One Thing All Musicians Know to Be True

In "One Thing All Musicians Know to be True" I play with the perception of being 'in tune' to create an auditory space of clashing resolutions and dissonances. By pairing together synthesized sine waves, which are held up as the absolute standard of tuning, and electric guitar, which struggle to stay in tune due to the physical restraints of the instrument, I compare and contrast the sonic qualities of electronic and acoustic. By doing this I wish to create a space beyond tuning, where there is no absolute pitch to be centered around and stabilized by.The piece was inspired by my personal struggles as a sound artist and musician with the importance of western music theory and notation. As much as I feel music theory limits the range of what I can communicate through sound, it also helps me to communicate my ideas to my peers. I try to illustrate the balance between understanding the function importance of theory and notation in the music world and understanding the repressive and exclusionary actions that are tied to western music.

Steve Reich’s piece “Electric Counterpoint” and Julius Eastman’s piece “If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich” were very influential in the creation of this piece.