MonoNeon’s Microtonal Bass

An Interview with MonoNeon about his Microtonal Bass..

Why microtonal?

My fascination with microtonality is “casual”, similar to my fascination with Dadaism, Color Field, and other visual art stuff. I was introduce to microtonal music by David Fiuczynski, I met him during my brief stay at Berklee. Ever since then I’ve been kind of a “micro-dilettante” and have really been trying to embrace my desire to inhabit another pitch space that is not only 12 sounds. Hopefully more people will begin playing microtonal music, not only in the avant-garde classical stuff but combining the sounds of Julian Carrillo and Albert King, Ivan Wyschnegradsky and The Bar-Kays, or Easley Blackwood and Rev. Milton Brunson…. just ideas I think about.

Origin of MonoNeon’s Microtonal Bass:

Tim Cloonan (CallowHill Guitars) contacted me about building me a bass…. I asked could he create a quarter-tone bass…. and he did! Tim is brilliant and a great friend!

The microtonal system used on the bass is 24-tone equal temperament, literally stretching the 2:1 (octave) to put 12 more notes in it. Each whole-tone within the octave is now comprised of equal 4 parts instead of 2 parts. In 24 TET the quarter-tone (50 cents) is the smallest interval, not the semitone (100 cents).

Bass Specs: 

Body is Honduran Mahogany, the neck is 11 piece (maple/wenge/myrtle), Indian rosewood fingerboard, Nordstrand MM5 pickups, and Aguilar OP3 preamp.

MonoNeon :: Microtonal Bass :: 24 Notes Per Octave

Some of MonoNeon’s microtonal music can be heard on “Southern Visionary”:

iTunes – Music – Southern Visionary by MonoNeon