Four of Wands album
Premiered by myself, Erin Barnes, Cory Beers, and Andrew Lessman on December 17, 2022 at Automata LA.
Four of Wands began as a sketch for a concept I’m developing for my upcoming COLA IMAP performance in June, 2023. The piece creates a contemplative space through a series of gradually changing chords on 20 just-intonation chimes. These chords manifest through shifting polyrhythms connected to the frequency of each chime. I originally titled it 4 for 20, but Four of Wands felt much more in line with what I was aiming for at the time.
This piece continues my 8 years of making just-tuned chimes, as well as my gradual descent into the wooly world of Erv Wilson microtonality. The chimes are tuned to a 1•3•5•7•9•11 Eikosany, and each musician plays 5 of them.
2025 press for Four of Wands
MetalJazz: “You may discover that this music puts you literally in tune with nature because of the simple numerical principles, which, when the numbers are combined, produce rich harmonies. When looked at that way, being a cipher no longer feels empty. A number can be manipulated, but its essence cannot be broken — it will continue even when it seems to be erased or alone. Faraway numbers are always resonating with it.