipedes, and chicken salad sandwiches.

5. I used to have a job building barbed wire fences. One time, a tractor malfunctioned and pinned me against a fence.

6. One of my hobbies is boomerang throwing.

7. I have an unusual fascination with countries that begin with I, Iceland, Italy, India, and Indonesia.

8. I once held my breath for 2 minutes and twenty seconds.

9. I lied in statement number 8.

Now, I get to tag the following blogs: (I decided on six. If you want to be seven or eight just claim the honor in the comments section.)

Infinitely Crazy
My Lounge
Gledwood
Notes Become Thee
Skittles' Place
Webtalks

A Scream from Lebanon

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:08:00 +0000

Here is a cool video that uses a microtonal variation of the C minor scale where the A and D notes are each thirty cents flat.

A Scream from Lebanon

Unusual Microtonal Instruments, Part 5

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:51:00 +0000

Bells often work very well with microtonal tunings. Many of the instruments we are familiar with (pianos, violins, guitars, most wind and brass instruments, etc.) have a harmonic spectrum that tends to work best with more traditional tunings. They can also work well with some very exotic or dissonant tunings, but the inharmonic spectrum of bells often provides a better match. I am fascinated by bells and the possibilities they represent.

As an example, Tony Salinas performs on a microtonal bellophone that uses a tuning of 96 equally spaced tones to the octave. The conic bells that are used can be arranged in various ways.

Here is a picture of a single conic bell.

Of course, this is all very interesting, but you probably want to know how it sounds and see it in action. Click here to see a video demonstration. The bellophone has already been used in concert and I hope to hear more about in the future.

Well, this concludes the first batch of unusual microtonal instruments that I wanted to share with you. I hope you enjoyed reviewing just some of the fascinating approaches to exploring pitch with instruments. This series will take a break for a while, but I hope to discuss more microtonal instruments in the future, including some of my own.

Unusual Microtonal Instruments, Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Wed, 30 May 2007 15:26:00 +0000

So far, we have examined a large variety of microtonal instruments. We have yet to discuss the keyboard and its role in producing microtonal music. In some ways the piano style keyboard is the victim of its own success. Its twelve keys per octave arrangement has become so common that many have forgotten that there are other alternatives, but imagine what you could do with this alternative keyboard controller from H-Pi Instruments.

Tonal Plexus

This keyboard features an impressive 211 keys per octave. I can't imagine a situation where this wouldn't be sufficient. This same company also sells the Tuning Box, the world's first microtonal midi converter. You can use it to retune electronic keyboards or software synthesizers. It can store over 500 tunings. This is a great idea. This could save a person a lot of time and money shopping for equipment with microtonal capabilities.

If this all sounds new and unusual, you might enjoy visiting their instrument galleries that feature a long history of keyboards capable of playing more than 12 notes per octave. For example, here is a modern reconstruction of a sixteenth century harpsichord that has 36 keys per octave split between two manuals.

Archicembalo

Here is a 31 tone to the octave pipe organ.

Fokker organ

Here is a closeup of a 22 tone just intonation harpsichord keyboard with unusual split keys.

Just Intonation harpsichord

Quarter Tone Piano

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sun, 27 May 2007 16:39:00 +0000

Normally, a piano has notes that are a half tone apart. If you take two pianos and tune one of them a quarter tone sharp, you can use them to play 24 tone equal temperament. These videos demonstrate 3 quarter tone piano pieces by Charles Ives.

24 tone equal temperament is a somewhat controversial tuning. It's similarity to 12 tone equal temperament makes it an obvious choice for study, but many people don't like it. They point out that the in between notes tend to be rather dissonant. This tuning is regarded by some as one of the least interesting. Well, I haven't formed any strong opinions about it myself. I have had very little success with it, so far, but I recently had some ideas that may be productive. I can say that I like these pieces and hope you will enjoy them, too.

Charles Ives-3 Quarter Tone Pieces-Largo

Charles Ives-3 Quarter Tone Pieces-Allegro

Charles Ives-3 Quarter Tone Pieces-Chorale

Many thanks to Daniel Stearns for bringing these to my attention. See this page for more information on these pieces.

Unusual Microtonal Instruments, Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Wed, 23 May 2007 14:05:00 +0000

I have already discussed several microtonal guitars in this series. This next guitar is one of the most unusual. Dave Keenan is the inventor of the Choob, a tubular (choobular?) electric guitar.

Microtonal Choob

This picture is of the first microtonal choob. It has eight strings and is tuned to a seven limit schismatic temperament. One of the chief advantages of this design appears to be the ease with which you can setup a microtonal fret layout or even change it if you aren't satisfied. The frets are monofilament that are threaded through drilled holes. You can drill new holes if you want to change the fret layout.

