The performer utilizes electro-magnetic actuators to bring six, metal strings into sympathetic resonance. Resultant sonorities are both a property of the tuning and the physical system employed. In activating the first seven partials of each string, the score specifies 7-Limit (Prime) Just Intonation wherein the fundamental frequencies of the six open strings are tuned to the ratios: 7/8, 1/1, 7/6, 12/7, 9/8, 16/7 (whereas 1/1 = 55 Hertz). This arrangement represents the convergence of two Otonalities (7/8, 1/1, 9/8) alongside a single Utonality (7/8, 1/1 or 7/7, 7/6). Moreover, simultaneous activation of harmonics arising from two or more of these distinct tonalities results in three unique, septimal commas: 64/63, 49/48, 36/35, and 28/27. Throughout the piece, interpolation between successive Otonal and Utonal sonorities contribute to a state of continuous tonal flux.
0: 1/1 0.000000 unison, perfect prime 1: 49/48 35.696812 slendro diesis, septimal 1/6-tone 2: 15/14 119.442808 major diatonic semitone 3: 35/32 155.139620 septimal neutral second 4: 9/8 203.910002 major whole tone 5: 8/7 231.174094 septimal whole tone 6: 7/6 266.870906 septimal minor third 7: 5/4 386.313714 major third 8: 9/7 435.084095 septimal major third, BP third 9: 21/16 470.780907 narrow fourth 10: 45/32 590.223716 diatonic tritone 11: 10/7 617.487807 Euler's tritone 12: 35/24 653.184619 septimal semi-diminished fifth 13: 3/2 701.955001 perfect fifth 14: 49/32 737.651813 15: 27/16 905.865003 Pythagorean major sixth 16: 12/7 933.129094 septimal major sixth 17: 7/4 968.825906 harmonic seventh 18: 63/32 1172.735908 octave - septimal comma 19: 2/1 1200.000000 octave
Ben Luca Robertson is a composer, experimental luthier, and co-founder of Aphonia Recordings. His work addresses an interest in autonomous processes, landscapes, and biological systems—often supplanting narrative structure with an emphasis on the physicality of sound and microtonality. Growing up in the dry, expansive landscapes of the inland Pacific Northwest, impressions of Ponderosa pines, basalt outcroppings, and boomtown decay continue to haunt his work. Ben holds degrees from Eastern Washington University, Evergreen State College, and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Virginia. In 2015, he was appointed a research position at the Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interactions (TAUCHI) in Finland and recently collaborated with University of Idaho Water Resources to sonify migratory patterns of Chinook salmon.