45 minutes inside a rare acoustic 19-tone hexagonal clavichord
A commenter on one of my shorter videos asked for a “mesmerizing 24-hour mix.” I did not quite make it to 24 hours, but I gathered the complete surviving recordings from my first two sessions with this instrument into one continuous 45-minute video.
This is a rare acoustic clavichord with a hexagonal generalized keyboard. These recordings were my first attempts to understand how melodic patterns, chords and physical gestures move through its 19-tone layout.
The instrument had been dormant for many years—possibly decades—before these sessions, so this is less a finished composition than a document of rediscovery and initial experimentation. The recording is mostly unprocessed and presented as it happened.
A new concert-ready version is currently being built for longer-term composition, recording and live performance.
I would be interested to hear what people notice in the tuning and keyboard geometry, particularly from anyone working with generalized keyboards or xenharmonic instruments.