The use of a light weight tube requires some wet sand for ballast and an internal truss wire system to counteract the tension of the strings. There are also plans to include a neon tube to light up the frets at night.

It looks like the curved fretboard would make it difficult to play, but the reports I've heard indicate that it's much easier than it looks. The curved design also makes it possible to use a bow. I don't really need a microtonal guitar at the moment, but if I ever decide to get one, I will definitely consider this new design.

Another recently invented microtonal instrument is the udderbot. The invention of the instrument was a collaborative effort that took place in the vicinity of Jacob Barton. I don't know much about it since it's new and the web site is still under construction. I could describe it, but I thought it might be more fun for you to try to guess its general appearance based on the name, udderbot. You can then check the website for pictures and further information.

The udderbot was used at the 17 tone piano project, phase 3. Recordings of the concert are archived here.

15 Tone Gamelan (a new version of an old piece)

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sat, 19 May 2007 19:31:00 +0000

Jon Lyle Smith suggested that my Study for Bells might work well with gamelan sounds. He was also nice enough to render the midi file for me. Here is the new version. I'm impressed with how it turned out. It sounds very different than the original.

I had also thought that gamelan sounds might work well with this piece. The tuning of 15 tone equal temperament contains a subset of five tone equal temperament which resembles the Indonesian slendro scale. This makes gamelan sounds a logical choice, although the particular scale I used also has some striking differences from traditional gamelan scales. This piece doesn't sound much like authentic gamelan music, but it does provide an interesting study of the pairing of an unusual tuning with the beloved gamelan sound. I'm grateful to Mr. Smith for providing this audio file. Click here to listen.

Unusual Microtonal Instruments, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Mon, 14 May 2007 14:01:00 +0000

Neil Haverstick is a well known guitarist whose compositions include explorations of exotic microtonal realms. He uses a large variety of microtonal guitars including 19, 31 and 34 tone equal temperaments and fretless guitars tuned to the harmonic series. Here is a collection of his 34 tone guitars. Notice how close the frets are to each other.

You can visit him at his website or My Space page. You may also enjoy visiting microtones.com for more information on microtonal guitars.

Dante Rosati uses a just intonation guitar, a harmonic guitar and a very unusual prime guitar that uses ratios of purely tuned prime numbers up to 199. You can also hear some of his music at his Zebox page.

Doctor Oakroot plays a rough edged type of blues on homemade guitar-like instruments. Some of the instruments are based on Pythagorean tuning and one uses 17 tone equal temperament. Here's a video of him playing a homemade guitar.

Doctor Oakroot-Snake in the Grass

If you are interested in making homemade instruments, you might like to read his article on how to make a diddley bow (a cool, but simple, instrument with microtonal capabilities).

Unusual Microtonal Instruments, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sun, 06 May 2007 16:37:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I received a surprising email. It was from a TV show in Britain. I was asked if I would be willing to be consulted about an upcoming segment on unusual musical instruments. Apparently, a researcher discovered my ancient instrument blog through an Internet search and concluded that I was some sort of expert on the subject. (I'm just an amateur collector and connoisseur of musical instruments.)

I replied that I would be delighted to share whatever knowledge I had. I then waited to be contacted. I began to think about some of my favorite unusual instruments like the bazantar, stalacpipe organ, sarrusophone, LEGO harpsichord and even the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra.

I thought I should also do some more research on instruments that are specifically designed to make microtonal music. Of course, many unusual instruments are microtonal, but this isn't always intentional. I posted a request for assistance at a few microtonal music groups. I received a good number of emails describing some great instruments, many of which I wasn't familiar with. I never was contacted again by the TV show, but I am pleased to offer these microtonal instruments some modest publicity here.

Kraig Grady is a well known microtonal composer who has found it necessary to make his own microtonal instruments.

His Lake Aloe is a vibraphone-like instrument that is tuned to a type of extended just intonation. It has a dreamy otherworldly sound. You have to hear it. See this page for an mp3 sample and for more detailed information on his instruments and tunings.

There are several varieties of microtonal guitars. The following picture compares the fret layout of a normal guitar with a guitar that uses Lucytuning, a tuning system based on pi.

This fret layout allows for slightly different tunings of sharp and flat notes. See this site for more information on Lucytuning.

Ethan Tripp, the author of one of my favorite blogs, Of Sound Mind frequently chronicles sonic experiments that sometimes involves homemade instruments.

This instrument is loosely modeled on a Thai phin. It also represents the beginnings of his microtonal explorations. The frets are made from "zip-ties". This simple, but elegant, solution allows him to easily move the frets and thereby change the tuning. This project is described here.

