(as posted on The Steel Guitar Forum)
I have a percussion instrument, the Roland HandSonic, that has 15 programmable touchpads. Last night I created a patch using a Gendér for all 15 pads, tuning them to the notes of the Bohlen-Pierce scale (as found on Wikipedia). There are some really ugly intervals in that scale, but some pleasant ones too.
So now I’m trying to compose something in BP that doesn’t sound like pure random crap. It’s pretty challenging. I’ll post a sound file when I’m further along with it. Why do I do things like this? Well, I believe that music is infinite in nature, and I like to explore things that reinforce that notion.
It’s not necessarily equal-tempered. I’m using the JI version of Bohlen-Pierce – because I can.
update
Here are the sound files I promised. First the scale:
And here’s my little composition called Honey, Would You Get That? :