Listen: Christopher Tignor - "I, Autocorrelations"

Photo by Ebru Yidiz

With his previous album Along a Vanishing Plane, violinist/software engineer Christopher Tignor essentially took years and years of refined techniques of electronically developed composition and chucked it all out. That might seem a bit dramatic but the result, an album played and recorded live with absolutely no samples, loops, or click tracks grounded Tignor's composition in an unmistakable human element. The heightened risk of imperfection somehow crystallized his technique and emblazened the actual heart of his emotions and led to an impressive array of extended techniques aided by Tignor's engineering capabilities.

A Light Below, the follow up to Tignor's Along a Vanishing Plane, explores the newfound freedom in Tignor's organic rooted compositional framework. "I, Autocorrelations", the first single from the upcoming record is an explosion of sound - a truly mindboggling rush of multitudinous layers that bely the fact that they're all being delivered by a solitary man. On "I, Autocorrelations", Tignor is firmly at a stylistic peak - shifting effortlessly through repetitive bowed phrases and pizzicato all at a positively dazzling pace all the while providing enough space for the various phrases to sing and resonant firmly with the listener. Tignor weaves an effortless tapestry, of dynamic shifts in tone and blend of textures between his own playing and subtle touches added by his software.

"I, Autocorrelations" feels like a continuation of Along a Vanishing Plane but trades the langorous yearning for a more spirited presentation of the liturgical melodies without shedding any of their emotional grounding. It's a sort of musical world building that's properly thrilling, subtler than reoccuring figures or leitmotifs but no doubt rooted in the same sense of elevated storytelling. It's enough to make me properly excited for the rest of A Light Below even if Tignor's proven time and time again to supersede the most wildest of expectations.

Christopher Tignor's forthcoming album A Light Below is out October 11th on Western Vinyl. You can pre-order the album now.

Listen/Watch: Christopher Tignor - "Shapeshifting"

While the classical music realm and the ever growing world of technology have more often than not been at odds with each other, there are a growing number of artists who have recognized the creative possibilities that embracing technology affords them. Violinist/composer/software engineer Christopher Tignor is one of those artists. From his earliest recording projects Slow Six and Wires Under Tension, Tignor has made software a valuable part of both his composition and his performance process; the mathematical precision of classical music theory elevated by the science of Tignor's tech. That intersection is where Tignor's art lives. "Shapeshifting", the first taste of Tignor's upcoming double LP/video album Along a Vanishing Plane, both continues in that tradition and breaks away from it. Along a Vanishing Plane was recorded curiously enough without any of the overdubs or loops that you would attribute to a musician like Christopher Tignor. Instead Tignor relies on his trusty violin and the software for his latest round of compositions.

The first thing you hear in "Shapeshifting" isn't the violin, however, but a tuning fork and triangle. The strike of metal against metal, chiming out in the space of Hudson NY's Second Ward sets off a chain reaction when Tignor brings the tuning fork against the bridge of his violin to resonate. Tignor's custom built software registers the tuning fork resonating against the bridge through the violin pickup and spits out the piece's first melodies. If that wasn't enough, Tignor controls the flow of the melody through pedals and whether the tuning fork sets of the melody or his actual playing does via pizzicato. It all sounds rather academic in theory but Tignor never lets the piece get bogged down with the science. The software is programmed but largely Tignor is behind the wheel, directing where melody climbs or descents based on his feeling in the present moment. The presence of a bass drum and cymbal, essentially weave its way to fabric of the piece and keep it from getting too atmosphere. The constant percussion ensures everything moves forward and quickly, not letting the innovation rest on its own laurels.

In "Shapeshifting", Tignor takes use of the tuning fork, which might appear gimmicky, and elevates it to a timbre focal point and instigator. Tignor has never been one for gimmicks so his commitment to the tuning fork both as a means of percussion and to set off the software erases all doubt. "Shapeshifting", much like it's name implies, is about the journey. Its subtle crest into a prevalent percussion galvanized groove before allow itself to slowly cyclically unravel towards nothingness. It's a piece far more about composition and method than it is virtuosity and it's all the better for it, captivating with its ephemeral melodies that still manage to make a fascinating lasting impression..





Along a Vanishing Plane, Christopher Tignor's new visual album, will be out September 16th on Western Vinyl.

