new microtonal pieces

For anyone who might be interested, I've got a batch of new microtonal
pieces going up at John Starrett's MP3.com site, and this is just a
brief bit or two about what they are and whatnot...

"LONG HARD WINTER": This is a piece I wrote for free jazz
drummer/percussionist Anthony Rodrigues's trio, in which I play
fretless guitar and Bart Mallio (whom has studied with Anthony Braxton
amongst others) plays fretless bass.

"SILVERED ALAR RISE!": This is an all guitar piece which was adapted
from the middle (scherzo) and end (hymn) of a microtonal set I had
written for guitar quartet. This piece (along with "Day Walks In" and
"One Step From The Street" which are already up at the TuningPunk
site) is a track from a CD in waiting with my group PRIVATEWORLD
(myself, 3-Handman, Scott Dakota, and Shawn Briggs).

"WITH EYES SO BLUE AND DREAMING": A score demo of a chamber ensemble
piece -- fl, 2 E hr/E hr ob/tpt E hn, cl, bn, hn, tbn, pf, bells, 2
hp/hp hpsc, str qrt + opt vn -- in thirteen tone equal temperament. 13
equal is often mentioned in the context of being a particularly
'difficult,' or discordant EDO, but I've used a variety of 7-tone
scales in 13e that exploit the 3/13ths of an octave augmented second
scale step (even a double augmented 4/13):

3 1 2 1 2 2 2
3 1 3 1 2 1 2
2 1 4 1 2 1 2

And I really find these scales in 13e to be _extremely beautiful, and
to really heighten a sense of melancholic ache, or longing, that is
somewhat akin to some of the Eastern European scales that also utilize
the augmented second scale step.

"DON'T LEAVE ME HERE": A score demo of a polyintonational chamber
ensemble piece -- vn, 2 va, E hr, ob/fl, pf, bells -- that combines
20, 19, and 12 equal. The middle (or B section), is a sort of brief
microtonally compressed reworking of Charles Ives' "At The River."

"AT A DAY JOB": A score demo of a chamber ensemble piece -- tpt, bn,
vc, db, pf, hp, 2 percussionists, bells (2 players), thermion/glass
org, homemade instruments -- that uses a 22-tone set built on two
overtone series, 10-20 and 14-28:

25/14
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
10/7--------------15/14
/ \ / \
/ \ / \
19/14 11/7 / \
/ \ / \
/ \ / \
17/14 23/14 / \
/ ,1/1.----\---/----,3/2. \
/ ,' / \ 13/7 \ / ,' / \ `. \
8/7'----/---\---`12/7'----/---\----`9/7--------------27/14
19/10 11/10 / \
/ \ / \
/ \ / \
17/10 \ / \
/ ,7/5. \ / \
/ ,' 13/10\ / \
8/5'-------------`6/5---------------9/5

It is also loosely based on a set of American patriotic songs (most
notably "America the Beautiful" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic").

The last three pieces -- "WITH EYES SO BLUE AND DREAMING," "DON'T
LEAVE ME HERE" and "AT A DAY JOB" -- were originally grouped together
as a microtonal chamber set as scherzo, assai appenato, montani semper
liberi.

"THE WAY I SEE YOU NOW" and "BLUE CARROUSEL": These are two pieces
from a seven piece microtonal jazz set for turntable quartet that is
realized here by PRIVATEWORLD DJ 3-Handman.

Dan Stearns