Changes at this Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sun, 06 May 2007 16:25:00 +0000

Perhaps you didn't realise that this blog has, or rather had, a sibling. This blog and another blog, Resources for the Microtonal Composer, were started at the same time. This was a result of my compulsive urge to organise and classify. It seemed that the term microtonal was just too vague. I wanted a general microtonal blog where I could share my music and discuss theory. I also wanted a different microtonal blog where I could discuss specific aspects of making microtonal music. I had big plans. I thought I would regularly try demo versions of software with microtonal capabilities and write reviews. I wanted to warn people about the mistakes I had made. I even began making some simple microtonal software. I figured that blog would make a great launching platform.

I should have been able to predict the results of all this. I ended up lavishing time and attention on this blog and couldn't seem to find the time to properly maintain the other one. This blog grew strong while the other grew weak. And then the unthinkable happened...

While I was distracted and preoccupied, a barbaric act of cannibalism occurred. This blog engulfed the best content of its smaller sibling, leaving only a few pitiful scraps to wither in the digital sun.

Well, I try to remain philosophical about this. This will allow me to better maintain this blog. I will still write about issues of microtonal music production, I just won't have to worry about doing so on a regular basis. I may even finish that microtonal software. If I do, I'll release it here.

Still, the precedent worries me. This blog also has a cousin, Lutes, Viols and Other Ancient Instruments. It was actually more popular than this blog until recently. Now, strengthened by its recent conquest, I see this blog looking in that direction with hungry and envious eyes.

Who knows what the future will hold?

The following is a list of the new articles added to the archives. I kept the publication dates the same.

What is Xenharmonic Music?
Embrace the Controversy
Scala
L'il Miss' Scale Oven™
Take advantage of Free Music Software
Tonescape Tuning Software Now Available
Two Gamelan Transcriptions for Piano
Wendy Carlos Discusses Microtonality

The Seventeen Tone Piano Project

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Thu, 03 May 2007 17:10:00 +0000

The seventeen tone piano project is an ambitious undertaking that involves tuning two pianos to share the notes of seventeen tone equal temperament (seventeen equally spaced notes to the octave instead of twelve). This is an unique and exotic tuning. It is characterised by fifths that are somewhat sharper than purely tuned fifths. (Twelve tone equal temperament and mean-tone tunings have somewhat flat fifths.) It also has a neutral third in addition to versions of major and minor thirds.

That's enough theory, it's better to listen to it, so I have included this video of phase two of the project.

Seventeen Tone Piano Project, Phase Two

Phase three is scheduled to be performed this coming Monday. I'm excited because I have submitted one of my own pieces for the concert. It's a gentle nocturne. I tried to write a piece that contrasts with the reputation of 17ET as being somewhat rough sounding. Time will tell if I succeeded or not.

Update: Recordings of phase 3 are archived here.

A New Recording of Organ Study #1

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:09:00 +0000

Jon Lyle Smith graciously offered to produce a new recording of my Organ Study #1 in 26 tone equal temperament. He used contrasting pipe organ sounds to accent different sections of the piece. He also employed his audio production skills to make further enhancements. I think it is a great improvement over the previous version. I intended this piece as a study in the combination of an interesting tuning with the powerful sound of the pipe organ. I think this new recording does a great job of further exploring these sonic effects.

See also:
Jon Lyle Smith's Zebox page
The original Organ Study #1

Slow Dance in Thirteen Tone Equal Temperament

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Thompson) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:31:00 +0000

What happens if you add an extra note to the common twelve tone scale? Well, if you space these thirteen notes equally within the octave, you get a tuning that is very dissonant and very unlike anything you may be familiar with.

Some have even concluded that this infamous thirteen tone equal temperament is the worst possible tuning! This kind of assertion just makes me want to explore this tuning even more. I really don't believe it's the worst. I actually consider it to be one of my favorites, although I'm willing to admit it can be difficult to work with at times.

Slow Dance in thirteen tone equal temperament is one of the first microtonal pieces I have worked on. I have tried to make a soft and gentle piece that contrasts with the ideas that many people have about this tuning.

I played this once for a friend. It was actually a version played with a different sound, so it sounded more dissonant than this one. He claimed he could hear it with his deaf ear. We were both pretty shocked by this. We tried several other microtonal pieces, but none of them had this same effect.

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time working on this piece. It's still not how I want it. I find the strange dissonances to be compelling, but they make for difficulties with production. I would like to add extra parts, but they always seem to clash with what is already there. Maybe, after I've gained more experience, I'll be able to return to it and expand upon it.

In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this little glimpse into a very exotic tuning. Click here to listen.

X.J. Scott has written some excellent pieces in thirteen tone equal temperament. You can find them near the bottom of this page.