James Cutts - Another Time Another Place (22-TET/EDO Microtonal Instrumental Composition) [JCM]

This is a microtonal piece composed in 22-TET tuning. For the uninitiated this means that there are 22 evenly spaced notes to an octave instead of 12. Some concessions have to be made though when compared to standard 12-TET music (some intervals are close to consonant, but no cigar, where as others are very interesting and usable) which can make it a challenge to compose with, but you gain in what It allows - exploration of harmony in a completely different way, and lots of texture. Some techniques and care can be applied to attempt to bridge the gaps of any deficiencies in the note intervals in order to keep it as listenable as possible.
22-TET has a different vibe, but can sound quite consonant despite some of its "flaws", while at the same time there are more colours of chords that are not heard in 12-TET. Basically... sometimes... 12 notes just are not enough. Haha. This track may sound very strange to your ears but they adapt to it if you give it time. The secret is not to try and listen to it thinking of 12-TET. It is its own thing. I suppose I am somewhat prepared to sacrifice some consonance to gain texture at times. I am not sure if I have finished with this track yet, but this is it so far.
Enjoy :D.
Copyright ©2023 James Cutts Music

[@jamescuttsmusicjcm5013]

People with "Perfect Pitch" might struggle with this type of music more than most. It is a terrible affliction to be honest. Mostly because it is only really perfect in one way isn't it? That doesn't particularly strike me as very "perfect" but I will... play along. Haha. Hey I am just kidding. There are things I struggle with in any temperament, and any EDO. Nothing is perfect, you can either get over it or let it ruin your life - as a guitarist it used to particularly bother me because guitars are even shakier on that ground when it really comes down to it. Long ago I wasted forever in time in the background trying to get all notes to resonate perfectly and as I got older and more experienced I realised that it was never going to ever be perfect. And that there is no perfect, everything is relative to everything else. There is better and worse only when it comes to guitar intonation. That is before we even start to go over the struggles of equal temperament tunings which are also fundamentally flawed (if we are seeking "perfection"). Regarding 22-EDO specifically though... to be honest I am not quite yet at the bottom of harnessing it fully yet. I ran out of time while making this piece and the microtonal rabbit hole is one hell of a deep dive. So I will be returning to and experimenting with this track in the future. There are parts that I consider just a little too.... "textured". The question is... how much can be remedied and what is a real "fault", and not just a feature of 22-EDO? To be continued...

[@jamescuttsmusicjcm5013]

It is funny actually. When I first started playing guitar and progressed to a point where I could play barre chords. I would deliberately avoid all 7ths and 9ths and every extension because I hated the colour tones and how they clashed against the rest of the harmonics. I wanted perfect resonance and clarity. Haha. It is embarrassing now looking back but... damn... I never did perfect those harmonics. Smh. EDIT: It is worth noting that literally nothing on that guitar rang nice and true, the more notes I would add, the worse it would get. Haha. But even when I got a better guitar I still couldn't get over certain extensions and would avoid them at first, but you learn how to use things. That is the case with this microtonal stuff. There is much to learn but so much potential power. Ohhhh baby.

[@purplehazer7231]

I am strangely addicted to this.

[@jamescuttsmusicjcm5013]

I love 22-TET to be honest, but there are a few things about it that bother me. I ran out of time and had to leave it for now, and so I have decided that I will revisit this track and try some more techniques and I may make some videos about microtones and my approach to using them and different tunings / temperaments. While I love the textural beating of some of the tonal colours that I can access with 22-TET, I would like to tone it back a little at times so it is a little less "gratey". Too gratey is too much texture haha. But it does have a sort of tripped out kind of ethereal vibe to it. Which I do like a lot.

[@thewolfcries8670]

I keep thinking I can hear other things in the background but I am not sure I really can. When it goes to the quiet bit at the end, in my headphones I think I can hear a door creek? There is stuff all over it. Are there voices in this? It is tripping me out and the feeling of impending doom some parts of this give me reminds me of 28 days later which is super cool. Oh and I love that doppler shifting drop at the end. Sounds like an ambulance or a truck or something has drove past while I was deep in thought and not really thinking about it. Oh and it is the end that reminds me of 28 days in the way it brings doom.

[@jamescuttsmusicjcm5013]

Haha. Kinda like something beeping its horn and snapping you out of it?

[@thewolfcries8670]

@@jamescuttsmusicjcm5013 yes!

[@jamescuttsmusicjcm5013]

@@thewolfcries8670 precisely. ;)