My works for two to five performers. Xenharmonic works are marked in parentheses with their tuning, and 12-equal/indeterminately pitched works are not labeled in such a way.

Small Ensemble

I've been working on this piece for years and it's been played at Ball State (twice), as well as Un12 2019! This is the Un12 recording, and the tuning is all in 9-tone equal temperament.

Keyboard: Stephen Weigel
Violin 1 and 2: Hans Gunter-Lock
Trombone: Jacob Barton

Conceptually, this piece is about a battle between harmony shared with 12 (the hexatonic, or Augmented[6] scale), and not shared with 12. Each of the four instruments follows their own respective idioms, but as time passes, they start imitating each other more both with motive and with harmony. Asymmetrical meter, strong contrasts between moods, the use of major and minor at the same time, and an overall sense of nothing belonging together define this piece.

As a quirky and absurd showcase of xenharmonics, it seemed relevant to give instruments themselves the idea of "being opposed" to non-hexatonic systems, and also to get them to "accept" non-hexatonic 9edo harmonies after being exposed to them for a while. Hopefully this piece is a showcase of what is possible with lots of different kinds of chords, providing a large gamut of what can be done, with little pockets (or zones) of lasting novelty based somewhat in being perpetually xenharmonic.

Zones of Lasting Novelty (9-EDO)

Trombone quartet piece performed in Sursa Performance Hall (Ball State University) on March 1st, 2016. Supposed to be relaxing, beautiful, and entertaining for the ear.

Thank you trombone players!
Daniel Payton
Bryce Chiddister
Andrew Hacker
David Daily



A Long Stroll At The Beach

Movement 1 (9-EDO) - 0:00
Movement 2 (8-EDO) - 5:30

A video with more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no3KsYIymyc

This piece is playable using 12-tone equal tempered guitars, which were precisely what was used: this is orchestrated for acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and electric bass. A composition professor of mine at Ball State University (Derek Johnson) asked me to write a 9-tone guitar chorale after hearing my other 9-tone piece thus far, "In Our Own Little Worlds." So I did, capitalizing on the fact that 9 and 12 are both divisible by 3 (so all of the fret positions are multiples of 4, or 0). 12 and 8 are, likewise, both divisible by 4, which is why I also picked 8-tone to use (so all of the frets on that one, likewise, are also multiples of 3, or 0). Two guitars were used for each player, making a total of 6 guitars onstage (Wow)! This is because movements I and II are tuned differently, and thus require different guitars for playing.

The notation for this is surprisingly convenient as well. I used 12-EDO cent deviations and TABs to notate this. The cent deviations are easy in 9 and 8 tone, because the deviations are always by the same amounts, meaning that they don't need to be specified in the music! This makes things a lot less confusing. TAB was easier for the performers to read. In 9-EDO, the step is 133.33 repeating cents, and in 8-tone, it is 150 cents. Every note in 9-EDO deviates from a 12-EDO note by only 33.3 cents, or is part of the C E G# 3-EDO augmented chord. Every note in 8-tone, likewise, deviates from a 12-EDO note by only 50 cents, or is part of the C Eb F# A 4-EDO fully diminished seventh chord. 

As for the feelings and aesthetics of this piece, the 9-tone ended up feeling like a journey through many places, and the 8-tone more like something dark and mysterious. (The contrast is intentional). In both movements, I induced chromaticism by moving through the kind of third that did not fit with 12-EDO... so for 9-EDO, this was the minor third flattened 33.3 cents, and for 8-EDO, the 12-EDO major third sharpened 50 cents.

I also found out that voicings played a huge role in categorical perception, and, depending on the way I voiced a chord, it could take on a completely different identity. The two best examples of this are:
(1) In 9-EDO, clusters of subminor thirds (the flattened minor third by 33.3 cents) can sound either like a dominant seventh or a half-diminished seventh chord (the ending chord is a good example).
(2) In 8-EDO, if you voice a 'major triad', you'll get an interval that is halfway between a major third and perfect fourth, and an interval halfway between a perfect fifth and major sixth. Relative to this construction, putting the 'super-major third' in the bass makes the chord sound minor, because it can be legitimately construed as a minor chord as well (even with spelling!).

The 9-EDO modulates almost all the way through a circle of subminor thirds, hinting at the next one in each section, and the 8-EDO stays 'in C'. The 8-EDO has a much simpler structure; a lot of the music theory parallels Sethares' quick example of speculative 8-equal theory from Tuning Timbre Spectrum Scale... it goes between a tonic and dominant chord built adjacently to each other. It is much harder to get 8-EDO to sound chromatic than 9-EDO.

Thank you performers!
Daniel Sitler, bass
Samuel Gordon, electric guitar
Acoustic guitar was myself.

Tenacious Chorale (9-EDO and 8-EDO) (Live)

For more information on Tenacious Chorale, check the live performance description, as well as this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no3KsYIymyc

This recording is only of movement 1, in 9-equal. The live performance of the second movement in 8-equal was so good that I didn't feel a need to re-record it in the studio.

Tenacious Chorale (9-EDO) (Studio version)

(Re-uploaded for loudness purposes)
HUGE thank you to the members of the ICE ensemble who played this piece for BSU's Spring 2017 In-Artist Residence!!

