Spectropol Records is delighted to announce the release of Septimal by UK composer Joe Evans. A 46-minute album available as a Digipak CDR and high quality download, Septimal features fourteen superlative tracks that explore the sonic and expressive potential of the autoharp.
Joe Evans writes: “While I initially conceived of Septimal as a study of microtonal harmony, it has developed into something far more complex and personal.
The word Septimal, meaning “Pertaining to all things Seven” is not widely used outside of the world of scales and temperaments, where it refers to intervals derived from the 7th harmonic. These intervals are often poor relations of intervals derived from the 3rd & 5th Harmonics, fighting for space on an otherwise occupied keyboard. By removing any notes derived from the 5th harmonic, the space opens up to allow the character of septimal intervals to shine, a coup within the harmonic series, perhaps?
Septimal was created from recordings of improvisations on the autoharp. Each piece attempts to explore the nature of the scale as well as the character of the instrument. Each note (string) is independently tunable, making it ideal for experimental scales. In Addition, the instrument lends itself to other experiments, exploring sonic possibilities such as taps, bumps, string scrapes and other mechanical noises of the instrument that make up so much of its character. This has led to a number of pieces where the tuning is far less relevant or even obscured, although always present.
From the early stages of this project, a potential narrative became apparent, hinted at in the track titles. While I think this is better left open to interpretation, themes of abuse, tyranny and war are clearly stated.
The tracks “The Front” and “Forget me not” were among the last produced and are reflections on the war time losses of my family during World Wars 1 & 2.”
SpecT 31
Stream or download it now! CDR ships May 20.
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