Now and Xen

Glacier 2.0 is opera for the future - a polysystemic array of multimedia influenced by jazz, improvisation, and shown on a visual score for all to see. For extra material, check out this episode on our YouTube channel, which shows the parts of the score lining up with excerpts that are played. What a brilliant gathering of musical forces! Announcement: Now and Xen has a Patreon! This podcast won't...

On this episode, Amanda Cole and Stephen Weigel discuss beating in sine tones, instrument design, harmonics, and wine glasses used for microtones among other topics! Music Intro: Microtallic - Amanda Cole Cirrus - Amanda Cole Vibraphone Theories (I) - Amanda Cole Music for Cello with One or More Amplified Vases - Alvin Lucier Node (II) - Amanda Cole Ecliptica - Amanda Cole Outro: Vibraphone Theori...

Reilly Spitzfaden (they/them) composes music for creatively designed acoustic instruments with a focus on timbre and tone color. In this episode, we discuss microtonality in three of their pieces, and an upcoming fourth piece in 14-tone equal temperament! We also discuss different viewpoints about what makes a tuning system xenharmonic, extended techniques, and more. Music Intro: Bones - Reilly Sp...

Kyle Gann, avid minimalist and former student of Ben Johnston, discusses his new tuning textbook and two of his most influential compositions with Jacob Barton and Stephen Weigel. Music Intro: Galactic Jambouree (Hyperchromatica) – Kyle Gann Charing Cross – Kyle Gann The Insomnia of Lilacs – Kyle Gann New Aunts – Kyle Gann Mystic Chords – Kyle Gann Galactic Jambouree (Hyperchromatica) – Kyle Gann...

This episode is a tribute to 22-tone equal temperament, since it has been such a special tuning in the microtonal community for quite some time! Yes, "Room Talks" is a parody of the famous "Room Tapes!" Hear Brendan Brynes talk about how he writes, Gareth Hearne talk about theory, Sevish talk about workflow, and Stephen and Thomas talk about metatunal music. Music [all 22edo] Intro: Paul Erlich -...

Take a soak in the musical seas of Warren Burt, who has been an avid pioneer in microtonality and electronics for nearly half a century! Stories of his personal journey into a passionate curiosity for tuning; discussion of the use of algorithmic processes in composition; ruminations on technology; mysteries of lost gear; and more. Music All tracks and excerpts composed by Warren Burt except where...

Join us for an episode featuring Johnny Reinhard, legendary bassoonist and head of the American Festival of Microtonal Music. We shoot the breeze, discuss 128 tuning, and talk about microtonal performance and practice on the bassoon. Other topics include polymicrotonality, improvisation, and playing technique. His latest work in 128-note tuning, "String Theory," will be coming out soon! Music Intr...

Which household cleaning supply secretly identifies as a Bohlen-Pierce instrument? Find out in this episode! The annual UnTwelve event brings together microtonal and xenharmonic composers from a variety of different backgrounds. Our discussion focused around theory and practice of each others' pieces. We also perform an improvisation, and give an audio "tour" of some of the amazing microtonal inst...

Bill Sethares joins us for a conversation about the relationship between timbre and tuning. Research from Kevin Hobby and Bill Sethares shows us how to design strings with arbitrary inharmonic spectra. One use for this technique is to make inharmonic tunings sound consonant. An example of such an instrument is the Hyperpiano - tuned to the whole tone scale ("hyper-octave scale") but the dissonance...

Dolores Catherino joins us with interesting conversation about keyboard technique, polychromatic notation, the limits of perception, and artificial intelligence. As a multi-instrumentalist and microtonal musician, she often works in the higher numbered equal tunings of 72 and 106-equal, and gave a TED talk about it 2016. We also talk about software and workflow with MIDI channels. NOTES  At 13:31,...

Jude Thomas hosts the only all microtonal-radio program (Xen Radio) on KPISS, so we sat down with him to talk about the challenges of having a multi-genre program and being a selective curator. As a barbershop singer in Voices of Gotham, he is keenly aware of how melody and harmony interact, the unique oral traditions of the genre, and the relationship between vowel shapes, timbre, and pitch. We a...

UnTwelve 2018 composition winner Brian Riordan talks about his fascinating use of piano transducers and just intonation in "Recorded Ruins." Indonesian slendro tunings, human interactions with technology, DIY instrument tricks, and the purpose of notation and microtonality permeate this conversation. Why is real-time processing an essential performance tool for the modern age? How many millions of...

