Eddie's Mambo

Eddie’s Mambo

A 12-tone equal temperament purist listening to Chris Murphy’s disc of solo violin compositions might gasp at what sounds like horrible intonation, but a microtonalist like me just blisses out on hearing all these off-intervals in even more off contexts. Sure, there are Middle Eastern-inspired riffs where microtones are completely idiomatic, and a gospel inspired… Read more »

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NewMusicBox Staff

A 12-tone equal temperament purist listening to Chris Murphy’s disc of solo violin compositions might gasp at what sounds like horrible intonation, but a microtonalist like me just blisses out on hearing all these off-intervals in even more off contexts. Sure, there are Middle Eastern-inspired riffs where microtones are completely idiomatic, and a gospel inspired track where Murphy’s pitch inflections make his solo violin performance of what is typically vocal music all the more convincing. But microtonal mambo is either downright kooky or just plain out of tune. I think it’s cool!

—FJO