News

4 for 20 Chimes as part of Urban Birds 2023!

Synchromy presents the 5th annual Urban Birds, a musical experience for all ages that showcases local birds, live music, and artists of Southern California on May 7th at Pasadena’s Arlington Gardens and May 13th at the Audubon Center at Debs Park.

Exploring themes of nature and migration, this year’s Urban Birds will feature musical improvisation and sound-producing art installations created by Ashton Phillips, Carolyn Chen, Daniel Corral, Kelly Heaton, Cassia Streb, Tim Feeney, and Thadeus Frazier-Reed. As always, this family-friendly event includes live owl and raptor demonstrations by Wild Wings, crafting stations by local artist groups, an instrument “petting zoo,” and hands-on activities for all ages.

Come try out my chimes and listen to parts of 4 for 20 — a holarchical composition of mine in which rhythmic relationships mirror the just intonation intervals of the chimes in a meditative harmony study.

Polytope at 2220 and Candoro at Music for Your Inbox

Polytope @ 2220 Arts + Archives

March 5, 2023

2220 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90057

$20

Join me at 2220 Arts + Archives this Sunday, when I’ll be joined by Erin Barnes, Cory Beers, and Andrew Lessman in performing Polytope, my microtonal quartet for Launchpad Pros with live feed videoSquash & Biscuit will also perform. 

I hope you can make it!


Candoro @ Music for Your Inbox

Order/subscribe by March 15, 2023

Online video/sound piece
Music for Your Inbox
$7–$14

As part of the development process for a collaboration with Alexander Gedeon and DaEun Jung, I made a 13 minute video/sound piece for Music for Your Inbox called Candoro.

Inthis video, the soundscape around the Candoro Marble Company in Knoxville, TN is treated with JI magical realism, echoing the surreal navigations of our three bodies around the physical space of the building’s Beaux-Arts architecture.

The video was shot during our time at the Loghaven Artist Residency last September.

4 for 20 premiere at Automata, December 17, 2022

On December 17 at Automata, I’ll be joined by Erin Barnes, Cory Beers, and Andrew Lessman in premiering my piece 4 for 20!

8pm – Door
8:30pm – Performance

Automata LA
504 Chung King Rd
Los Angeles, CA 90012

$15 / $18

4 for 20 began as a sketch for a concept I’m developing for my upcoming COLA IMAP performance in June, 2023. The piece creates a contemplative space through a series of gradually changing chords on 20 just-intonation chimes. These chords manifest through shifting polyrhythms connected to the frequency of each chime.

This piece continues my 8 years of making just-tuned chimes, as well as my gradual descent into the wooly world of Erv Wilson microtonality. The chimes are tuned to a 1•3•5•7•9•11 Eikosany, and each musician plays 5 of them.

5 for 40 premiere on Nov. 7 at 1pm

Bring a blanket, a picnic, a loved one for the world premiere of my new piece, 5 for 40, presented by Synchromy!

Serene and poignant, 5 for 40 creates a soundscape for our disquieted times using repurposed organ pipes. From a church decades-since demolished, these pipes have been retrofitted to be human-powered, changing the nature and source of their sound. Synchromy has set 5 for 40 amongst the Tabebuia Trees of a quiet terraced garden.

I wrote the score for 5 for 40 in August of 2020. The skies of LA were a thick grey from the nearby Bobcat Fire, and the air was smokey. Whole charred leaves from the San Gabriel Mountains drifted into our backyard and, combined with half a year of pandemic isolation, made the world seem particularly apocalyptic. 5 for 40 was my response to that time, along with my continued interest in presenting music outdoors. The stillness of the piece hopefully offers an invitation to be present outside and just listen – to sounds both intentional and unintentional.

Note: 6-inch Sandwiches from the Eastside Italian Deli are available for pre-order, and must be ordered a week before the event. They will be distributed to you at the park when you arrive.

Circle Limit III out today!

The Los Angeles Electric 8 created a beautiful recording of my piece Circle Limit III – produced, mixed, and mastered by Felix Salazar. This album is out today on MicroFest Records!

The best way to hear Circle Limit III is a limited-edition double disc package, including a stereo CD and a 4.1 surround Blu-Ray.

Circle Limit III is also available to stream on most major platforms, including a stunning surround mix on Apple’s Spatial Music.

“…a stunning wall of sound as aural complement to Gehry’s steel”

— LA Times

“…Circle Limit III, by Daniel Corral, gracefully flowed outward in a warm ambient wash. The piece was never static… with the sound rising, falling and slowly shimmering in the bright afternoon sunshine. The harmonies were lush and comforting and worked to subvert the frenetic sounds of traffic out in the street. Circle Limit III was perfectly chosen for the sidewalk and fully captured the imagination of the crowd – listening and looking down Grand Avenue became a strangely calming and unexpectedly peaceful experience.”

— Sequenza 21

Neuston & Mount San Antonio 1944

My bass quartet Neuston was recently premiered by the UCSD bass quartet. Also, Partch LA commissioned me to write a trio for their ensemble, titled Mount San Antonio 1944. That piece will be premiered in early June!

More info about Neuston
More info about Mount San Antonio 1944

Hodad music and postcard!

Have you ever wondered what a duet for violin and ocean waves sounds like? Have you ever tried to listen to the electromagnetic field of the earth?

Music for Your Inbox presents my new piece Hodad – a collaboration with violinist Myra Hinrichs that explores these questions – as the March edition of their 2021 season!

Myra Hinrichs played Hodad
Violinist Myra Hinrichs performing Hodad at Trestles Beach
Artwork by Janelle Iglesias
(not what’s on the postcard)

Sign up by March 10 to receive an online video of Hodad and a limited-edition [physical] postcard.

The video is a 20 minute performance of Hodad by Hinrichs, playing at Trestles Beach at sunset and responding to the rhythms of the ocean waves. Music for your Inbox will also mail you a limited edition postcard featuring artwork by Janelle Iglesias.

If you’re Hodadcurious but unsure what it’s all about, please check out the Micro Moment video below, presented by MicroFest LA.

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