Ekphoneticasulponticello ℗ & © 2005 A.J. Ptak

This sound of composer artist Anthony Ptak. Liner notes: Ekphoneticasulponticello (2005) [2:00] This solo electro-acousmatic performance work concentrates on sound as a carrier of information. We listen to the world as a system of associative indices. The acoustics of this invented instrument are analyzed, along with acoustically generated phenomena. Sound is a physical axis that occupies and transforms space. The heterophony of this invented instrument is navigation. All sonic materials crafted, performed, and assembled by the composer. This artwork is intended to evoke both the abstract and functional aspects of music. It is a visual representation, a sculpture of the physical space music occupies. It is also an instrument that can be played in any tuning configuration. Vibration is transferred from steel to wood. Many experiments were done using a device called a monochord inspired by the mathematician Pythagoras in the 6th century BC; it had one string used to measure ratios. Ekphonetic notation, to which the title refers, was one of the earliest attempts to systematize the way in which we hear (reception) and play music (transmission). This notation was based on speech and not exact pitch in Greece and Asia in the 5th to 7th centuries AD. Sulponticello means to play near or on the bridge of the instrument resulting in a sound with a voice-like rasp when bowed and more upper harmonic frequencies when plucked. With this instrument the artist seeks to create complex results from simple economical means. The work serves as a kinetic reference to the temporal (horizontal) and the timbrel (vertical) aspects of a musical axis. The receiver of this work is encouraged to examine systems critically and to experiment as listener, observer, and composer in the world. - AJ Ptak