Epic! So many awesome things in here from the rising glissando passage to the offset hard panned guitars and the awesome tones. I hope you guys get the recognition you deserve from this one!
Having been able to watch this band evolve with each new release has been a pleasure and thrill unlike most others I’ve experienced. This new record is a natural progression, yet (like actual progressive music should be) still unpredictable in places and filled with new textures and emotions. Beautiful and aggressive in equal portions, with subtle but unifying themes. Can’t recommend it enough.
I need to know what the meaning behind this song is or what inspired it because the longer I linger on the sound the more I start to lose my mind. Great sound, great lyrics, and great visuals. Overall 10/10 song and can't wait to explore more of the band.
love this video, love this band! It has been an absolute pleasure to transcribe this album. Due to some innovative looping, this isn’t entirely in 17edo, even parts outside of the pitch drift sections. Can’t wait to see you all at Madlab in Columbus OH on the 17th!!! :)
I was wondering about that... do the harmonizer / pitchshifter pedals I assume are being used to create the delay parts use 17EDO intervals or not? And if so, how do you make that happen?
@@froghawk They aren't necessarily programmed to drift by 17-edo intervals, but according to Ben, the pitch drift looper causes it to rise about a 17-edo semitone per bar (assuming we are in 2/4 and each guitar note is an eighth note). I checked it by ear and it's quite close, close enough that notating it in 68edo was legit (which is what I did). With four notes per bar, that means that each note rises by a quarter of a 17edo degree or edostep, hence 17 times 4 (68edo).This logic applies to the pitch drift sections at 00:00 to 00:29, 02:36 to 03:05, and 04:57 to the end. The ending is slightly different though, since it uses triplets! This disturbs our perfect little quantization idea, and so I simply divided the ascent slightly unevenly in the notation (a much better solution than using a new division of 17!!!) Due to looping in another guitar pattern (the one at 00:24 to 01:08, etc.), there are also other non-17-edo intervals in the native guitar part. That progression can be described as moving from an E minor to an E flat major tonality back and forth. In both of these ostinatos, Ben is only playing every other note, which causes the looper to "fill in the blanks" in between with notes tuned upwards from his originally played ones. In the E minor tonality, the looper creates a near-300 cent minor third upwards (Ben and I thought this suitable in 68edo), meaning when Ben plays E-B-E-A, we HEAR E-B(G)-E(D)-A(G)-E(C), and then when it loops around, we have E(G)-B(G)-E(D)-A(G)-E(C). Each note in parentheses is raised by ~1\68 of an octave from where it would be in 17edo due to the ~300 cent minor third, and is notated this way in the transcription with a lift on each. In the E flat major tonality, the looper creates a 34edo major third (near-just) upwards. When Ben plays Eb-F-Bb-Eb, we HEAR Eb-F(G)-Bb(A)-Eb(D)-Bb(G), and then when it loops around, we have Eb(D)-F(G)-Bb(A)-Eb(D)-Bb(G). Each note in parentheses is lowered by 1\34 of an octave from where it would be in 17edo, and is notated this way in the transcription (34 can be notated by using 17's standard accidentals, with ups and downs on any in between notes. I use Gould arrow accidentals for ups and downs because it's easy to see which note is being modified and it's a default Dorico accidental). Ben also sings some intervals with near-just thirds and sixths, which I notate in 34edo. To my knowledge, the only 68edo-exclusive intervals he sings in the album are the ones that line up with the aforementioned E minor tonality. The other song where I've notated his 34edo singing so far is "Similar Self"
That’s so awesome to hear! We are finding at these latest shows we are playing right now, people are way more familiar with microtonality than in the past… the word is getting out!
Damon is a guest contributor to this album. Jack o' the Clock is his full time band. And we still have our Ventifacts collaboration going, which I hope we'll come back to before too long! I WISH we could have him as a full-time band member, he's a musical genius, but he lives on the other side of the country!
The real triumph of this song - and of many others on this album - is that it doesn't sound like it's in a whole different tuning system, doesn't sound like almost all its notes, intervals, chords, and keys don't even exist in conventional Western music. No, it sounds like a good, emotional, well-written, well-played, somewhat proggy indie-rock song, yet one in which every chord change and key change seems fresh and different. And that's the aim of unusual music, isn't it? You should get the sound, should get the emotion, but shouldn't notice at first whatever means it uses to achieve those. As to those means: It's microtonal - but not the "easy" microtonality of quarter-tones, Just Intonation, or Middle Eastern scales. No, this is fairly hard-core microtonality: With 17 equally-spaced notes per octave, NONE of the intervals coincide with conventional intervals, so its scale and chords tend to sound badly out of tune. Yet this particular music doesn't. It just sounds different, and maybe as if it had quite a few more bent notes than usual.
This is what seeing a new primary color for the first time feels like.
A note to the animator: You didn't think of one detail at 1:12 - that clock should go from 1 to 17, not 1 to 12.
Omg that woulda been amazing
This song makes me feel emotions I have never before heard in music, this is absolutely incredible
Indeed! Fresh notes, new feels 🫠
New The Mercury Tree? Lets goooooooo
Epic! So many awesome things in here from the rising glissando passage to the offset hard panned guitars and the awesome tones. I hope you guys get the recognition you deserve from this one!
Got some strong Spidermilk vibes, which is my favourite album so far - can't wait to hear the whole album!
Having been able to watch this band evolve with each new release has been a pleasure and thrill unlike most others I’ve experienced. This new record is a natural progression, yet (like actual progressive music should be) still unpredictable in places and filled with new textures and emotions. Beautiful and aggressive in equal portions, with subtle but unifying themes. Can’t recommend it enough.
