1/1 Volume 2, Number 3, Summer, 1986.
Network Tape Released!
The long-awaited first Just Intonation Network member compilation cassette is assembled and ready for distribution. Now the sounds of Just Intonation can, in the words of Ivor darreg, "be heard." It is released as Issue #14 of Tellus, the audio cassette magazine. Sixteen outstanding selections are included in the sixty-minute tape. From acoustic instruments to the most advanced digital synthesizers, from naive to academic, from classics to cutting edge, from 3-limit to 17-limit and beyond, an amazing diversity of styles is demonstrated on this cassette.
The selections were made by a committee of members of the network and final editorial decisions were made by the Tellus people in New York. Our thanks are offered to all who submitted entries. What follows is a complete list of the contents of this historic collection:
[nc= from north cal]
The lead cut was reserved for Harry Partch's [nc] O Frabjous Day! (The Jabberwock), a previously unreleased performance. The network is grateful to Danlee Mitchell for making the recording available to us. It is a setting of Lewis Carroll's poem featuring Mr. Mitchell on bass marimba and Mr. Partch intoning his voice and playing harmonic canon This piece was written in 1954, but is presented here in a 1959 recording captured by a Sears Silvertone tape recorder.
***Member Ralph David Hill's Malachite is a short piece performed on the Quadvox computer synthesizer, a device of the composer's design and construction. Mr. Hill is known to members as the creator of the Sounds of Just Intonation lecture/demonstration package distributed by the network.
***Network co-founder Carola B. Anderson [nc] serves us her recent composition, Shibboleth, a liturgical frolic performed by Other Music on an amalgam of acoustic, electric, and electronic instruments.
***David Hykes, of Harmonic Choir fame, contributed an Opening Kyrie, a solo voice piece recorded in the church of St. John the Divine in New York. This haunting performance is one of the most dynamic demonstrations of harmonic singing imaginable.
*** 1/1 front-page phrasemaster Lou Harrison [nc] contributed A Phrase for Arion's Leap, a legendary 1974 composition performed in free intonation.
***Guitarist Jon Catler submitted his Sleeping Beauty suite from which we excerpted the Queen of the Ogres section. This movement highlights the funky side of Just Intonation.
*** David Canright [nc] tenders up Rosier Sands, his snappy composition for the Harry Partch instruments and performed by Danlee Mitchell.
***1/1 editor David Doty [nc] dishes out a generous helping of Smyrna-blues influenced Fake Greek Music, a recent composition performed by Other Music on a variety of instruments and employing 17-limit Just Intonation.
*** John Bischoff [nc], Jim Horton [nc], and Tim Perkis [nc] in the guise of The League of Automatic Music Composers constructed a piece utilizing a microcomputer network trained to produce, perceive and respond to certain just intervals.
*** Ben Johnston's Toccata for Violincello features some virtuosic played by Laurlen Laufman.
*** Member Erling Wold [nc] is featured on Synclavier in his syncopated, polyrhythmic Tune for Lynn Murdock #2.
***Susan Norris offers a Medley: Untitled Irish Jig/Untitled Swedish Waltz which she and Fred Carlson perform on the Suzalyne, a violin-like instrument of her own design.
***James Tenney's Septet for Electric Guitars is presented here from a recent live performance. It's a rockin' ride up and down the harmonic series.
*** Mills maven Larry Polansky [nc] submitted his Movement for Andrea Smith (My Funny Valentine for Just String Quartet), a thoughtful piece thoughtfully performed by a multi-tracked John Casten.
*** Alexis Alrich [nc] is represented by the tango section from her Didymus Set, a solo performance on her troubadour harp.
*** Gamelan gangleader Jody Diamond [nc] offers In That Bright World a piece performed on Gamelan B.A.N.G. and featuring Ms. Diamond's mighty moving lead vocals. p,2
Just Intonation Network News
IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY TRI-TRIADIC --The fourth edition of the Just Intonation Discussion Group, held on June 19th, at the Oakland, CA home of member Griffin Toffler, featured the presentation of tapes in diverse musical styles by several network members. Jim Horton offered four selections from the archives of the League of Automatic Music Composers, and Robert Rich played a selection from his forthcoming L.P., which will be issued in Sweden. Other selections included Cranes, by Norman Henry, several guitar pieces by David Canright, and a synthesizer study on the harmonic series, by Carter Scholz. The editors of 1/1 presented several selections from the soon-to-be-released network compilation cassette, Tellus 14 (see Item on Page 2).
