Showing posts with label microtonal scale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label microtonal scale. Show all posts

May 4, 2012

Playing with Harry Partch

Not the man, but his one of a kind instruments! This website is brilliant; not only does it display all of his various creations in one place BUT you can play them all via your computer. You can see and hear first hand what this "philosophic music-man seduced into carpentry" has crafted and explore the microtonal scale system he was so obsessed with. I have played around with 5 of 6 of them so far and I swear to you, the unique tones you create with just a stroke of a key will make you feel like a member of Boards of Canada or an avant-Asian orchestra. I am obsessed with this wonderful site and am so please I stumbled across this last night when looking up crychord, an instrument he made and I named a Dahlia Seed song after (my old band).


If you aren't familiar with this American composer, inventor of instruments, theorist, ex hobo, and visionary, check out this BBC documentary. (And I salute the BBC for having the best documentaries on every possible subject. I swear I watch a different one a day!)