Lesser Groove by Xotla
A simultaneously fresh and retro glimpse into the power of microtones, intervals from outside regular tuning and tonality, to create truly unique and ethereal atmospheres and drive dark and brooding landscapes of aural surrealness.
Many of the tracks in this album make use of a custom-constructed 17-tone (per octave) electric guitar, providing an organic grounding for some of the unfamiliar tonalities.
As with any microtonal music, it may take multiple listens to fully absorb the tunings and understand them in their own right, as distinct from the familiar intervals of the 12 tone equal tempered system.
In the title of each track is listed the tuning system utilized, to allow for an understanding of the specific sound each one has to offer.
This album features some unusually spicy tuning systems, including:
-14edo (Equal Divisions of the Octave), a highly xen tuning with a brilliant air of mystery.
-17edo, a strong yet exotic diatonic tuning filled with ratios of the 3rd, 11th and 13th harmonics.
-34edo, as an extension of 17edo adding ratios of the 5th and 17th harmonics, with almost justly tuned major and minor chords.
-23edo, arguably the best tuning to use if your goal is to miss every harmonic up to and including the 11th, but does a fantastic job of the ratios between them.
-Tetracot[13], a subset (scale) of 34edo where the perfect fifth is divided into four equal parts, and the major sixth into five of the same parts, giving a highly concordant yet completely unfamiliar scale with small steps ~1/3 the size of normal semitones and large steps ~7/5 the size of normal semitones.
-Luna[25], a subset of 1000edo where the major third is split into two equal parts and the perfect eighteenth (fourth + 2 octaves) into fifteen of the same parts.
-Harmonics 16-32, the 'original just intonation system', where all notes are tuned to the harmonic series of the starting tonic.
The album name comes from the idea that in many non-meantone tuning systems, there is a distinction between the 9/8 'greater whole tone' and far less familiar but beautiful 10/9 'lesser whole tone', although I can't seem to find where I got those names from originally. Exploring 34edo in particular, this distinction leads to such a powerful colouration of chords that I named the album after it.
Tracklist
| 1. | Moongazing (Luna[25]) | 4:43 |
| 2. | Field of Mirrors (17edo) | 4:50 |
| 3. | Orbital Motive (14edo) | 4:35 |
| 4. | Apparatus (34edo) | 4:55 |
| 5. | Electrostat (Tetracot[13]) | 4:59 |
| 6. | Warping (23edo) | 5:44 |
| 7. | Dreams of Ambience (34edo) | 5:10 |
| 8. | Hidden Chamber (17edo) | 7:39 |
| 9. | Unrealities (17edo) | 5:50 |
| 10. | Rising Entities (17edo) | 5:53 |
| 11. | Galactic Birdsong (Harmonics 16-32) | 3:54 |
Credits
License
All rights reserved.
My name is Declan Clark, better known as 'Xotla', a Nahuatl word meaning 'to ignite' or 'to blossom', the fusion of which is a beautiful concept I chose my alias in honor of. I spend my time amongst lush forests and diverse wildlife, which inspires the music I create.
I work with a mixture of unusual time signatures and esoteric tunings, and utilise instruments such as microtonal guitars.