I remember walking slowly up the stairs, opening the door and stepping out into the clear air. The sky was high and as deep blue as it can be on spring evenings. Infinite.
Even though the square lay there as usual, the cars drove by on the street as usual, and I took a deep breath just as usual – nothing was as it used to be. It was as if everything had shifted. The sensory impressions, the feelings, the sounds. Everything had shifted. Just a little, but enough.
Below the stairs was my studio, and I had spent an entire day deeply absorbed in a song built on a non-equal tempered scale. I felt my consciousness glowing. The music had seeped into places I didn’t know it could reach.
Since that day, I have been fascinated by scales beyond our usual equal temperament. But I hadn’t really figured out how I wanted to work with them.
Until now.
7 Modes for a Revolution consists of seven tuning systems that I have created by listening, fine-tuning, meditating and listening again. Based on these seven scales, I have created seven pieces of music. The first and last songs consist of four notes, the second and sixth consist of six notes and so on – the entire piece follows an arc both tonally and formally.
The title is a play on the ancient Greek idea that specific scales (modus) could affect people and their minds in different directions. Certain music could make people sentimental, ecstatic or brave when preparing for war.
Music can certainly ignite a revolution – both out there in the world as well as inside our minds. History has shown this time and time again.
This is my contribution. Use it fittingly.
Released on Opal Tapes