How does one win a GRAMMY® award? Which never-before-heard recording of Partch himself will be featured on the group's upcoming album? What does music for the Harry Partch instruments look like? How on earth do the players tune their instruments? Find out in this witty, riveting episode where we talk with John Schneider! Be sure to get "Sonata Dementia," coming out June 28th and played by the Part...

The Mercury Tree is an experimental prog band from Portland, Oregon, and we interviewed them in the middle of their Spidermilk tour across the U.S. Spidermilk is entirely in 17-tone equal temperament, though the band have also used microtones previously (Permutations, Cryptic Tree EP). Spidermilk is a particularly exciting album because the band went entirely microtonal on it. On this episode, we...

Brendan Byrnes joins Sevish and Stephen Weigel for a chill chat about all things microtonal music. Brendan composes and performs both solo and with his band Ilevens. Important questions are answered, such as: Why do drummers prefer 12edo? What microtonalist almost moved in with Brendan? How might MIDI 2.0 make making microtonal music more manageable? Why is 22edo an excellent tuning for writing po...

Which piece of music is favored most by Easley Blackwood's cat? And which one of his etudes caused people at the O'Hare airport to call him "crazy" when played over the speakers? Find out in this landmark episode! Here, we discuss both the Twelve and Six Etudes, analysis of them, various equal tunings, and chord structures in equal tunings. Music Intro: Easley Blackwood - Fanfare in 19edo Outro: E...

Stephen and Ben discuss interactive technology and the merits of microtonal composition. Within interactive technology comes a host of questions, both about acoustic instruments (will robots be taking over violin players' jobs?) and synths. Microtonal accidentals, gear, MIDI 2.0, sound masses, and Baroque tunings are are big topics here. Music Intro: Ben Fuhrman - Hypnos (24edo) Outro: Organism St...

Istanbul has a long history and a diverse set of musical cultures, which include Anatolian folk music and Ottoman Turkish urban music. With thousands of guitars in Turkey, it was only a matter of time until somebody found a way to play guitar music in the appropriate local tunings using frets. Tolgahan Çoğulu shares his experience playing microtonal guitar and curating a repertoire for this instru...

Bruce Hamilton and Stephen Weigel discuss technology and social gatherings in microtonal music. Workflow with polysystemic tunings and DAW's is a big topic here - find out what Dr. Hamilton's favorite DAW is by listening! Other topics covered include university life, putting on events and drawing in listeners, polysystemic tunings, microtonal evangelism, microtones as extensions of 12-tone equal t...

In this episode, Stephen and Sevish discuss performance, teaching, and tuning with Neil Haverstick. Neil Haverstick is an experienced country/blues guitarist and composer who has been performing both 12-equal and microtonal music for many years. Neil considers himself a lifelong student and necessary teacher in the musical community - a musician first! He knows many famous performing musicians fro...

In this episode, Stephen and Sevish discuss microtonal guitar music with Jack Tickner, who is a part of many bands and projects and mods guitars into different frettings (Wollongong, Maybe Pile, and his self-titled music)! Topics include accessibility/production, ear training and perception, auditioning scales in the community, the ear as a subjective judge, beatings between tones/spatial variable...

In this episode, Stephen discusses ear training and sliding-pitch techniques with two members of UnTwelve, Jacob and Chris. (Be sure to spread the word about UnTwelve 2019 camp, happening from August 4-13 at the Gesundheit Institute in West Virginia)! The three composers discuss performance techniques and music theory of compositions they have written and/or covered, so musical examples are abunda...

Our guest today is Dr. John Chalmers, author of Divisions of the Tetrachord. He shares his experiences and interactions with Harry Partch, Erv Wilson, Ivor Darreg, and other folks working with microtonal and xenharmonic music. We had a good chat about various tuning systems such as tritriadic scales and the merits of 12, 19, 31, 41, and 53 equal. John also mentions Kathleen Schlesinger, Elsie Hami...

In this episode, Stephen and SEVISH talk with Elaine Walker (the brains behind "ZIA") about her new EP (Four-Momentum) and various equal tunings. Recurring experiential topics include performance, hardware/software, compression/mastering/pop-music, and composing strategies. Elaine also has a lot to say about keyboards of all types, having designed many Halberstadt keyboards for equal tunings. Hexa...

What instruments are good for playing microtonal music and why? Can synthesizers be a useful tool for exploring xenharmonics? And what microtonal scales would be good for beginners to start experimenting? Other topics include: collecting musical instruments, kalimbas and mavila temperament, how well instruments can keep their tuning, hammered dulcimer tuning, building your own instruments (Kraig G...