polymicrotonal weirdness with max msp, 2018

PolymicroEtude7

Didier Aschour is a pioneer specialist performer of microtonal guitar music.  His custom guitar allows for rapid exchange of fingerboards, and he has worked with a luthier to build a collection of fingerboards that cover a vast range of tuning systems.  

This piece exists in two versions.   

While the two versions share a common score, they differ with respect to the arrangement of the fingerboard frets (the "warp") and the tuning of the strings (the "weft").   Didier commissioned two special fingerboards for the piece.


In each version, between the tunings of frets and the strings, one constitutes a fragment of the overtone series and the other a fragment of the undertone series.   The resulting interaction provides a very rich selection of pitches: within a limited span, arbitrary numerators and arbitrary denominators arise--thinking here of the available pitches by their ratios to the guitar's lowest open string.  

"Just intonation" always means composing with intervals formed from small integer ratios, thus with some subset of the rational numbers.   The tuning here, you might call it Cartesian, means to project the structure of the rational numbers writ large, so without imposing any subjective selection process.

Performed live, the piece would have Didier sliding a glass "bottleneck"  for the warp and strumming for the weft.  Or course that timbrel conceit is lost in these MIDI realizations.  But hopefully one day I'll have a recording of an instrumental performance for sharing.  This will have to do for now.



   




Warp Weft (I), for microtonal guitar (1998), for Didier Aschour

This, my second mixed Trio in poly, features 17-19-21-23-25-28-31 seven note scale in the cello, that loops 6X against two polyrhythmic contrapuntal 24 unequal Pythagorean scale of al Farabi in the piano, and Ben Johnston's 6th Prime row of 25 unequal per octave, in the Clarinet. The interplay is finely thought out and responsorial. The poly trio is a new form I am experimenting with for more transparency for the contrapuntal interplay between the instruments in polymicrotonality. 2025

Mixed Trio in Polytempic Polymicrotonality #2

Another snippet from Caligo Paean - beware of gifts when chasing gods : ) 

Caligo Paean is a 1 hour long sound piece installed on river front property in the town of Franklin, Tasmania as part of the exhibition "When The Fog Clears". It formed part of the Ten Days on The Island Festival March 2025.
The work was installed in several locations across the property including a stack of subs under an old bus, in the main exhibition space and in an abandoned shed some 40 metres from the main area . The speakers were 'tuned' quite differently depending on their location and the sound was not delay corrected with the result of each mini-installation merging with each other in odd sonic ways - kind of calling the listener from one spot to another. The the work features field recordings, percussion, piano, bass guitar and Intonarumori as well as this special one off choir : )

Caligo is the Ancient goddess of Chaos. Born of the fog she controls the darkness, dwells in the void and is as old as the primordial matter that created the universe. This work is a tribute to the goddess as she continues to influence our lives and, in the case of this installation, the site and concept informing the show.

Official press release below for The Fog Clears

Every day, the mists of the Huon Valley perform a seductive dance, gently obscuring and revealing contours of the fertile land and waters. Situated in The Watershed Franklin, When The Fog Clears features six artists from lutruwita / Tasmania exploring the region’s iconic mists through a variety of mediums including installation, sculpture, illustration, sound, and video.

Developed exclusively for Franklin, this exhibit extends from the waterfront itself into the chambers, kilns, and rafters of the shed, inviting visitors to consider fog as an atmosphere that can cloak us in unexpected ways.



Caligo Paean (A gift, a choice)

A polycyclic piece with 5 looping cyclic parts not in a neat order, but not polytempic nor polymetric, either. Formerly a string quartet, but with added synth, is essentially a quintet. 2025

String Quintet in standard tuning with synth pad

Tunings are: five sets of differently tuned 17-19-21-23-25-28-31 overtones for piano, violin, marimba, trumpet and English horn, and 48tet for the guitar.

Polytempic Polymicrotonal Sextet for Piano, Violin, Marimba, English Horn, Trumpet in C, and 12-string Guitar

fucked up mess

Twist

This piece is an outgrowth of the previous sextet that is now a NONET, with English Horn, C Trumpet, violin, viola, cello, 2 marimbas, guitar and piano. This is fully polytempic, but is only standard tuned, no microtones. (unless of course 12tet in-itself is already microtuned as it deviates from just overtones) . This piece is sprightly and alive, quite the opposite of its composer, so that remains an enigma. 

Just Shut the Fuck UP, it's a Beautiful Day Outside and I have a Boner, so don't ruin it.

Like a wild Klezmer orchestra, everyone is going dixieland Mad with pdlytempo and polymicrotonality, for piano, guitar, violin, viola, cello, 2 marimbas, English horn and Trumpet. It's a mad drunken bar fight but, fun, a fun mad drinking bar fight. No one lives! Composed today and all week. This is related to the Boner happy day piece. You're welcome. 

Polymicrotonal Nonet I

Music for English horn, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, two vibraphones, guitar and piano. Tunings will be discussed later. Working on score, still. This piece is constantly evolving. 2025

Polymicrotonal Nonet, without Polytempo, version 2, for Violin, Viola, Cello, English Horn, Trumpet, 2 Vibraphones, Guitar and Just Piano

Composer, mathematician, visual artist. 
Seeks collaboration with performers and choreographers.

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Warp Weft (I), for microtonal guitar (1998), for Didier Aschour

David Victor Feldman