Listen: Christopher Tignor - "Thunder Lay Down In The Heart"

As I looked at the lineup for an upcoming show at Cameo Gallery featuring Friend Roulette collaborator Paul Damian Hogan the Third this Friday night another name curiously caught my eye: Christopher Tignor. I recognized the name - not only that I remembered exactly from: Tignor's "Together Into This Unknowable Night" was one of the two original works on Brooklyn Rider's Seven Steps. Though I didn't realize it at the time, the Brooklyn based violinist/software engineer follows the path of most modern composers through forming his own ensembles to perform his works. That's essentially how Thunder Lay Down In The Heart, Tignor's second "solo" album, came to be.

While much of the album itself contains reinterpretations, reworks, and reconfigurations of  a piece Tignor wrote for string orchestra, electronics, and drums inspired by poet John Ashberry's "A Boy", at the album's core lays the work from which the album draws its title and the rest of the album acts as a reaction to: "Thunder Lay Down In The Heart", split into three parts for what seems like convenience considering it's attacca cohesiveness.

Tignor's approach is slow and steady - stealthily assembling the necessary themes and harmonic devices that are sure elicit a strong reaction; Tignor's work shows a considerable amount of restraint. He introduces the electronic element of his work first and foremost as a sort of steady pulsation while the strings' fluid arcs act in counterpoint to build much of the tension. And yet, Tignor's form of tension release comes through unexpected changes - after nearly five minutes of slow burning melodic thaw, the ensemble overtakes the electronic pulse and comes sharply into focus.

Christopher Tignor's "Thunder Lay Down In The Heart" is a work borne of patience. Not only his own but requiring a bit on the listener's part to make it all worthwhile. Instead of throwing an endless assortment of ideas at you to sink into, Tignor shuffles a handful in from the periphery. Considering Tignor's minimalistic tendencies, the real surprise is how swiftly the man can shift themes. The build ups are organic and develop through sensible pacing but Tignor still finds a way to make his climactic surges unpredictable. Tignor's grandiose music moments arrive in a heady rush, he obscures the gears from view while clearly working off of them to make those moments the most satisfying in a way that's almost subliminal.  





Christopher Tignor's Thunder Lay Down In The Heart is available now via Western Vinyl. You can catch Tignor at Cameo Gallery with Secret Cities on 2/13, St. Vitus with This Will Destroy You, or at Littlefield 3/13 with Bing & Ruth

Brooklyn Rider - Seven Steps (2012)

It's rare that I feature classical music here but I will always make an exception for genre-straddling string quartet Brooklyn Rider. Brooklyn Rider is as comfortable playing your standard string quartet fare as they are some of the more out there stuff - like an album with Iranian composer and kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor. Considering Brooklyn Rider's innovative approach to the string quartet, it only made sense that for their latest album Seven Steps, they would tackle one of classical music's foremost innovators - Ludwig van Beethoven.

Though Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 is the crux of the album, it's far from its only highlight. Title track "Seven Steps", composed collaboratively between the foursome using sketches and improvisation, was inspired by Brooklyn Rider's experience writing a piece with a band 2 Foot Yard for University at North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Consisting of seven parts, "Seven Steps" exists as a sort of modern mirroring of Beethoven's fourtheenth, partially recalling the sound and feel of Colin Jacobsen composed piece "Brooklesca" off 2008's Passport. Separating the two distinctive pieces is Christopher Tignor's "Together Into This Unknowable Night", a piece full of a solemnity and that minimalistically explodes into a beautiful multi-layered roar of tiered pizzicati and flowing melodic lines.

Even if classical music isn't your normal cup of tea, Brooklyn Rider provide you with ample to choose from in fast-paced thrill ride "Seven Steps", rich moving "Together Into This Unknowable Night", or the stunning masterpiece that is Beethoven's Op. 131 (that actually injects some much-appreciated joviality into the album in the form of the fifth movement's Scherzo) that something's bound to resonate with you. Seven Steps is an intensely pleasing affair that's sure to be enjoyed by all regardless of where your tastes normally lie. Brooklyn Rider has succeeded once again in creating an accessible gem that displays not only their talent but brilliantly highlights the talents of others.

Get a taste of Brooklyn Rider with opening/title track "Seven Steps" and if you like what you hear, you can check out the album on Spotify.