Virga

Virga was initially conceived as an improvisation in the altered tuning E-F#-B-F# on a 1962 Jazz Bass. My experiments in this tuning so far have been with the natural harmonics, which gravitate towards extended B Major and F# Major tonalities.

Play Me

The chiming quality of the harmonics somehow suggested rain. I already had Virga on my list of titles and used it as a springboard. (Virga are the wispy sheets of rain that fall from clouds, and is an acronym for Variable Intensity Rain Gradient Aloft ).

As with all my ambient pieces, I often collage in various samples and sound files, in this case samples of held notes and field recordings.

In many ways, this has developed into what sounds like a knock-off of 'Portrait of Tracy'. This is a bit different from Jaco's piece in that while he used lower open strings and fretted notes in a bottom-up fashion, I am playing melodies on the top string, and hitting harmonics below it in a top-down fashion.