Microtonality is not a new invention, even in Western musical cultures. A number of contemporary composers make extensive use of it in different forms, often dividing the octave into quarter tones, and the like. In his latest album, Loop 7, the pianist and composer Phillip Golub continues his acoustic loops project using a 22-note per octave tuning system, and in so doing expands his his loop project (Golub’s solo debut is Filters from 2022, Greyfade) “harmonically, orchestrationally, and technologically”, the aim all the time being a microscopic variation within tightly controlled repetition.
The studio recording employs two microtonally-tuned Yahama Disklavier acoustic pianos controlled via keyboard controller. Golub is joined by Ty Citerman on electric guitar, Aaron Edgcomb on microtonal vibraphone, and Joseph Branciforte on live electronics & synthesizer.
When I first wandered through this 28-minute standalone composition for microtonal acoustic piano, it made a stopping impression on me – so much so that I’ve listened to it many times afterwards; those “short, enigmatic forms repeated and subtly varied over time through variations in phrasing, dynamics, and tone color”. Even tough I cannot point my finger at it, it sounds as if Golub had found some truly novel aesthetics situated somewhere between classic Western chamber music and studio production. “Rich resonances and striking dissonances abound in a field of shimmering microtonal harmonies.” This is classic stuff!
Working with his 22-tone equal divisions of the octave tuning system, Golub repeats short phrases at descending pitch levels, falling a mere 1/22th of an octave on each repetition. Eventually, lower notes disappear and reappear as upper voices, giving the music a feeling of a never-ending descent.
And here’s how the whole was done:
To achieve such novel tunings on an acoustic piano, a feat of engineering from Greyfade founder Joseph Branciforte and the piano technicians at Yamaha Artist Services in Manhattan was required. Golub prepared a performance of the piece on a MIDI keyboard, capturing his unique approach to phrasing and dynamics. That performance was then played back through a Disklavier—Yamaha’s proprietary system for mechanical player piano-style playback—onto a microtonally-tuned acoustic piano in two separate layers. Each recording layer captured 11 of the 22 pitch classes, allowing the piano to be carefully retuned between passes, a solution devised to avoid excessive strain on the instrument. When combined, the two layers created a seamless acoustic representation of Golub’s performance on a Yamaha CFX concert grand piano—albeit one with 22 notes per octave.
Golub and Branciforte then worked together at Branciforte’s studio to record the remainder of the ensemble: Ty Citerman on scordatura electric guitar, Aaron Edgcomb on microtonal vibraphone, and Branciforte on live electronics and synthesizer. Each player was given creative latitude to weave through Golub’s score, highlighting or sustaining pitches, finding hidden contrapuntal lines, and extending the piano’s registration.
Their contributions infuse Golub’s work with a quiet sense of narrative, and an undeniable sonic progression takes place. Microtonal vibraphone and guitar swells enter the fray, splintering into multiple layers of themselves. Live electronics emerge subliminally, grafting themselves onto existing sounds, before taking on a more active role.
RECORDING
Branciforte has clearly succeeded with the recording. The the end result is somewhere between natural and synthetic, undoubtedly a big part of the album’s charm. It’s not machine vs. human, it’s a mix of machine and human – “the intuition of a human performer’s touch and phrasing, while giving the feeling of an immaculately perfected object”.
Well, it’s time to listen to the composition again, and try to figure out why it appeals.
Phillip Golub
Loop 7
release date 7 february 2025
format high-resolution digital download [192k/24b]
tags contemporary classical, ambient, experimental, microtonal
PHILLIP GOLUB, MIDI-controlled Yamaha Disklavier piano
TY CITERMAN, electric guitar
AARON EDGCOMB, vibraphone
JOSEPH BRANCIFORTE, live electronic processing & synthesizer
