Search - Rod Poole :: December 96

Experimentation in Consonance/Dissonance

Kern McPherson | Goleta, CA United States | 08/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this CD just based on the cover image. How could it NOT be amazing hearing someone play notes in that formation? When I opened it and found out it was an experimentation with Just Intonation I was thrilled. I knew I was about to hear frequencies unheard in popular music. It did not disappoint. Rod Poole slowly unveils a mathematically derived scale called the Death Adder. This scale features proportional frequencies based on a perfect 4th. Poole begins with nonrhythmic tapping on the side of his guitar, as if contemplating the introduction of his invented tonality. Reluctantly, he begins picking notes that develop to a feverish hum of frequencies reverberating in unheard-of ways. My brain tingled as I became submerged in a whole new level of consonance and dissonance that took me somewhere no other music ever has. I was intrigued by Poole's demonstration of playing skill and intellectual musical approach. If you're a cerebral guitar player, definitely check this out!"

A master among dilettantes

leo | Beijing, China | 10/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"on this disc, the overwhelming level of technical virtuosity is only shadowed by a seemingly endless sense of invention. a bit darker than "the Death Adder", this gorgeously recorded live epic is an ocean of rippling sub-harmonic bliss no listener of minimalist or improvised music should do without. this kind of skill and talent, refined and polished with so many years of rigorous devotion... the results are simply not of this world."

Just intonation, just incredible

Aaron Burgess | Round Rock, TX, USA | 08/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Guitarist Rod Poole's work deals with complex alternate tunings: both "December 96" and his outstanding debut CD, "The Death Adder," are single-track pieces played on a Martin guitar that's been adapted for just intonation. Put simply, just intonation is a tuning system in which literally the entire spectrum of sound is at one's disposal. Overtones ring in seemingly endless duration above their roots when Poole plucks certain combinations of strings; likewise, when he slaps the guitar's body, a similar, less audible set of overtones emerges. As in "The Death Adder," Poole painstakingly maps the piece as he goes, building it from near-nothingness (at several points, even passing traffic is audible) to a shower of color and mesmerizing repetition. It's a beautifully detailed recording, one that blossoms with harmonic detail and warm emotion; and, like its predecessor, it's one of the most optimistic modern statements made for an instrument that many feel has reached its limit."