Dear Diary
I messed up my process a bit and recorded 4 different xenome tracks today, resulting in a 4 part album. Rather than creating 4 different posts, Iβve decided to just do one to cover all 4 tracks. That does mean that the embedded audio for the podcast only includes the first track, so if you want to hear the full album, youβll need to hit Bandcamp.
Iβm going to skip the scale diagrams going forward, because I donβt really need them, and I donβt think anyone else is using them. If Iβm wrong, let me know and Iβll do the work to put them in. This project is really about me βshowing my workβ in public, and at this point, the xenome system is working perfectly with my guitar tuning to the degree that I donβt need a visual aid to play any scale.
Iβve recently discovered the amazing website of composer Ian Ring, which is a wealth of scale information. So, perhaps in the future, instead of searching the 2600 pages of the Universal Encyclopedia of Scales, Iβll use Ianβs nifty scale finder to ease my pain in finding common scale names. Iβll link to his scale pages so you can dig deeper if you so desire. For now, Iβll also continue to include the UES names for the super rare scales.
This album completes the first set of 16 xenomes (800-80F), and in that way is significant. It took me a little over a year to accomplish this, so only 128 more years to go. Seriously though, I do plan to pick up the pace, so perhaps these multi-track posts will become the norm.
About the album
This one feels close and personal, like an invitation into the back room of my soul. Thatβs probably why I recorded 4 tracks today.
Thereβs a purposeful flow between tracks, and itβs a narrative if you pay attention. As with all my solo guitar albums of the past 4 years, the guitar plays the protagonist. And like most of my albums, this was fully improvised in one take.
Iβve been beta-testing a new app called GlitchStep, so youβll hear it driving SUBscription synth, but thatβs all I can say about that for now.
Xenome 80C (Part 1)
80C is a 3-note xenome with 2 anchor notes. Mr Ring tells us that according to Justin Pecotβs Dozenal system, this is the ENBian scale. Mr Ring calls it Scale 769. The Universal Encyclopedia of Scales calls this one Mixolydian b9 Trichord Mode 3.
Xenome 80D (Part 2)
80D is a 4-note xenome with 2 anchor notes. 3 of those notes are in the last niblet of course, which gives this a more diatonic scale kind of feel at the upper end. This scale also relies almost solely on a Dozenal name, βRUHianβ. Mr Ring calls it Scale 2817. The UES says Altered Tetrachord Mode 4.
Xenome 80E (part 3)
80E is another 4-note xenome, but at this point the last niblet is almost chromatic. Guess what happens in part 4? Once again, Mr Ring has only a Dozenal common-ish name to offer, βLAJianβ, and calls this one Scale 1793. The big bad encyclopedia calls this Messiaen VI Tetrachord Mode 4.
Xenome 80F (part 4)
80F is our technically our first pentatonic xenome. Unfortunately, 4 of those 5 notes are crammed in at the end, so this is functionally chromatic. Mr. Ringβs Exciting Universe of Music Theory dubs this Scale 3841, and also offers Pentatonic Chromatic Descending. (Kind of like βfalling downβ). The UES calls it Chromatic Tetrachord Mode 4.
Tools and stuff
Gear: Strandberg Boden NX 7, iPad Pro M2, Positive Grid Spark Mini
iPad Apps
Audio Damage: Other Desert Cities, Replicant 3
AudioThing: Noises, Speakers, Reels, Outer Space 2, Moon Echo, Wires
Kymatica: AUM, AudioShare, AU3FX:Space, AU3FX:Push
Igor Vasiliev: Stellarvox
Jam Origin: Midi Guitar 2
Fabfilter: Pro-Q 3, Timeless 3
Arturia: iSEM
Olympia Noise Co: Patterning 3
Moog: Animoog Z
AudioModern: Gatelab
Korg: Module
K-Devices: TATAT: midi streams generator
Sugar Bytes: Effectrix, Looperator, WOW Filterbox
Arthur Kerns: midiLFOs
Caelum Audio: SUBscription Synth
Alex Matheu: GlitchStep (beta)
Falling Down