This page features just some of the sonic explorations of the Hexadic System that people have recorded. This page is a work in progress. I will attempt to update with new sounds here and there. The sounds that people have recorded have already been fantastic. Thank you everyone who has been working on these projects. All of these artists have non-Hexadic work that is well worth taking the time to explore as well.
(For the work of Phil Legard, please go to his own page on this website.)
We start off with Owen Tromans, who sent me this piece via twitter. Owen writes: “This little miniature is my first go. For any interested parties the note/chord choice was informed by the Linear Heaviness & Lightness Method. Timing cards were relative rather than informing beats. The ‘intensity’ of playing was informed by whether the timing card was Earth, Fire, Air or Water. Air led to harmonics etc. / Fire was harsh and high etc. Purely my own interpretation of the elements there. The effect pedal used to create the background crackle and hum (Devi Ever Circuit Breaker) was decided by assigning cards to each pedal on the board and drawing one.”
Owen also recorded the following piece, this time exploring the method of the Hexadic Figure. Owen writes: “This is my first attempt at using the Hexadic Figure proper. It began as a collaboration with my dad who I was introducing to the Hexadic System.The figure generated for this piece had a C# centre tone. Within each progression I chose the tonal field with the highest assigned time card to create the riff based ‘guitar 1’ sections and the fields with lower time cards to create the complimentary, and perhaps more melodic, ‘guitar 2’ sections. The solo was from the final generated tonal field. I filled in the octaves to have more scope on this one.”
The next exploration is from Phil Neff in Seattle. Mr. Neff says:
Three improvisations in the key of C based on the following Hexadic triads (in dynamic correspondence: Qâ™ ï¸/Kâ™¥ï¸ = C-1).
5â™¥ï¸ Qâ™¦ï¸ 2♣ï¸
7â™¥ï¸ Qâ™¥ï¸ 9♦ï¸
4â™¦ï¸ 5â™£ï¸ Q♣ï¸
Killer triad/cat action!
For this piece, Phil says “Crossfade between incongruous loops as solution to a tricky Hexadic progression through two fields. First position in each field looped, second position informed improvisation around the loop. CGCGCD.”
I really love the ambience of the above piece.
From Phil: “Hexadic composition based on fields thrown on Summer solstice 2015, centered around Q♥ (Daphne Oram). Played with a silver pick following elemental correspondence (earth). CGCGCD dynamic.”
Another person who has been doing tireless work on Hexadic ideas is Steve Kent. The following is a sample of some of his explorations. For a full listen to his Hexadic ideas, you can visit his Hexadic playlist on his Soundcloud.
For this one, Steve says: “This is my first 6 Organs Hexadic experiment. Played in the DADGAD tuning & using Linear Heaviness/Lightness to select the notes & time. The picking pattern is random/impro. Solo is also improvised.”
Next, Steve pulls out the stops and produces this beauty. I feel you can really hear the machine of chaos that is the Hexadic System clear the slate and open up fields of possibility on this. Steve says: “The is my second experiment using the 6 organs Hexadic System. Played in CGCF#CC tuning and using Linear Heaviness/Lightness to arrive at the root tones & times. Then using dynamic correspondence charts I created fractured tonal fields for each root tone (using the minor scale). The track feel came from working on various ideas. The heavier part (tonal fields) is partly improvised.
Definitely the most bizarre (but good) piece of music I have ever written!”
“Final part of triads trilogy. Using diagonal triad & the two triangle triads. Again lots of fuzz and improvisation.”
Working with 4 strings, Steve says: “New tune using the Hexadic system. Four string tuning C-x-x-F-A-D. Six note progression, using Linear Heaviness/Lightness to select the notes & (rough) time, played through twice. Static correspondence using minor pentatonic scale, with added “blues” note, to fracture each note. Bit rough around the edges.”
Coming in at the end of September, 2015 is a new Hexadic Composer. This one is from Mike Layton and his project Expires. Really nice to hear drums and bass along with guitar in a hexadic piece.