Now and Xen

"Welcome to Accordion August!" I mean… Today on the podcast we talk shop with Dr. Lore Amenabar Larrañaga, accordion extraordinaire! She has put out a new CD: "Ispilu: Works for Quarter-Tone Accordion" featuring some of the most stunning contemporary quarter-tone accordion compositions of the day. Be sure to check it out after you listen to the episode. All music is from the new album: L'eaurelle...

"Welcome to Alien August!" Elaine Walker comes down from her celestial spaceship to give us the scoop on her microtonal mini-movie album, "Macrochip!" The album is constructed entirely in Bohlen-Pierce tuning and Elaine created all the clips using human-made stock footage (no AI). The album is classic Elaine, strikingly visual, timbre-rich, and tonal. All music from Elaine's "Macrochip" in Bohlen-...

"Welcome to Alien August!" We present our conversation with certified extraterrestrial Tachy Bunker, the interdimensional shaman, conlanger, and electronic dance music producer. Tachy uses a huge variety of chromatic tunings mainly consisting of EDO's, high-dimensional just intonation (including primodalities), and mixtures of these in polysystemic music. Check him out live if you can for his prim...

"Here we are in J.I. July!" Owen Garnder, guitarist of the iconic experimental rock band Horse Lords, gives us a rundown of the band's philosophical and aesthetic visions, influences over time, and a first-person account of what playing polymetrically and microtonally in this band entails. In the latest album, "Demand To be Taken Into Heaven Alive!" we see more guests than usual as well as harmoni...

"Here we are in J.I. July!" We sat down for a talk with esteemed composer-performer Catherine Lamb about navigating justly tuned systems, writing in high-limit systems using low-numbered concordances, her 10 Hertz system, and individual approaches towards intervals. Catherine Lamb's website and bandcamp: https://www.sacredrealism.org/artists/catherine-lamb/ https://catherinelamb.bandcamp.com/music...

In this historic 100th public episode, we celebrate and catalogue the creation of Christopher Bailey's monumental choral work "Lost and Found Things" in 17-TET. In the first conversation, Stephen Weigel, Thomas Scheurich, Jacob Barton, and Christopher Bailey discuss the process, and in the second conversation, Stephen Weigel and Christopher Bailey dive into the sound of the finished project and so...

In this episode we talk about UnTwelve Microtonal Recording Retreat (formerly known as "praxis sumer camp") with Jacob Barton, Vito Sicurella, and Ian Blaylock (phlub) in an initial conversation, and then with Thomas Scheurich in a secondary conversation. Most of our topics are on how music making practices and the camp itself is changing significantly over time. (At the beginning of the episode,...

"Join us for Experi-MAY-ntal music MAY!" We interview Dan and Jason of the 32-year old instrument-building band "Neptune" (minus Mark) about their new album releasing June 5, "Play Some Music," in which they fully commit to microtonality. These legends have been exploring found sound, electronics, and scrap metal for years to refine their distinctly jam-based, noise-inspired aesthetics. Among othe...

"Join us for Experi-MAY-ntal music MAY!" Today's episode features Max McCargar, a guitarist, performer, teacher, and polysystemic explorer. In this philosophical episode we touch on what it means to play music live with others, and upon the natural benefits to improvisational approaches. Music: Intro: Ethernet Flirtatious (from snake and slug, rejected) - Sononym Alternate Soundtrack to the Seashe...

"April WEATHER… ahem… I mean… April XEN-ther, rain and sunshine all together!" Here we have XENTAR, right after we had XENPILLED! Xentar is a free online tool where you can interact with microtonal guitar tablature, connecting a host of features many had long since given up on. You can create your own guitar songs and share them (with playback), explore scales and EDO's (even harmonizing within th...

"April WEATHER… ahem… I mean… April XEN-ther, rain and sunshine all together!" Here we have XENPILLED, and next, XENTAR! Gordon Wery, who runs the YouTube channel "xenpilled," joins us to talk about cool microtonal scales using sharp 5ths and dual fifths, tuning choices and benefits of focused approaches, streaming and simulcasting, synthesizers, and practicality. We get a demo of the Linnstrument...

Join us for a conversation with the mad conlanger and electronic musician "Lamplight!" We create Lamplight's unique style from the ground up, joining them in the DAW, and muse about the possibilities in their composition, tuning, and music. Lamplight's conlang and microtonal thoughts are highly connected to their color-based synesthesia and phenomena they have experienced about the world for years...

