_Blacklight_ now online!

_Blacklight_, my new piece for cello and electronics in the Blackjack
scale which was recently premiered by cellist Dan Barrett is now
available online:

http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/3311/3311857.html

Enjoy! (hopefully... :)

Joseph Pehrson

Joseph,

{you wrote...}
>_Blacklight_, my new piece for cello and electronics in the Blackjack

Well, congratulations. I have to say that if I had the resources of a cellist as talented and musical as that, I probably wouldn't do a whole lot of considering writing for other instruments/players! For a composer to have that fine a musical rendering on the 'first time out' is a great treat, but I'm sure this is all abundantly clear to you. Maybe the two of you could work together on a solo microtonal cello sonata or suite?

If you'd like any other comments, I'd be happy to write off-list...

Cheers, and again congratulations,
Jon

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson"
<jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> _Blacklight_, my new piece for cello and electronics in the
Blackjack
> scale which was recently premiered by cellist Dan Barrett is now
> available online:
>
> http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/3311/3311857.html
>
> Enjoy! (hopefully... :)
>
> Joseph Pehrson

wow! the character, timing, and intonation of the cello part is quite
different from the way dan sounded during the rehearsal i attended --
i almost didn't recognize him! certainly my earlier comments about
him (seemingly by magic) making the electronic part sound more musical
still apply in full force, though now i'm getting a sense that the
very form of the piece has come under his spell as well -- he's
really making it tell a story, and at least on first listen, a pretty
timeless one at that . . .

the music is coming across as quite deep and meaningful to me now,
maybe a few rough moments here and there but mostly it goes over
smooth and strong. i like how you have different instruments
sometimes outlining different, conflicting tonalities at the same
time -- makes for a wonderful multi-layered effect (and kudos on this
creative use of the pitch possibilities blackjack makes available!).
the mix and reverb on this particular recording seemed to bring out
this effect particularly well.

is anyone going to get upset because your mp3.com page calls
blackjack a "21-tone just intonation scale" even though it's not
expressible as a set of frequency ratios (rather it simply alternates
tempered 1/6-tone and 5/12-tone steps)? if so, i hope they will
simply listen to the recording here -- if they're anything like me,
it'll make them feel a lot better about you, dan, the blackjack
scale, and the future of microtonal music. and the power of music to
transcend words -- bickering over terminolgy sure seems pointless in
the face of artistic expression like this.

keep up the great work (and pass my congratulations on to dan too)!

Joseph,

As an intermediate-level player of the bass viola da gamba, I
am particularly interested in your "Blacklight", in Blackjack tuning
(about which I don't know much, yet. Are you playing the cello?

It is also nice to see what you look like, at

http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/3311/3311857.html

In case anybody is interested, the Montreal Convention of
Barbershoppers is currently broadcasting and can be found at

http://www.spebsqsa.org/web/groups/public/documents/pages/pub_id_05325
4.hcsp

I have been idly wondering whether anybody has ever actually
studied the harmonics produced and thereby the tunings to be
inferred, when some of the better competition Barbershop quartets
like these sing.

Anyway, thanks! I am enjoying "Blackjack"!

Steve Langford

Steve,

{you wrote...}
>I have been idly wondering whether anybody has ever actually studied the >harmonics produced and thereby the tunings to be inferred, when some of >the better competition Barbershop quartets like these sing.

Carl Lumma is on this list, as well as the main tuning list, and he has extensive knowledge and interest in barbershop singing. Probably a good topic for over there, and if you look through the archives of the tuning list you should find a lot from past discussions.

Cheers,
Jon

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Jonathan M. Szanto"

/makemicromusic/topicId_4927.html#4929

<JSZANTO@A...> wrote:
> Joseph,
>
> {you wrote...}
> >_Blacklight_, my new piece for cello and electronics in the
Blackjack
>
> Well, congratulations. I have to say that if I had the resources of
a
> cellist as talented and musical as that, I probably wouldn't do a
whole lot
> of considering writing for other instruments/players! For a
composer to
> have that fine a musical rendering on the 'first time out' is a
great
> treat, but I'm sure this is all abundantly clear to you. Maybe the
two of
> you could work together on a solo microtonal cello sonata or suite?
>
> If you'd like any other comments, I'd be happy to write off-list...
>
> Cheers, and again congratulations,
> Jon

***Thanks so much, Jon. Yes, I'm very lucky to be working with Dan
Barrett. He's a pretty busy guy, though, so he's not always
available for things, but I was lucky this time...

Joe

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "slangford97" <s@T...> wrote:

/makemicromusic/topicId_4927.html#4933

>
> Joseph,
>
> As an intermediate-level player of the bass viola da gamba, I
> am particularly interested in your "Blacklight", in Blackjack
tuning (about which I don't know much, yet. Are you playing the
cello?

***Hi Steve,

No, I'm not a cellist. It's the wonderful cellist Dan Barrett. I
believe it mentions that on the website...(I hope...)

>
> It is also nice to see what you look like, at
>
> http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/3311/3311857.html
>

***Actually, that picture is almost 10 years old. But we live in
an "unreal" world... :) I guess it's about time for a new one...

> Anyway, thanks! I am enjoying "Blackjack"!
>

***You're most very welcome! Thanks so much for listening!

Joseph