Rebekah Heller, bassoon
Ryan Muncy, alto sax
Alice Teyssier, flute
Campbell MacDonald, clarinet
Michael Lormand, trombone

This piece was born out of the feeling of an exotic road trip. Picture a mountain as you drive by: it's jagged and impressive, but also very regular and slow-moving. That's the feeling I hoped the ostinatos would capture. There are no traditional chords here, but lots of repetition. Individual repetitive parts will combine in as many different ways as texturally acceptable to "clash" within any given section, and different groupings are juxtaposed against one another. A "waiting" patience was often used as a musical motive for the more melodic-sounding ostinatos. Additionally, there were many textures where other parts echoed an eighth note later, and then two eighth notes later, etc. This was also a great ingredient for beginning slow texture changes in the piece (also common).

Future versions of this piece will use:
>slightly more idiomatic extended techniques
>more idiomatic quarter-tone trills for the flute
>other mild textural changes that enhance the sounds of certain polyphonies

Performed in 24-tone equal temperament, on February 13, 2017.

Quintet in Quarter-Tones (24-EDO)

Tuning system: (12-TET)

This aleatoric music relies on slow cycles, changing textures, and low frequency content to depict the plodding nature of a fictional character that doesn't perceive time linearly.

The premiere of this piece was at the Ball State University Student Composers' Forum, April 6, 2017. 

Stephen Weigel, piano player and composer
Cody Williamson, contrabass clarinet player

Maximally Lame Being

This is a string duet, using the Mavila scale, created in response to the xenharmonic community’s ‘Tuning of the Month’ challenge of June 2017. Charlotte New Music Festival 2017 required its creation, to be played by the Beo String Quartet, as a vigorous speedwriting challenge. So, I picked sixth tones to write with because they are more xenharmonic than quartertones, but still overlap with 12-equal quite a lot. This piece is obsessed with a constant state of beginning, as the two voices constantly seem like they are entering against each other, as in the exposition of a fugue, or a canon. Dedicated to Lou Harrison’s life, the performance is a memorial of how he brought gamelan to the United States in an influential way, although not indicative of the gamelan style in any particular way. I also share interests with Lou Harrison, namely, non-Western music and a birthday, so pondering his legacy is very special for me specifically. Openings of each of Lou Harrison’s gamelan pieces are all quoted, as well as one of his piano sonatas. The instruments also play in the same key (D) as his American Gamelan, and only one note of the scale is inaccurate to what that ensemble played, namely, the minor third of Harrison’s ensemble is represented in this piece by a significantly flatter note, the septimal minor third (267 cents) of 9-equal. 

Huge thanks to Sandro Leal-Santiesteban (violin), and Ryan Ash (cello) of Beo String Quartet for playing this at CNMF 2017!

Gamelan, Origin, Creation (9 - EDO)

This piece was written for the flute players of Duo Zhonda, at Charlotte New Music Festival 2017. Music commonly thought of as lost and forgetful could have a variety of attributes. With an erratic nature, the music can be hasty, jumping from place to place in panic. With a monotonous nature, it can be pacing around in a circle wondering where it should go. In this piece, I purposely fade between the two ideas over the entire course of the piece, inversely with both rhythm and pitch. This piece is dedicated to my professor Jody Nagel, who often says, “Symmetry removes one’s ability to orient.” This short piece is an exploration of that idea, and inspired by that very phrase, as 36 is highly composite.

A sincere and heartfelt thanks to Orlando Cela and Wei Zhao for playing this!

Exponentially More Lost And Forgetful (36 - EDO)

This piece is an exploration of meditation at the Amida Buddha statue, and the melody of the piece changes depending at which “angle” you hear the music. The harmonies evoke the subtle rising and changing of the metal, and its hollow hues (via perfect fifths) in the statue.

This piece was written for the Ball State New Music Ensemble's "Music on Art" event. The piece was premiered at the David Owsley Museum of Art. Written for mixed quintet (flute, clarinet, viola, trombone, and bassoon).

Thanks to:
Dr. Patrick Chan, conductor
Cyrus Wallis, flautist
Darius Bennett, clarinetist
Suzanne Rome, clarinetist (during different performance)
Dr. Eleanor Trawick, viola
Daniel Smith, trombone
Katelyn Novak, bassoon

Meditation On The Amida Buddha

Go watch the YouTube video so you can see me soloing as much like Keytar Bear as I can muster for my own made-up song with a 15-note keyboard interface
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CFesFtzX-4&feature=youtu.be

What it's like to FOLLOW KEYTAR BEAR (POST BOSTON REMIXXX 🐻🐶🎹) (22-EDO)

(I) Dear Alma-mande! - 0:00
(II) Cardinal Waltz - 2:58
(III)We'll honor thee - 4:19
(IV) Gigue, both day and night - 5:40

Composed by Stephen Weigel in 2019
Premiered in 2019 by BSU New Music Ensemble (Dr. Amy Kaplan)

As a celebratory piece, The Ball State Centennial Suite captures the spirit of new music in a modernist dance form,  mixing a variety of diatonic and chromatic ideas. Many of the melodic ideas come from the Alma Mater and fight song, and many of the formal ideas come from the “100” digits. Hopefully it conjures feelings of joy, nostalgia, and curiosity. This piece was written and played in 2019, Ball State's 100th year.

A huge thanks to the players!
Arthur Newport, piano
Ethan Tackett, alto sax
Dan Smith, trombone
Morgan Kochanowski, clarinet
Lady Paola Cubillos, flute