In tuning (and in life?) there is a perpetual friction between the pursuit of simplicity and the pursuit of symmetry.

That sounds real philosophical, but it’s not.

Rather, quite literally: do I choose to compose music with a scale divided up in the simplest way, or in the most symmetrical way?

I bet you thought these were one and the same! I know I did. Turns out this very practical question of mathematics has a far-reaching impact on the nature of musical expression. Recently, exploring this question has been a very fruitful starting point for all my own composition.

That balance between simplicity and symmetry was the seed of the new piece I’m sharing today. Excited to write more about that in the coming weeks.

For now, hope you enjoy the music. If you do, please share!

Also, listen to Study #1 here:

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Over the last few weeks I’ve been exploring the work of Erv Wilson (1928-2016), a music theorist (and gardener) who spent his life exploring and mapping a vast universe of beautiful musical-mathematical structures.

Wilson worked almost completely outside of academia, focused on directly serving the creativity of composers and listeners. Speaking as a person who’s creative flow never seems to feel completely accessible until I can see, touch, and breathe the organizational structure of my materials, he cuts a saint-like figure in my mind.

I believe it’s only a matter of time before his work is more widely known.

I like to think that Erv would have encouraged composers to learn by doing — working toward comprehension of his concepts through the act of actively creating music with them. In that spirit, I started working on a study to explore some of his tuning concepts (specifically the scale structures he called “moments of symmetry”).

You maybe recognize the first few measures if you happen to know a previous piece of mine, but wow… that didn’t last long. This one took on a life of its own real quick.

Excited to write more about what I’ve discovered in the coming weeks. For now, hope you enjoy the music.

Edit: Here’s the follow up post:

Click through to learn about moments of symmetry and some tools for growing them in your garden:

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Slipped right out of the devil's hand and slid right into the promised land: two pieces by Chris P. Thompson, affectionately titled "Museum of Obsolete Media I and II." Read the full story at https://chrispthompson.substack.com/p/museums-of-obsolete-media

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A new remix by Chris P. Thompson, from the album by Christopher Stark. Also: "collaboration for introverts - the joy of remixing." Read more at https://chrispthompson.substack.com/p/the-language-of-landscapes

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This audio episode is three movements of piano music that make use of myriad harmonic series and microtonal tunings.

These selections are assembled from the score to a larger work — Red Folder, the illustrated play. They just seemed to go together — especially when reimagined in the context of a tension that builds without any promise of resolution.

It just seemed like there’s a lot of that in the air. Thanks for listening.

Music by Chris P. Thompson -- Steppenwolf Theatre Company 2021

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A new keyboard study by Chris P. Thompson, Spiraling explores a non-circular intonation: rather than squeezing or stretching (“tempering”) intervals to join into the familiar cycle of twelve notes, they are rationally tuned as in the natural harmonic series — this results in a subtly more pure intonation, as well as the possibility of large-scale structural “drift.”

A rational approach to intonation can turn a progression of chords that we visualize as a circle into a spiral — it feels cyclical, but is steadily floating away from its starting point. Compositionally, I find this to be useful in creating an effect of rumination, where cycles of rationally connected thoughts can cover a vast distance, or even trace an emotional spiral.

This recording is realized using the Hammersmith Piano sample library by Sonic Couture. The score, as well as some more detailed context (and an analysis of last weeks post about the related work by Ben Johnston), are in the attached Substack post.

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A little talk Sean Ritenauer and I did in fall 2022 for the supporters of his “Rocket City New Music” series in Huntsville. The group had just commissioned a new work from me, Launch Party, which got its premiere the next day.

It gave me a really nice chance to introduce my work as a percussionist and composer and some of my ideas about music.

Topics covered:

* Performer origin story, aka “can music be sports, and if so… how do we tailgate?”

* Drum & bugle corps, the richness of unison playing, and “clean vs dirty” in music.

* Composing electronic music with marching percussion. (Musical examples: Hanabi and Krummhorns from Everything Imaginable Comes True, 2018)

* The blank canvas of electronic music, and the challenge of staying focused in the temptation of endless new tech.

* Why write music that isn’t for people? Conlon Nancarrow and working behind closed doors.

* What would a drum corps kid think of equal temperament vs just intonation?

* Demonstration: rhythm becomes pitch

* Demonstration: introduction to pitch visualization on lattices.

* A fun introduction to the NASA audio sample library, and how they were used in Launch Party.

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A short interlude for a very resonant space. Visit the attached post on substack for more.

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From Steppenwolf Theatre's Red Folder by Rajiv Joseph: I am in the first grade. Composer - Chris P. Thompson

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