Just got back from rehearsal with La Monte Young’s Just Alap Raga Ensemble. The performances start next week. There are four vocalists, and I am playing the FreeNote Fretless Sustainer guitar as well as using a looper to fill up the sound. There seems to be no end to the different layers and melodies that can be generated in a raga. It’s also nice to play something that was conceived in Just Intonation centuries ago. The piece is 2 1/2 hours long, and it’s challenging just to control the Sustainer for that long without something squealing.
We also had a rehearsal this week with the 13 O’Clock Blues Band, where we were dealing with Harmonic Rhythm. This grants each Harmonic it’s own rhythm, so for example the 8th Harmonic is hit 8 times per bar while the 9th Harmonic is hit 9 times per bar, etc. We’re doing this in a blues context and performing at the Blue Apple Blues Fest on April 3rd at Crash Mansion, should be fun.

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