Other Minds is pleased to present Polytempo Music, a new recording by American composer Brian Baumbusch with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.
Polytempo Music draws influence from Indonesian gamelan music and minimalism, with their interlocking rhythms, stable harmonies, and kaleidoscopic instrumental colors. Conceptually, it also owes a debt to Conlon Nancarrow’s rhythmic experiments. Building on those foundations, Baumbusch invites us to explore an advanced heterophony—multiple instruments playing variations of the same melody simultaneously.
Polytempo Music will be issued in three different formats concurrently: as a compact disc on Other Minds Records; as a virtual reality application for the Meta Quest headset; and as a mobile app for both Apple and Android users. The two apps will be issued on Baumbusch’s Holography label.
The Meta quest app is available now and supports Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro headsets. The iOS app is available here, a demonstration is available at this link. The Android mobile app is available here.
…a glorious feast of rhythm and harmony that seems to be in constant flux. The composer executed the piece with such rigor and exactitude that it can be easy to miss how these disparate lines come together with seamless joy, energy, and beauty. Peter Margasak, Bandcamp Daily, August 2024
There’s an enchanting, otherworldly quality to the movements of “Hex Tree,” the spiritual center of Brian Baumbusch’s latest work, Polytempo Music. Variated sonic layers create kaleidoscopic rhythms, and on “Hex Tree” the effect is dizzying and whimsical. Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis, August 2024
…a real compositional, technological, and most of all aesthetic accomplishment. George Grella, Kill Yr Idols, August 2024
A most extraordinary new album that you can not only hear but see. John Schneider, KPFK Los Angeles
Inside Polytempo Music, you don’t just feel like you’ve entered the world that longtime composer Baumbusch has created, with its gorgeously swirling animation and playful interactive features, you actually become a part of it, shaping each particular sound as you go…Baumbusch’s composition engrosses and delights. Marke Bieschke, 48 Hills, November 2024
1 · Opening, 3:40
2 · Clockwise, 5:18
3 · Murmuration of Twelve, 2:55
4 · Trifluence, 3:38
5 · Hex Tree, 4:12
6 · Canon of Twelve, 3:48
7 · Adzan, 5:02
8 · Skalen 35, 3:00
9 · Pas de deux, 4:12
10 · Heliks 45, 2:20
11 · Counterclockwise, 5:06
12 · Hourglass, 6:04
