Original Instrument Movement Meets Avant-Garde

Thank you so much, Kyle!

I'm completely flattered and honored.

Yours,

Curtis

So when is somebody gonna release samples of the Partch instruments? Especially the cloud chamber bells...

KG replies: Ooooh, good point. I'd gladly write a virtual piece for the Partch instruments if I could get the samples. They must have them at that American Mavericks web site I wrote the script for, because you can "play" the instruments online.

Jesus H. Fucking Christ, I'd write a double concerto for the Cage prepared piano, the Nancarrow player pianos, and the Partch orchestra. It would be the pinnacle of my career, and I would promise to self-immolate afterward in a blaze of glory.

In case nobody else has called your attention to it, the remarkable Pianoteq physical modeling piano (now on version 3) would probably be a welcome addition to your sound pallet and especially for these kinds of reconstructive, retrofuturist efforts; you can tweak the physics endlessly to get pianistic variety. (Though not individual note preparations ... probably some combination of multiple instances and a fancy midi note to channel switch could do that).

It has some support for microtonal tunings (imports scala files) as well. Polyphony is pretty high (256) if your CPU can handle it, somehow pieces like Grieg's Piano Concerto manage to use 226.

KG replies: I'm really curious what *some* microtonal support means. Version 2 allowed no user tunings at all, though I think it came with Werckmeister or something. Seems if it allowed Scala (which I've found difficult to use) it would allow LMSO. I've wanted to get it except for that.

In some ways Partch's instruments have already been sampled and are online -0 and it might be slightly surprising to learn that it's home is at the American Mavericks website.

Visit:

http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/feature_partch.html

and have fun - it's a fantastic way to experience these lovingly made and deeply inspiring instruments.