Surkulor by Anarchestra
Surkulor 39:23
recorded live at the vine in Tucson 2-01-16
by Jorge Rico and Alex Ferris
played on:
Panzoot
Ungadi
Cymbcity
Cymbulate
N’Sna
Plato
Blowdrum
Cerb
Tuffram
Botree
Litulbelz
It seemed to me that I’d recently been concerning myself a lot with fairly specific pitch relationships and that I needed to remind myself that there was more to the soundworld than was dreamt of in tonal philosophy.
Tonality, conceptually, is a purely linear idea and most of western music theory derives from the sets of ratios between lengths on a string (or a bar or a column of air) described by Pythagoras and explored with greater depth by microtonalists (such as Harry Partch in Genesis of a Music).
With that in mind, none of the instruments chosen for Surkulor relies on a straight line to produce its sound. Strings, winds, and tuned bars are predominately one dimensional (length). This group of instruments generates sounds from two (length and width) dimensions (drumheads, steel plates) or three (bells, gongs, cymbals). The resulting tonal relationships are less specific and more complex.
I had been wanting to do a “percussion” piece with Jorge for awhile as he has highly developed skills, flexible thinking, and sonic imagination. Ellie Weatherbee was supposed to join us (providing a third dimension of personhood) but was ill that night.
Tracklist
| 1. | Surkulor 1 | 6:47 |
| 2. | Surkulor 2 | 11:54 |
| 3. | Surkulor 3 | 20:42 |
