Now and Xen

078 - Christopher Otto (JACK quartet)

Now and Xen

Show Notes

Chat about contemporary music, composition, and just intonation with us in this theoretically adventurous and wide ranging episode. Christopher Otto, composer and violinist, works with the JACK quartet, a group that has played the music of such individuals as John Zorn, Tristan Perich, Cenk Ergün, Tyshawn Sorey, Catherine Lamb, Georg Frederich Haas, Dan Trueman, and many, many, more.

Intro: Christopher Otto (jack quartet) rag'sma Catherine Lamb - divisio spiralis (mvt. II) Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 (storm section low notes) Vicente Atria - Seasons Will Pass You By Christopher Otto (jack quartet) rag'sma Christopher Otto - 3x5x7 (loadbang) Christopher Otto - violin octet (d1) LaMonte Young - Trio for Strings (Part 4 out of 8) LaMonte Young - Trio for Strings (Part 4 out of 8) - demo of 17 "equalizing" 9/8 Vicentino - Madonna il poco dolce (31edo) Stephen Weigel cover Christopher Otto - 3x4x5 (Weslos) Outro: Christopher Otto (jack quartet) rag'sma

Rag'sma: https://greyfade-label.bandcamp.com/album/ragsma

Christopher and JACK's links: https://christopherotto.space/ https://www.jackquartet.com/ https://christopherotto.bandcamp.com/album/3x4x5 Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/nowandxen

Follow http://nowandxen.libsyn.com https://twitter.com/now_xen https://www.facebook.com/nowxen/

Subscribe RSS: http://nowandxen.libsyn.com/rss iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/n… Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1mhnGsH… Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/nowxen Twitter: https://twitter.com/now_xen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nowxen/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnmYNMpemAIq8DnK5HJ9gsA

More from Now and Xen

Aug 31, 2026

"Welcome to Accordion August!" I mean… Today on the podcast we talk shop with Dr. Lore Amenabar Larrañaga, accordion extraordinaire! She has put out a new CD: "Ispilu: Works for Quarter-Tone Accordion" featuring some of the most stunning contemporary quarter-tone accordion compositions of the day. Be sure to check it out after you listen to the episode.

Aug 29, 2026

"Welcome to Alien August!" Elaine Walker comes down from her celestial spaceship to give us the scoop on her microtonal mini-movie album, "Macrochip!" The album is constructed entirely in Bohlen-Pierce tuning and Elaine created all the clips using human-made stock footage (no AI). The album is classic Elaine, strikingly visual, timbre-rich, and tonal.

Aug 26, 2026

"Welcome to Alien August!" We present our conversation with certified extraterrestrial Tachy Bunker, the interdimensional shaman, conlanger, and electronic dance music producer. Tachy uses a huge variety of chromatic tunings mainly consisting of EDO's, high-dimensional just intonation (including primodalities), and mixtures of these in polysystemic music. Check him out live if you can for his primal energy!

Jul 31, 2026

"Here we are in J.I. July!" Owen Garnder, guitarist of the iconic experimental rock band Horse Lords, gives us a rundown of the band's philosophical and aesthetic visions, influences over time, and a first-person account of what playing polymetrically and microtonally in this band entails. In the latest album, "Demand To be Taken Into Heaven Alive!" we see more guests than usual as well as harmonic ventures into new areas.

Jul 28, 2026

"Here we are in J.I. July!" We sat down for a talk with esteemed composer-performer Catherine Lamb about navigating justly tuned systems, writing in high-limit systems using low-numbered concordances, her 10 Hertz system, and individual approaches towards intervals.

See all episodes →