The next edition of the discussion group, to be held on Thursday, August 28, will feature a lecture by Dr. John Chalmers on "Generating Tri-triadic and Tetrachordal Scales." For information contact Griffin Toffler, at (415)654-8540.
AFTERMATH, THEN WHAT? --On June 27-29, the network exhibited at the San Francisco Music Fair, which took place at The Concourse at Showplace Square, located in San Francisco's upwardly-mobile South o' the Slot district. The network's booth featured a computer demonstration of the differences between Just Intonation and equal temperament, and a crew of hardy volunteers, hoarsely hawking network memberships, 1/1 back issues, members' records and tapes, and a host of other J.I.-related merchandise, over the din of the adjacent booth which relentlessly demonstrated Yamaha synthesizers, and two stages featuring continuous music. Risking their high-frequency hearing for the good of the network were Carola Anderson, David Canright, David Doty, Jim Hobart, Bart Hopkin, Robert Rich, Henry Rosenthal, Rick Sanford, Jeffrey Schwaim, and Griffin Toffler. Next: the Winter NAMM convention.
DON'T FRET, LET RANKIN FILE --Network member Mark Rankin, of justly-tuned banjo fame, has acquired the rights to the Interchangeable-fretboard technology developed by Tom Stone of Novatone. For those who have never seen the device, the Novatone system laminates a metal plate to the neck of a guitar (or any fretted instrument) and uses fretboards of magnetized plastic (like refrigerator magnets are made of), which slide easily into place, making it possible to drastically modify the instruments intonation in a matter of seconds. Mark, who plans to make the fretboards available in the form of moderately-priced kits, can be reached at 6540 Dana Street, Oakland CA 94609.
DECENT EXPOSURE - The Thin Edge of the Wedge is an ongoing series of programs on radio station KPFA (94.1 FM, in Berkeley, CA) produced by network members Larry Polansky and Jody Diamond. The July 11th edition, devoted to composers working with artificial intelligence and experimental intonation, featured recorded works by several network members, including Charles Ames, John Bischoff, Ezra Sims and James Tenney, and a live interview with Dr. John Chalmers, who is currently in residence at Mills College in Oakland CA. Dr. Chalmers talked about his forthcoming book, The Divisions of the Tetrachord, and played a computer-generated tape illustrating some of his favorite scales. Submissions for future broadcasts should be sent to: The Thin Edge of the Wedge, P.O. Box 9911, Oakland, CA 94613. p.16
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1/1: the Quarterly Journal of the Just Intonation Network. Spring 1990.Vol. 6, Number 2.
Just Intonation Network News.
OLD MAG SPINS OFF NEW RAG- LEONARDO, the Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, has announced plans to launch a new LEONARDO Music Journal in 1991. This annual publication will feature articles by composers and musicians writing about their own work connections between the sciences and technology and music; the future of music; global, world, and international music; historical and theoretical perspectives; and will be accompanied by a CD release relating to the print journal. Artists are encouraged to submit articles and recordings for the CD. For terms and information, contact: Isabel Maxwell, Music Project Coordinator, LEONARDO Music Journal, Box 75, 1442A Walnut, Berkeley, CA 94709. Phone (415)845-8298; FAX (415)841-6311.
JI AS OSCAR-BAIT - Henry S. Rosenthal, 1/1's full-time managing editor and part-time movie producer, has commissioned network member, Erling Wold to composer the soundtrack for SURE FIRE, the first feature-length, 35mm, dramatic motion picture with an all Just Intonation, country-and-western musical score. Erling plans to use harmonics up to and including 13 to set the mood for this dark, rural drama shot on location in south-central Utah by film maker Jon Jost. Watch these pages for more information about this score, as an article for 1/1 by Wold was part of the contract.
Typed by Barb. Golden, 1/7/96