Wow 👍 ... Microtonality blows my mind ... 💥
I need to know what the meaning behind this song is or what inspired it because the longer I linger on the sound the more I start to lose my mind. Great sound, great lyrics, and great visuals. Overall 10/10 song and can't wait to explore more of the band.
You have to listen to the entire new album; it’s a masterpiece
Wow. This is a great first taste of what I expect to be your best and most acclaimed release to date. Well done all around!
I feel physically my brain cells creating new connections while listening to this album.
I love that! Thank you!
like going from painting with 12 colour pens to a set of aquarell… millions of new shades suddendly. her cause of brendan byrnes interview. thx guys!
I have the same 😮 reaction with that person at the end of the video.
A great work of art.
Just awesome! ❤❤❤❤
Kudos from Brasil 🇧🇷
I love this so much, I can’t put it into words, but this is SO unique and masterfully done. Amazing work!!!
I wish i could actually see you live one day, do you plan on making it to japan sometime?
love this video, love this band!
It has been an absolute pleasure to transcribe this album. Due to some innovative looping, this isn’t entirely in 17edo, even parts outside of the pitch drift sections.
Can’t wait to see you all at Madlab in Columbus OH on the 17th!!! :)
I was wondering about that... do the harmonizer / pitchshifter pedals I assume are being used to create the delay parts use 17EDO intervals or not? And if so, how do you make that happen?
@@froghawk They aren't necessarily programmed to drift by 17-edo intervals, but according to Ben, the pitch drift looper causes it to rise about a 17-edo semitone per bar (assuming we are in 2/4 and each guitar note is an eighth note). I checked it by ear and it's quite close, close enough that notating it in 68edo was legit (which is what I did). With four notes per bar, that means that each note rises by a quarter of a 17edo degree or edostep, hence 17 times 4 (68edo).This logic applies to the pitch drift sections at 00:00 to 00:29, 02:36 to 03:05, and 04:57 to the end. The ending is slightly different though, since it uses triplets! This disturbs our perfect little quantization idea, and so I simply divided the ascent slightly unevenly in the notation (a much better solution than using a new division of 17!!!)
Due to looping in another guitar pattern (the one at 00:24 to 01:08, etc.), there are also other non-17-edo intervals in the native guitar part. That progression can be described as moving from an E minor to an E flat major tonality back and forth. In both of these ostinatos, Ben is only playing every other note, which causes the looper to "fill in the blanks" in between with notes tuned upwards from his originally played ones.
In the E minor tonality, the looper creates a near-300 cent minor third upwards (Ben and I thought this suitable in 68edo), meaning when Ben plays E-B-E-A, we HEAR E-B(G)-E(D)-A(G)-E(C), and then when it loops around, we have E(G)-B(G)-E(D)-A(G)-E(C). Each note in parentheses is raised by ~1\68 of an octave from where it would be in 17edo due to the ~300 cent minor third, and is notated this way in the transcription with a lift on each.
In the E flat major tonality, the looper creates a 34edo major third (near-just) upwards. When Ben plays Eb-F-Bb-Eb, we HEAR Eb-F(G)-Bb(A)-Eb(D)-Bb(G), and then when it loops around, we have Eb(D)-F(G)-Bb(A)-Eb(D)-Bb(G). Each note in parentheses is lowered by 1\34 of an octave from where it would be in 17edo, and is notated this way in the transcription (34 can be notated by using 17's standard accidentals, with ups and downs on any in between notes. I use Gould arrow accidentals for ups and downs because it's easy to see which note is being modified and it's a default Dorico accidental).
Ben also sings some intervals with near-just thirds and sixths, which I notate in 34edo. To my knowledge, the only 68edo-exclusive intervals he sings in the album are the ones that line up with the aforementioned E minor tonality. The other song where I've notated his 34edo singing so far is "Similar Self"
Dope.
Stunning!
I have already converted 3 separate people into the microtonal cult with this song, fantastic work!
That’s so awesome to hear! We are finding at these latest shows we are playing right now, people are way more familiar with microtonality than in the past… the word is getting out!
@@TheMercuryTree Hell yeah! I'm bringing 2 of the aforementioned converts to the show in Ypsilanti, so we'll see you there :D
"Songs in 17-, 34-, and 68-edo tuning". Is Damon Waitkus an official band member now?
Damon is a guest contributor to this album. Jack o' the Clock is his full time band. And we still have our Ventifacts collaboration going, which I hope we'll come back to before too long! I WISH we could have him as a full-time band member, he's a musical genius, but he lives on the other side of the country!
The real triumph of this song - and of many others on this album - is that it doesn't sound like it's in a whole different tuning system, doesn't sound like almost all its notes, intervals, chords, and keys don't even exist in conventional Western music. No, it sounds like a good, emotional, well-written, well-played, somewhat proggy indie-rock song, yet one in which every chord change and key change seems fresh and different. And that's the aim of unusual music, isn't it? You should get the sound, should get the emotion, but shouldn't notice at first whatever means it uses to achieve those.
As to those means: It's microtonal - but not the "easy" microtonality of quarter-tones, Just Intonation, or Middle Eastern scales. No, this is fairly hard-core microtonality: With 17 equally-spaced notes per octave, NONE of the intervals coincide with conventional intervals, so its scale and chords tend to sound badly out of tune. Yet this particular music doesn't. It just sounds different, and maybe as if it had quite a few more bent notes than usual.