Microtonal Music

(aka Transcendent Tonality)

composed on the Wilson U-990 Microzone Keyboard

            tuned to Erv Wilson’s CoPrime Grid matrix.

In 1989 I met Ervin  Wilson and my ears have not been the same since.  He was a musical astronomer who has mapped massive unexplored musical terrain.  He died in December  2016 at the age of 88 leaving a large body of work in the form of papers, diagrams and instrument designs.  Through him I’ve come to understand that composers need not limit themselves to the small set of pitches (e.g. the notes on the piano) chosen by western culture.  There are in fact many different tuning systems (both brand new and ancient) that render beautiful sonorities few have ever heard.  This  vast and extended set of notes is conventionally referred to as “microtonality”, though I prefer to call it “trancendent tonality” because it embraces a fuller spectrum of available pitches, integrating both the micro and the macro.  In 1992 I wrote the music for an Eames Demetrios film called “The Giving”.  (see “Video Clips” Page for a snippet)  I believe this was the first fully microtonal feature film score in history.  If you know of another one that predates it please let me know, as I hate giving out misinformation.  I’ve used Wilson microtonal scales in a number of film and TV projects in the last 20 years (often combining them with conventional scales) such as Disney’s DISNEY’S TIMON AND  PUMBAA TV SERIES, the WB feature, WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE, A QUESTION OF FAITH, MARVEL’S THE BLACK PANTHER and DISNEY’S TEACHERS PET.  Below are some of the instruments and people I’ve come to work with on this journey.  Along with Gary David, Marcus Hobbs, (who designed the mandala on the home page) and I have made a documentary presenting Ervin Wilson that will enable the public to see, hear and understand some of the music that results from working with his sonic structures.  In addition to Marcus and Gary some of the other composers doing great work with original Wilson material are Kraig Grady, Terumi Narushima, Greg Scheimer, Warren Burt, and John Chalmers.

Imiloa Planetarium where the film was screened February 2013

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Trans-tonal Sci Fi Short, “I AM HERE”

An experimental film we made in 2014. I scored it utilizing the resources of Transcendent Tonality.