Musically, the piece explores the neutral harmony available in 17edo, in particular in the form of a pentatonic scale (in step size, R-5-8-11-13). It was composed on an adapted MIDI keyboard layed out to have 17 keys to the octave using the layout ZIA uses (WBWBW-WBWBW-WBWBWBW). The piece was inspired by the Mikrokosmos concept; this is intended to be easy/medium difficulty level). Thematically, the piece is partly inspired by dreams involving sword training in different contexts. I loosely interpret the dreams as being related to an ongoing attempt to “come of age” and learning the art of communication, the piece reflects that. The piece has three movements: i. Wind & Rain ii. Earth iii. Swordplay
17edo
Saxophone was my first love, inspired by the legendary Lisa Simpson. Soon I became a fan of rock music and my step dad’s guitar was a natural next step. After graduating high school in 2007 I studied jazz guitar for 2 years at Capilano College until my passion for writing was insatiable. My bandmates and I left to write and record two albums and tour Canada/USA several times. In 2011 longtime writing partner/friend Noah Jordan introduced me to microtonality. In 2014 we released our first microtonal recordings with Redrick Sultan and toured the USA for ten weeks. In 2016 we released a full length album of microtonal music and I joined Jo Passed and started a microtonal punk band, Jock Tears. After a year of heavy touring with Jo Passed he released an album we recorded together on Sub Pop Records and I left the group to pursue my microtonal composition in the form of a songwriting project Terry Maple, an ambient piano/mixing board feedback duo Graphic Light, punk band Jock Tears and a label Inky Records.