Peter Jung demonstrates his microtonal software for us - it has a lattice interface that allows one to visualize regularly constructed scales, perform operations related to them that are intuitive, and connect that to synthesizers. The working title is "PitchGrid" - but if others have suggestions feel free to comment! This is an extremely visual episode, so one might get some mileage out of the Yo...

Join us for a chat with Stephen Altoft about all things microtonal trumpet, going over mechanics, tuning, and the composition scene. Stephen shows off several trumpets and flugelhorns and their valve systems. Other topics include affordable instruments, conferences, venues, composers, extended techniques, and improvised vs. notated music. [Music] Kerata for Straton (19-TET) - Coreen Morsink shadow...

Big thanks to Genoël for joining us on the Now and Xen podcast. This episode is a bit unconventional, as Genoël, in large part, is interviewing me for issue 144 of the "Positionen magazine" which was released in August. Go check it out online, as well as Genoël's compositions! A lot of our discussion revolves around where xenharmonics and microtonality is headed, historical and social shifts, and...

Cellist, guitarist, vocalist, and compositional viral icon Maddie Ashman joins us on the Now and Xen podcast to discuss her work. Topics of choice include musical influences, feeling microtonal colors, hurdles when playing such music, and how to find your way. Instagram clip of "dark" (Maddie Ashman) from otherwordly Instagram clip of hocket type beat (Maddie Ashman) Instagram clip of cello notes...

Composer Alyssa Aska stops by Now and Xen to talk about her microtonal compositions for fixed media and various combinations of electric and acoustic pianos and organs. She draws inspiration from video game music and early music, and often shifts the tuning system used over time for deliberate effects. We talk about software and setups. Exciting opportunity: Alyssa invites you to submit abstracts...

Finnish jazz legend Kari Ikonen joins us on Now and Xen to go over the specifics of his new invention, the "Maqiano," a clamp system that allows pianists to retune individual piano keys microtonally, and quickly, without needing to call a piano technician. For a good idea of what it sounds like in practice, check out his latest album "Al-Bahr" with the jazz fusion ensemble "Wishamalii." Music: La...

Chris Kline and I discuss his Projective Tuning Space app and constructed instruments. The app allows one to visualize various connections between temperaments, Lumatone layouts, and microtonal sources for whichever tuning you choose to work with. His self-made instruments involve 3D printing and range from flutes to ukuleles to death whistles. Atlantis Theme [from Banjo-Tooie] Atlantis Theme [fro...

Come check out Phillip's new composed album with us, "Loop 7," featuring his characteristic style but infused with 22-tone equal temperament. Grammy-award-winner Joseph Branciforte joins us as well to share how the acoustic pianos were recorded and treated as "one instrument" in the process. Find "Loop 7" here: https://phillipgolub.bandcamp.com/album/loop-7 Sites for Phillip and Joseph (label "gre...

Microtonal jazz extraordinaire Julian Woods shares with us his methodology for re-tuning classic standards into JI and what it's like playing in a live band. Topics include playing songs, composition directives, microtonal setups, and guitarists' advantages for frets, fretlets, and fretless, Philipp Gerschlauer has collaborated with Julian on his own work "Every swing has a silver roundabout" and...

Subhraag Singh, creator of the Infinitone, graciously agreed to discuss the updated software with me! The update uses many new features such as dynamic re-tuning, visuals, LFO control, key triggers, and more. We go on a magical quest to discover Stephen's xenharmonic tomato, and dissect the ethics of advertising radical new microtonal morphing software using the intellectual property omnipotence o...

Richie and I discuss phonorealism (pioneered by Peter Ablinger), 41-tone equal temperament, and his collection of instruments and live performances, such as "Six Monologues." Sam Reflecting on the First Time He Heard Her Sing (2017) - phonorealism ludus vocalis (Burp) - Felipe Tovar-Hevao Dream Hangover - !mindparade Six Monologues (mvt. 3 - Tragedy Begins at Home) - Long Drive Theatre (41-TET) Si...

We have regular guest Tolgahan Çoğulu back to discuss upcoming projects such as collaboration with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (including their secret new microtonal guitar, sheet music transcription), classical/flamenco guitar ideas, the new fretlet guitar design, microtonal bends on electric guitar, and the Anatonlian rock scale. King Gizzard uses four scales, one of them being F sharp Hu...

Check out our episode with iconoclastic guitar legend Dave Fiuczynski. He wields a double neck fretless guitar, and plays a bunch of cool microtonal riffage for us! We talked about two tracks from "Flam! Bam! Pan-Asian Microjam!" and two from "Mikrojazz." In "Flam," there are a variety of compositional methods used, and the vocabulary is almost entirely derived from motivic bird calls. The uirapur...